During the February half term my wife and I made the trip to the Gambia in West Africa to visit two friends, who have been doing voluntary work in education for nearly two years.

The Gambia is one of the world’s poorest countries with an average annual income of less than £200. Most Gambians are subsistence farmers or fishermen and the main export is groundnuts. The country is about the size of Yorkshire with a population of 1.5 million.

After staying on the coast near the capital Banjul for our first night, we then had to travel 250 miles (400 km) inland to the remote town of Basse Santa Su. This involved two ferry crossings and travel on terrible roads with huge potholes. The ferries are overloaded with no apparent check on numbers or weight, but at 10 dalasi (25p) for an hour crossing you can hardly complain.  

After much discussion, we eventually agreed the taxi fair for our journey and travelled along with six others in these old Peugeot estates with eight seats. These would have been scrapped in Europe years ago but are shipped to Africa for years more service. One ferry had broken down, so we travelled on bush roads for 30 miles eventually catching up with another taxi that had broken down. It’s amazing how the Gambians can fix anything and before long we were on our way.

Our friends are teachers who are helping to develop the schools in the Basse area and so we had access to some of the most remote schools in Africa reaching them through the bush by motorbike. This school, Sanunding Lower Basic School, was 10 miles from the nearest town, which most of the children would never have visited.

Schooling is not compulsory and is only free up to age 11. The schools are very basic and although English is the national language most children also speak a tribal language. I watched the headteacher teaching a class of children aged between 10 and 15. He welcomed my help and the children worked very hard considering how little they have to work with. They see very few white faces and called out ‘toubab’ wherever we went, which means white man.

School meals are prepared on an open fire in this kitchen. Here the older girls are eating from a shared food bowl. You must only eat with your right hand as the left hand is for dirty jobs.

Here I am with a young class and their teacher. Behind you can see the school well and the village huts where many of the children live. Tamba Jallow is the headteacher of the school and I was invited into his office.  It made me feel very fortunate when I thought of my office at Brumby.

This is Sotuma Sere Primary School. Most of the bush schools are like this with no glass and open bricks to let in the light. The children and headteacher welcomed my wife to the school.

My wife is working with a group of children counting bundles of sticks in tens. Despite the poverty, they loved to wear their school uniforms which are made for them on old Singer sewing machines by local tailors.

We were invited to visit two compounds. These are groups of huts where the families live. The women and girls work so hard, cooking washing, pounding the grain and looking after the children. Even the young girls carry huge loads on their heads. The huts are made of mud bricks with thatched roofs, built by the men. They are very strong and weatherproof, which they need to be to keep dry during the wet season.

We were invited to have several cups of tea. The first cups are very strong with mint and large amounts of sugar added, but the strength of the tea gets weaker as more and more cups are made

The compounds are surrounded by millet stalk fences. These take a great deal of skill to make.

Men may have as many as four wives. Here three of the wives are with some of their children. There could be as many as 30 people living in one compound and everybody is expected to help each other. Our friends have got to know this family well.

The women carry their babies everywhere by tying them to their backs. In this way they can carry on with their work. No buggies for these women!

The market in Basse was very busy with the women buying and selling a variety of fruit and vegetables. As they are mostly Muslim, the women must keep their legs covered at all times.

This is early in the morning when buses and donkeys are all being prepared to cross the river by ferry or boat.

I am so grateful to all the Gambian people we met, who have so little compared to ourselves. Everyone was so friendly, welcoming us into their homes, allowing us into their schools and greeting us wherever we went.  I am also full of admiration for all the volunteer workers trying to improve the lives of the Gambian people in very difficult conditions.

                           Bryan Crowther (Headteacher)