Sheik Hatab Memorial Nursery School (known for short as SHM Nursery) is the only Islamic nursery school in the village of Gunjur [map] in the south of The Gambia. The school has its own excellent website.

Updates April 2009 - Singing, storytelling, finger painting Oct 2009 - Bookshelves & classroom furniture Feb 2010 - Perimeter wall & banana plantation May 2010 - Photos of new kitchen Sep 2010 - Bananas Dec 2010 - New tiled floors Jan 2011 - Outdoor play equipment Oct 2011 - Ahmed's Feeding Programme Jan 2012 - A New Classroom

The school is open to all three and four year old children and also teaches conventional education. It is operated by a charitable organization 'Success Foundation of Gunjur'. It was designed for 100 students, with equal numbers of boys and girls, four qualified teachers and a teaching assistant. It originally consisted of a single building with two classrooms, a hall, an office, a store, three toilets, and a shower.

After receiving a plea for help, Pageant first visited in October 2008, having sent enough furniture in the summer 2008 container shipment to enable the founder, Ahmed Manjang, to open the school. In January 2008, Pageant provided a further shipment to complete the nursery classroom requirements.

Pippa, Ian and a group of Pageant members then visited the school in February 2009 to see the fully-furnished classrooms and introduced the children to finger-painting, which was much enjoyed by everyone..

Update April 2009 - Singing, storytelling and finger painting

In April 2009, Pageant members Tina and Frances spent a morning with the children of SHM Nursery School singing, storytelling and painting - and all had a marvellous time.
 

Frances and Tina with the children, April 2009

Update October 2009 - Bookshelves and Classroom Furniture

top of page >>

Pageant members Pippa, Linda and Ian visited the school in October 2009, together with Pageant agents Wandifa and Yankuba and driver Abdoulie. The school had received 40 chairs and 3 bays of double width shelving from the recent container, and the men set to work assembling the shelving. The shelving (see example on the right) was donated by Novartis in Horsham. All the classroom furniture at this school has been donated by Pageant - in all 156 children's chairs, 41 children's tables (seating 3-4), 8 teachers' chairs, 3 large classroom storage units and the 3 bays of shelving. Meanwhile Pippa met members of the school's Mother's Club to set up a Pageant Loan Scheme. (see details on our Loans Page)

Update February 2010 - Wall and Bananas

Pageant gave Ahmed Manjang £800 for building the perimeter wall. When Pageant visited the school in February 2010, they were pleased to see that the wall had been completed and painted. (The Gambians call this a fence despite being built from concrete blocks.) They also saw the plantations of bananas and other fruit around the school.
 

Ahmed Manjang shows off the new wall	alphabet and number snake
bananas planted all round the school building	Ahmed Manjang & bananas at back of school
potting up some seedlings	they hope to grow these orange pips into trees

Update May 2010 - The New Kitchen

top of page >>

Manjang Ahmed, the school's founder, has just sent us some photos of the newly completed kitchen. It is positioned on the corner of the main classroom building, with a tiled pathway which should minimized dust entering the kitchen during lunch times. The kitchen range is a new invention in The Gambia which uses a very small amount of firewood and is virtually smoke free. This greatly reduces the carbon footprint and the plantation of bananas surrounding the kitchen compensates for much of the greenhouse gas emissions.

Pageant provided funding for the materials for the new kitchen at a cost of 62,900 dalasis (about £1,480),
 

entrance to the kitchen	side view of kitchen
kitchen range (above) & storeroom (right)

Update September 2010 - Bananas

Ahmed Manjang sent us these photos of the banana plants Pippa and Ian saw in February. see Feb update.

Ann and Brian Keating took these photos showing the new tiled floors on a recent visit. Pageant covered the cost of £1400, with £545 of this donated by Pageant member Andrew Rattray in memory of his brother. He raised the money through his firm, Bookmark Remainders Ltd by making a small pallet of books for his customers to bid on, with the money thus raised coming to Pageant. Ann and Brian said that the standard of the tiling work is really excellent and the whole school is now tiled - three classrooms, headmaster's office and storeroom, toilets and central 'hall'.