We are very grateful to Christ Church, Hackenthorpe, Sheffield for a gift of £250 towards the feeding programme at the school. This was the proceeds of the church’s harvest supper and free will donations from church members.

This has come at a time when the World Food Aid assistance to the school has been stopped as that funding has been diverted to assist those affected by the severe floods in Eastern Gambia. Crops have been damaged and some people have been killed, mainly around Bassa we understand.

It is also expected that food prices will rise by a further 15 per cent next year  - so donations to the feeding programme at the school are essential if we are going to ensure that the children receive a nutritious breakfast and lunch each day.

We have received a grant of £200 from Seeds of Africa for the school’s garden.

Lamin Saidy has been informed that his son, Modou, has been put on the operation list at Aswan, Egypt, for March next year - but the date and location of that could still be changed.

Phil Feller

Report from Phil Feller:

Modou Lamin Saidy:   The Chain of Hope committee has now met and after studying  all the medical reports agreed to accept Modou  and placed him  third on their list of children requiring surgery.  This should mean that the operation will take place at the beginning of 2013. As he  is so young it was decided it would be wiser to repair the heart valve rather than replace it.  The professor who the committee believes is one of the most experienced in this field is currently working at the Aswan Heart Centre, Egypt, which was opened in 2009.  This will double the cost of air fares  but thanks to the generosity of Eastern Daily Press readers and other donors this has already been covered.  There will be post operative costs to be funded but this bridge will be crossed when I have more details.

Mohamed Kora:  Our condolences to GOVI on the loss of their chairperson, Mohamed Kora, who worked tirelessly for so many years on behalf of the blind and visually impaired in the Gambia.

 

Lamin Saidy’s son, Modou has now returned from Dakar in Senegal where he had a full medical and new scans to show the function of his heart. These were sent to the charity, Chain of Hope, which requested them. The charity is pleased with them but because of the Olympics its committee did not have a meeting in July. We are very hopeful that when it does meet this month Modou will be selected to come to England for surgery. Phillip and Joan Feller are raising funds to cover the cost of airfares etc and have created a separate FGVI account for that. That fund will be used to cover the cost of Modou having an operation in Dakar if he is not accepted by Chain of Hope.

Donations can be made via Charity Giving by going to the  How You can Help page and clicking on the revolving card. Do then inform Phillip Feller whether that donation is to help Modou or is towards the support we give to the school for the blind in the Gambia. (See link on Contact page)

Pauline Zarzoso, Akele of the 1st Caister-on-Sea Cubs (our local village) decided to support The Friends of Visually Impaired Children in the Gambia. And so, whilst at the annual county cub camp at the Norfolk Showground on May 6, they had the idea of a sponsored mini marathon. Instead of running 26 miles, nine of them ran together with their leaders for 26 minutes. I attended their weekly meeting recently at the Scout Hall at St George’s Playing Field in Caister-on-Sea where I was presented by the Akele with the grand sum of £120. Our many thanks to the cubs for helping the blind children at the school in the Gambia in this way.

We have had to change the banking arrangements for The Friends as the Halifax bank has closed all its treasurers accounts which were used by charities and clubs. We have opened a new account with the HSBC Bank plc at 21 Hall Quay, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, NR30 1HH. We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause but we would be grateful if those of you who have any standing orders to make payments to The Friends could change the details as follows: bank – HSBC; sort code – 40-22-22; and account number – 61598678.

I would like to thank you all for being members and sponsors over the years. Without your kind donations the GOVI Resource School for Visually Impaired Children would not have been built and maintained, nor the children fed or been provided with uniforms, shoes, sportswear and other items. I hope you will be willing to continue your support to us during the times of global hardship. I thank you again for all that has been achieved over the years – do remember to keep looking at the web site for updated news.

We are still trying to find grants to enable Lamin Saidy’s son, Modou, to have the operation he requires to repair or replace a faulty heart valve.

