The Gambia Schools Trust has achieved a great deal since it was established six years ago by Saltaire resident Christine Schofield and six other volunteers. It has built one library in the impoverished African country and another is well under way. And now it is raising funds to build a new nursery and has made a New Year resolution to build a school a year in a country where many children struggle to attain basic educational standards, partly because there is no government money to pay teachers' wages.
Yet education is a key to a better future for struggling countries such as The Gambia. So all credit to Mrs Schofield and her colleagues for taking its problems so much to heart and dedicating themselves to helping its children towards literacy.
Credit, too, to the many people who have supported their efforts and enabled them to collect thousands of books as well as raise the hard cash needed to pursue the building programme.
It is worth bearing in mind that the sums needed to finance these projects are not huge. Relatively little, in UK terms, can buy a lot in The Gambia. The library currently being built will cost about £3,000, the nursery £2,500. A teacher's wage is £25 a month.
The charity's latest idea, to raise funds by persuading people to donate money in lieu of buying gifts for special occasions, is an interesting one. Let's hope that, for the sake of the children of The Gambia, it is one which captures the imagination of the public.
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