Work is progressing well at Bakalarr [MAP] on constructing living quarters for some of the school staff who have moved from other areas. We received an email from Headmaster Bakary Gitteh saying:

"Thanks a lot for the extra fund for the completion of the roof. For your information the roof is completed and there is a balance of 30 sheets of corrugated iron. I have informed Wandifa about it and we have decided to use it to ceiling the parlour of the largest house in the block."

The photos below were taken by Pageant's agent Wandifa, before the last lot of corrugated sheets were put in place on the roof. In The Gambia, most schools and village houses do not have ceilings, only the roof itself, so a ceiling is a luxury! The interior still needs a lot of work doing, as shown in the last photograph.
 

Bakary standing in front of the new building	back of the building
front corner	the interior

The staff quarters are now complete. Pippa performed the official opening ceremony in February 2009 and found several teachers in residence during a (surprise!) visit in April. They were very happy with their new homes and said it would make recruitment of new staff much easier, now there was somewhere in the school compound for them to live.