Heeley resident builds school in Gambia

Local resident Mohammad Ayoub is currently applying the finishing touches to the community space he has built in the Gambia.

“My first time there was a holiday with friends in 2011” he explained.  “I like exploring and wanted to get further away from the tourist areas to see the reality of the country.  People were going some distance for water so we built a well.  I went back a year later and saw that the kids were going some distance to school, so we decided to build a learning centre.”

Work on the centre is nearing completion, and has so far provided 538 pupils with a year of free education.  “Locals have been very supportive” said Kima Ahmed Saikou Saho, founder of the Ibn-Mousa Foundation in West Africa.

“Gambia is one of the poorest countries in Africa.  There’s no transport infrastructure and nothing is produced, so everything has to be imported.  Our government is not supporting us, so any project is completely reliant on an external sponsor”.

Mohammad runs an engineering tools shop, based in Attercliffe, and has so far secured a donation of £1,000  from Sterling Commodities Ltd, as well as developing a partnership with Specialised Movers, the firm undertaking the impending local library closures.

“There is only one library for the whole of Gambia, so it was a great pleasure to accept books and shelving” continued Kima.  “We teach English, Arabic and French, so if people cannot make it in Gambia they can maybe find work in Senegal”.

With work set to be completed early next year, Mohammad is appealing for donations of household items, toys, clothes and kitchen materials, and is offering meals and accommodation for local school teachers who wish to volunteer in Gambia during domestic school holidays.

“We’ve got a unit for storage and can arrange collections of donated items” added Mohammad.  “The more help we can get the better, and we won’t turn anyone away”.

You can contact Mohammad by emailing ayoub@aid4gambia.org or on 07973 843142 (http://www.aid4gambia.org/)