Two schools.

During the course of our latest trip we were able to visit several schools. Most are doing well, even though several are operating in difficult circumstances. It's great to see the combination of eager student and enthusiastic teachers. We were saddened to see that one school, which had been the pride of its village, struggling. The number of pupils had dropped, the classrooms were in disrepair and the qualified teaching staff had left. There was an air of desperation: basic educational materials - paper, pencils, chalks - were lacking. A couple of rooms were occupied with junk, another had not been repaired following damage from a falling tree. A gardener and a caretaker had been dismissed and the school garden, which had previously provided both food for the children and a small income from the sale of surplus crops in the local market, had fallen into disuse. We provided what help we could but it was beyond our means to fund the repairs and wage bill for the little school. It appeared that the people who had sponsored the school for several years had been unable to continue and the villagers had withdrawn many children and sent them to a new kindergarten a short distance away.
 We made a couple of visits to this new school - what a difference. The head teacher already was in charge of a large lower-basic (Junior) school and had decided to provide the youngest children with fully qualified staff, breakfast every day, medical support if needed and a very happy atmosphere. She funded much of the initial cost of this operation from her own pocket. We made a contribution towards the cost of rice, provided a large number of dictionaries which had been presented to GOES (and for which we had paid Thomas Cook a large sum of money as 'excess baggage'!) The school seemed a truly happy, industrious place of learning.
 I'm haunted by that other, crumbling little school. We had known it in happier days, I had sat in the shade of a tree and taught previous generations of teachers a little more about English language and told stories to youngsters who seemed to enjoy hearing - and helping to make up - tales from two continents.

You could support GOES by buying any or all of the Malinding  series of Kindle ebooks. Who knows, you may be the one who enables an autoclave to sterilise an instrument used in an operation to save a life!

Do I want to change the world?

Sounds a bit ambitious! This question was asked at a recent writers' meeting held at Gladstone's Library where most of the Malinding series of books were written. It gave me rather a shock at the time but I've thought about it and I've decided that, yes, I do want to change the world!
Think back to your days at school; the bullies picked on what they thought were differences between children - red hair, perhaps, or perhaps some one who wore glasses or the 'wrong' type of clothes - and made their lives a misery. It occurs to me now that in fact people all over the world have far more in common than is usually thought. My friends of whatever colour or creed want to live in peace, provide their families with a home, enough food, and to manage to keep them healthy and educated. They want to be able to greet each new day with a smile and know where the next meal is coming from.
 It seems that our politicians want something different - power. Yesterday's paper - The Guardian - had a centre-page spread showing that Britain has been at war, somewhere in the world, every year for the last hundred years. Surely that's a record to be ashamed of?
 My books try to show people in my two favourite countries living at peace with one another. 'Empty Bananas' has an old, sad, white man finding love and a reason for living in Malinding village (which, as I often point out, does not exist but it might do!); 'The Mechanical Girl' is a story about an uneducated girl who achieves great things and sets about improving the world in her own way; 'Mussukunda' is a story about a middle-aged, unemployed white woman who changes the world (and her life), by volunteering to work in a refuge for women; 'The Alkalo' is the story of a woman - the lady who married the sad white man mentioned a few lines above - and rises to a position of great responsibility in her village (no prize for guessing the name of the village ...).
 The book I'm working on at the present is intended to show the truth of the saying "for evil to flourish it is only necessary for good men to do nothing" and tells the story of how a tiny nation saves civilisation by acts of kindness. I like my books to have happy endings!
 Rant over. Thanks for putting up with me for so long.
Best wishes,
Tom

Commonwealth and Lampedusa

I've enjoyed watching my friends celebrate Commonwealth Day in past years, and as a visiting Englishman it has helped me reflect on the wrongs that have been done to this tiny African country which I love so much. To witness the proud and friendly citizens of The Gambia celebrating Independence day has emphasised that the country has moved on from the days of exploitation and slavery with a good grace that many Europeans would have difficulty emulating.
 GOES will still help Gambians with emergency support whenever possible. We're a small charity and sometimes we sadly have to say 'Sorry, we can't help this time.' For example, we can't buy you a sheep to help celebrate Tobaski or other festivals. But recently we've helped a families cope with invalidity, house fires, rebuilding after the rainy season, school fees and dental expenses. Like hundreds of other small charities we do what we can.
 So, back to the title. Where does Lampedusa come into all this? Well, once again there's been a terrible disaster off the coast of that small Italian island. A boat crammed with refugees has caught fire and sank, causing the deaths of hundreds of men, women and children. I have always admired the courage and determination of people who leave their homes and set out on a journey of thousands of miles across unknown country to try and find a better life in Europe. I doubt I would have the courage to undertake such a journey. So many of those people meet with robbery, sickness or death when they undertake that journey. Some, a few, do make it and bravely look for employment so they can send money home to their families. Sadly, more do not; even if they survive the journey they may be arrested, interned, then returned to their home land poorer but perhaps wiser.
 GOES tries, in its own small way, like many other charities to help improve life for people in their own villages.

Still banging my head ...

Yes! Still banging my head in despair at attempts to regain access to the GOES bank account. The 'Co-operative Bank' are being totally un-co-operative, and we're now into the third week of trying to operate without a bank account. I've been able to use some of our own money to help the most needy people but we can't keep on like this. Telephone calls to the 'customer support' line offer no help. and visits to the local branch reveal that workers there have no more success then we do. Oddly, I can deposit funds - I just can't make withdrawals!
 Happier notes: the tilt-top table sold for £26 and went to a good home (the money is buried in the vaults of the Co-0p Bank ...
 'Stories for Gambian Children' is now available on Kindle - free!
I'm going to try my hand at registering with The USA IRS so they won't deduct tax on the $1 that each of the Malinding books sells for over there.
Maybe tomorrow will bring a positive result from the Bank - you'll be the first to know if it does!
Thanks for putting up with me again!
Tom