Part of Pageant's support for Gambian schools, is supplying educational materials and classroom furniture, largely donated by individuals and businesses. Small items are often taken out to The Gambia in hand luggage, but most equipment, furniture and other bulky items have to be sent in containers. Up until 2005, Pageant was able to utilise space in containers sent out by Friends of Gambian Schools (FROGS). However, FROGS no longer has a warehouse to store goods and pack their containers. Consequentially, Pageant has become more selective in the sort of things we send and we organise our own containers as required when substantial quantities of high value goods need to be shipped.

Packing

typical packages of small donated items ready for dispatch in 2003
Pageant volunteers packing two FROGS containers in 2004

Although our typical shipments consisted of furniture and school equipment, there were also some special items. In 2005 we sent out a total of 42 compound optical microscopes for Banjul University, the Banjul Teaching Hospital and several Secondary Schools. These high quality microscopes were illuminated by a tilting mirror system, ideal for The Gambia with its electrical supply problems. They were donated by Leeds University, which had replaced them with similar instruments with integral light sources.

Microscopes waiting to be packed in 2005

Late in 2005, a consignment was sent to schools and associated village communities in The Gambia. This included a donation of furniture and ride-on toys from Bramley School in Surrey. The consignment did not justify the expense of hiring and shipping a container, so approximately 7 cubic metres of goodies were packed onto four pallets, which were then taken to the shipping agent in Crawley.

two pallets partly packed	transporting the pallets to Crawley

Distribution in The Gambia

On arrival, the containers are moved by road to a convenient nearby school, usually Bakau New Town Lower Basic School, where they are unloaded and sorted for onward distribution. This is observed and supervised by representatives from all of the schools involved.

The next stage in the distribution process is to use local transport to take items to the recipient schools.

There are further pictures of some of Pageant's last containers being unloaded in 2004 on this news page.

Updates

In March 2008, a consignment including pens, clothing, text books, toys, desks, chairs, shelving, fridges, etc. was donated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), both at Harwell. These were packed into a 40 foot container by volunteers from both companies, and they also raised money by sponsorship to pay for the shipment of the container to The Gambia. See more details on this news page.

We sent a container in September 2008, packed with school furniture, clothing, bedding, laboratory glassware, books, toys, tools, sewing machines, typewriters and much more. Shipping containers is now expensive, and thus a rare occurrence. See more details on this news page.

Future challenges for sending things to The Gambia

We no longer can use FROGS containers and transportation of goods by Kamino Redcoat is relatively expensive, even at their charity rates. So since 2005 we have significantly reduced the quantity of goods we send to The Gambia, and we are still looking for cost effective ways of sending essential materials. If anyone can help us with this problem, please let us know.