Phil Feller, Chairman

July 2012

 

April 2012 - Report by Phil Feller, chairman of the Friends, following his visit, with his wife and fellow trustee, to the school for the blind at the GOVI ( Gambian Organisation of the Visually Impaired) compound near Banjul, in the Gambia. As the local partner of Children in Crossfire the GOVI Board is now based in the new national resource centre beside the school.

When Joan and I visited the school in April we were sad to find that not only was the cupboard bare but there was no electricity. There was just a small bag of beans in the food store because the rice and other items promised by World Food Aid had not yet arrived. Thankfully those were delivered before we returned home.

We have left sufficient funds with Ali Sallah, the head teacher, to continue the now expensive but vital breakfast programme, as well as money for fish as that is not included in the World Food Aid lunch items. He used the funds we left late last year to replace the TV which the partially sighted children need for Opti Mouse.

 

The trustees of the Friends were so saddened to hear that the eldest son of  Lamin Saidy, the charity's representative in the Gambia, passed away on Tuesday, February 21. Ebrima, who was 18-years-old, had been ill for some time and Lamin was about to take him to a hospital in Dakar, Senegal, for treatment. The funeral was at 11am on Wednesday, February 22. The trustees stated: "We offer our sincerest and heartfelt condolences to Lamin, his wife Haddy, and their five other children. We will be thinking and praying for them during this time of such great loss." Their 11-year-old son Modo has been at the hospital in Dakar with his aunt due to a heart problem.

When we arrived in The Gambia on November 18 we were so looking forward at last to viewing the completed goalball court. It was virtually two years to the day that we had received an invitation from Tony Wright, then the MP for Great Yarmouth, to attend a reception hosted by the UK Parliamentary Football Club at Portcullis House in London. At that reception we received on behalf of what was then the Friends of GOVI (now the Friends of Visually Impaired Children in the Gambia) a cheque to help develop sports facilities for disabled children in Africa.

 

April found Phil and Joan back in The Gambia, the main reason being to see the progress of the construction of the goalball court. But they also saw how the pupils were learning to care for the new vegetable garden at the school. Phil reported:

The goalball court was originally entirely funded by the UK Parliamentary Football Team but unfortunately two years passed before the GOVI Board agreed to its construction and where it would be sited. In that time the cost has rocketed and it will require additional funds from the Friends. Lamin Saidy has worked very hard in arranging and organising its construction. (Left: Phil and Lamin checking on the progress of the goal ball court.)

 

When we inspected the site with him we found that an impressive area had been cleared and the foundations had been completed ready for the installation of reinforced steel and the final covering of concrete. The interior netting and exterior fencing will then be erected. It looked as if the court will be built to Para-Olympics standards.

Another year gone and the work has continued. I must say thank you to several people: Lamin Saidy who, as ever, has given his time and effort unstintingly and unselfishly to keep the Gambian side operating smoothly and monitoring our interests extremely well; Phil and Joan Feller for their tireless efforts in all the charity’s activities; Frank Whitfield for keeping our bank balance healthy and sorting out the money; Carol Haynes for providing us with and maintaining our superb website; and last but not least Pip Land for her help and support.

 

 

All those involved with the charity make it effective in fulfilling our aims and objectives which are primarily supporting the blind children and young people in the Gambia. So on their behalf I add my thanks to you all.

The head teacher, Ali Sallah, is very grateful for all the donations which have been made to the Govi Resource Centre by the Friends of Visually Impaired Children in the Gambia and others this year. In November he pointed out that the  Centre was the only special school in the Gambia for blind and visually impaired children and so needed more specialist equipment including tactile toys. He especially thanked the Friends and other groups and individuals who have donated items, including the staff and students from Stoke-on-Trent Youth, Play and Outdoor Education Services and Glynis and John Howard who visited the school at the end of November. Above: Momodou Lamin Njie and Binta Drammeh in the Nursery Class playing with a musical toy.