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The King's Kid Academy (KKA) is located in Temasu, near Lamin, to the south west of
Banjul. [MAP] It was founded in about 1996 by a Nigerian missionary
to provide nursery education. There is no state provision for
nursery education in The Gambia, so the school relied entirely on
private funding. The school has expanded year by year, with the
first batch of seven children moving up a grade each year, into
primary grades. Children will remain at KKA until they complete their primary
education in Grade 6. This page covers the story of Pageant's
projects at the school during 2006 and 2007. See the
second Kings Kid page
for projects from 2008 onwards or go straight to selected topics
from the table below.
Pageant's first visit
Pippa and Ian paid their first visit to
KKA during one of their regular trips to The Gambia
in February 2006. They saw around the school, visited all the
classrooms, met the teachers and arranged some donations for
projects. KKA was added to the list of schools which Pageant
helps.
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Nursery Class 1 |
Nursery class 2 |
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Nursery class 3 |
Grade 1 class |
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Grade 2 class |
Grade 3 class |
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All these children have moved up
since these pictures were taken. |
top of
page >> |
Update September 2006
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Steve Pitman, Pippa's colleague at ERA, ran in the 2006
Fleet Half Marathon, and raised £528 in sponsorship for
Pageant. Here is his story:
"After weeks of training on cold, windy
and dark nights the sun finally shone on race day for the 25th
Fleet Half Marathon. This year I managed to complete the course
in 1 hour 42 minutes and 9 seconds, some way off my personal
best, but still below the 8 minute mile target.
Knowing that I was running for such a
good cause was a real help, boosting my stride as we changed
direction at 9 miles and headed into the wind. Many thanks to
all those who contributed so generously with sponsorship for
this event."
<< Steve after the race with his medal |
Some of this was used for woodworking benches
at St Augustine's Upper Basic School, adding the finishing touches
to the facility provided by Keith Farrington. (more
details). £390 was
donated to KKA, and altogether Pageant
sent £600 for renovations and improvements at KKA - tiled floor, new
tables and benches for kids, headmaster's new desk & notice board
and new teachers' desks.
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headmaster's new desk |
new teacher's desk |
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new children's furniture |
new tiled floor |
Ian & Pippa visited again in October 2006.
The headmaster, Mr Jacob Amadi, was very pleased to show the
improvements he had made with Pageant's earlier donations. Pippa
told him about how the Plymouth-Banjul Challenge teams
Desert Mice & First to the Bar
were raising sponsorship donations for KKA and left an
advance payment, which will be spent on metal doors, window frames
and glass for the newly constructed block of three classroom in the
Primary part of the school. The school marks the passage of its
children from Nursery to Primary with a graduation ceremony. One of
the pictures below shows children about six years old in Nursery
Class 3, when they graduated at the end of last term. They look
really cute in their little caps and gowns!
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Headmaster Mr Jacob
Amadi |
the Headmaster with the
top class, now Grade 4 |
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one of the classes
showing the new furniture
& tiled floor |
children in Nursery
Class 3 at their graduation ceremony |
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A link is being set up between KKA and
Trafalgar Community
Infant
School in Horsham. Pippa and Ian took letters
from
the Headteacher, Mrs Lynne Wise and from several children to the
little
Gambian school in October 2006. Despite very short notice, they were able
to bring
back letters from Jacob Amadi, the Headmaster of KKA, two staff
members and four of the children. Lynne Wise was very pleased to
receive the letters and hopes that a good link will be formed
between the two schools. Pageant members will
be carrying more letters between the two schools.
Trafalgar Headteacher
Lynne Wise >> |
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Plymouth-Banjul Challenge
2007 - Desert Mice
& First to the Bar
More help for this school came
from teams in the 2007 Plymouth-Banjul Challenge.
Desert Mice and First to the Bar decided to help Pageant's work
in The Gambia, and chose King's Kid Academy as their
particular project. Reports on their progress are on the
Desert Mice & First to
the Bar Page. They have successfully completed the Challenge,
arriving in Banjul on 8 January. They visited Kings Kid Academy and
were welcomed by the staff and children. In all they raised around
£3000 so that the school can continue its improvement programme. There is a full report and
pictures on
their web page.
Tina gives an art
lesson
Pippa, her sister Tina and other Pageant
members visited KKA on 14 February 2007. Tina and her team brought
rolls of brown paper, paints, sponges, brushes, scissors, colouring
pens and pencils. They helped the children create a jungle with a
wonderful collection of jungle animals, which was then mounted on
the classroom wall.
See full details.
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