The school build as it stands now.

During December 2011 and March 2012 Karmic Angels have signed agreements to start their latest projects on the North Bank of the Gambia (the poorest part of the Gambia) in the construction of the 1st ever nursery school in the area on land donated by the village. The terms & conditions for Karmic Angels and Sittanunku were agreed and signed at the end of April 2012 with the school being named “Angels Sittanunku Nursery School”. Karmic Angels also propose to build perimeter fencing and an installation of a borehole for their magnificent crop field.

The cropfield is the size of 8 football pitches and there are 210 women who each have there own 25m by 25m plots where they have produced some wonderful crops which now need protection from the animals.

Now the foundations and block making were started by the villagers on 5th June and within 2 weeks of magnificent effort by many children, youths, men and women they have constructed 4000 blocks and dug the foundations ready for the skilled masons to start their work from 20th June. So all systems are go and it seems subject to the rainy season causing a problem that by the end of July the school will be nearing completion. This will enable 130 nursery children who have never had the chance of education to start on the educational ladder. Marvellous news indeed.

The Latest Update to the school project. “Angels Sittanunku Nursery School” is nearing completion and all that’s left is the roofing and the painting inside and out. The picture above shows the stage we are at on 23rd October 2012. Now all we need is the furniture which we need as soon as possible so that the school can be inaugurated in January 2013 on our visit to them.

Seven years on and the school is doing fantastic, the Minyantaa crop fields are doing well but the local bakery that was added is lacking by not having a baker, but all in all everything is going well. The village is doing well towards self sufficiency.

Look at the latest story below from the Point Newspaper on 8th May. Thank you to our top reporter Sainey Marenah and also to Halima Ceesay, the Point reporter who came with us on the ferry and long trip to provide this story.

Some of the 210 women working the crop field

GAMBIA NEWS FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY

May8 Tuesday

AGRICULTURAL SPECTRUM –

 New agricultural project for

Sitanunku in the offing through

Karmic Angels

africa » gambia

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

The community of Sitanunku in the Upper Niumi District of North Bank Region will soon benefit from a new agricultural project and school that will not only boost the livelihood of rural farmers but also help to alleviate poverty.

This was disclosed by officials of an international charitable NGO operating in The Gambia and the UK during a recent visit to the proposed site, where the NGO held a meeting with local authorities about its desire and plan to help the community with an agricultural project and building of new school.

The international charitable NGO, which is run by Stephanie and Alan Turner and their strategy development and fundraising coordinator John Lilburn, has been engaged in The Gambia’s development process since 2008 in diverse areas of health, education and recently agriculture.

Speaking at a ceremony held at Sitanunku village in NBR, the Chairman of Karmic Angels international, Alan Turner, told villagers that Rome was not built in a day, adding that building the agricultural centre and school will need commitment from the side of the villagers and terms and condition will apply.

He believes that KA’s aim is not limited to only agriculture but also covers areas of interest, saying they would like the school to be named after “Angels Sittanunku Nursery School”.

He announced that their NGO will finance the entire project while the community will be tasked with providing labour.

He suggested to the community to open bank account and appoint two secretaries to oversea  the running of the school, saying the NGO will provide funding for 10 orphans to enable them go to school free of charge with uniforms and school materials.

For the agricultural project, the NGO pledged to fence the women’s vegetable garden of 400+200M, remove their wells, replace them with boreholes powered by solar energy since that will last longer.

Alhagi Dibba the Director of NAWEC water and sewerage, who has donated his time to Karmic Angels for his consultation regarding the borehole and fencing describes the Garden “as one of the best in the country”, which will need to be developed so as to help improve the living standard of the rural women’s.

Stephanie Turner, founder and director of Karmic Angels NGO, said: “We are proud to be associated with these two projects, which will contribute to the development of the community. We are here to talk about the borehole and the nursery school. We hope to do everything possible to help the community of Sitanunku to improve their standard of living.

“We hope to work with the government in attainment of the government’s development blueprints such as Vision 2020. We shall always continue to be consistent and transparent for the benefit of Gambians and brighter Gambia,” she said.

The chairman of KA, Gambia Office, Pa Louis Gomez, re-pledged their commitment and determination to work with the community to achieve their target goals and aspirations, noting that Karmic Angel “is here for the poor and the vulnerable”.

For the Chief of the Village, Edward Jammeh, they will discuss the issues with village elders and two plots of land will be given to the NGO to build their house where they will be staying during their visits.

He commended the NGO for choosing the village out of a lot for extending a helping hand, adding that the project “will be a dream come true”.

Kebba Lang Sonko, vice chairman of the KA also joined various speakers stressing the need for peace and commitment from the villagers.

Mr Sonko noted that the KA did sign an MoU with Menyanta Association, adding that during working period, the donor expects villagers to come in their large numbers to help in the construction.

Yusupha Jatta, of Menyanta Association, shares his association’s principles based on transparency and accountability, while urging both parties to contribute towards the realization of the project.

For comments, suggestions, recommendation and contributions, sent them to or call +220-3471343

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Author: Halimatou Ceesay