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OUR PROJECTS.
When we began supporting the schools, the initial focus was the feeding programme. For the past 4 years, we have been able to raise enough funds to give every child in St. John’s a hot and nutritious meal every day that they attend school, thereby attracting them towards attending school and improving their focus and concentration. Now, we are also able to support the schools in other ways. Some of these are highlighted below:
School Bag Appeal.
We have been able to give every child in the schools a school bag packed with the essentials that they need in order to attend school, including stationary, educational material, oral care and bodycare products.
New School Uniforms.
It has been possible to give every child in the schools new school uniforms. We decided to allocate funds to do this due to the fact that the children were previously coming to school in nothing but rags and were in desperate need of proper clothing.
Hearing
Aids.
Through a recent partnership with the NHS, over 1,500 hearing aids have been delivered, benefiting both the children in the school and the neighbouring Deaf community. Mr. Iyer and his Medical Team visited the school in 2019 to investigate potential ways of improving the hearing capabilities of the children.
New School Bus.
In November of 2017, a brand new school bus was delivered to the school, allowing children to travel safely to and from school.
Rosary
Beads.
Thanks to the Catenian association we have been able to deliver over 1,000 Rosary beads which were blessed by Fr. Michael Kane (St. Augustine’s Parish, Diocese of Motherwell).
WHERE WE WORK.
St. John’s School for the Deaf is ran by the Catholic Diocese of Banjul in The Gambia. The school is one of the only schools for Deaf children in the entire country, making it difficult for many Deaf children in The Gambia to attend school. For the children at the school, life in Africa is particularly difficult – with their parents having little to no knowledge on how to communicate with them or understand them. This made the initial decision to begin support this school an easy one, conscious that the prevalence of Charities in The Gambia was much lower than in some other African countries. By attracting the pupils to school, Project Gambia offers them an opportunity to have a proper education. This, as well as providing a route out of poverty, has empowered, enabled, encouraged, facilitated, supported and inspired young people, while also giving them hope.
Before we began to support the school, the school had little over 200 children suffering from deafness, hearing impairment and other additional support needs attending school everyday. Now, thanks to our supporters, fast-forward 7 years later we have been able to ensure that over 350 children are attending school every day, receiving a hot meal every day that they do.