During the next few weeks we are going to use the website to say an official 'Thank you' to some of our younger members who have been raising funds for Pageant during the past few months.

Ben gives a Power-point presentation and raises £200 for Glowstar Lanterns

Ben, one of our youngest members, has become very keen on helping to raise funds for children in The Gambia. He and the rest of his family sponsor Kumba, a delightful 16-year old girl from Jarreng, and Ben and his two sisters raise most of her sponsorship money themselves. However, during the Pageant AGM Ben said he would like to do more and decided to give a presentation during a morning assembly at his school, Warnham CE School, near Horsham in West Sussex. (click to see Warnham School website)

A Power-point presentation was duly put together and a date was arranged for a Monday during the Spring Term. In the event, Ben managed to do a lot more than we anticipated - to start with, he had to give his presentation twice on the Monday. This was because so many children (and staff) wished to see it and to dress up in some Gambian clothes that he took along with him for the occasion.

On the following Friday the serious fund-raising took place, again at school. Ben and three friends had made some cakes and sold them, they organised several games including 'Beat the goalie', 'How many sweets in a jar', 'Guess the TV programme' and so on. They sold compliments to teachers(!) and finally held a talent show to round off the day. Ben raised £200! A tremendous effort, for which we are truly grateful. We have decided, with Ben's agreement, to spend the money on two more Sollatek solar-powered lantern systems, so that another two family compounds can have good lighting during the evenings. This means they will be able to read, play games, do their homework and generally extend their day - as Kumba told us, many of the Gambian children just have to go to bed when it gets dark as there is nothing they can do if they cannot see properly. Family compounds generally house large extended family groups, so these two lanterns will be helping 20 - 30 people, plus visitors who will no doubt arrive from neighbouring compounds to share the facility.

Ben with Kemo during Kemo's  visit to UK during summer 2004

When Pippa visited The Gambia in November 2005, she presented two solar lanterns, bought with the money raised by Ben, to villagers in Siffoe and Bakalarr.

Get more information about the Glowstar Lantern A complete unit of Glowstar plus solar panel costs about £100 including VAT - if anyone would like to sponsor such a unit, please contact us