Northampton Trustee Fund

The Penyem School extension opens!

2012-02-27T11:18:00.013-08:00

On 14 February a group of supporters of Northampton Trustee Fund flew out to The Gambia to continue the work in Penyem Village. The group was made up of six year 13 students and one year 12 student from The Kingswood School, Corby, two former students, two members of staff, two sponsors and Andrew Butler, Founder of NTF. The trip involved three daily visits to Penyem, a day of taking in the various sights and a day or so enjoying the sunshine!
On the first day visit we were overwhelmed by the fantastic welcome given to us by the village, particularly from the children. The group approached the village on the traditional way – on foot – and walked along the track to the village which was lined by the school children wearing homemade hats, waving flags and chanting a welcome!
The villagers were presented with gifts of mainly stationary for the village school , but also medical and sports equipment was given to the people. The party was then treated to a village tour including a visit to the now established Health Centre, Bee Hives and water pump area. We also had our first glimpse of the now completed extension to the school which was started last April when we laid the foundation stone. It was completed a week before this visit. The group was then treated to lunch and a display of cultural drumming and dancing, after which, emotionally drained, the group departed in their open top Landrovers.
On the second visit all the group visited the homes of the children they sponsor. This is truly a magical time, and despite having nothing themselves most of the facilities gave gifts of thanks to their visitor. One of the party was even presented with some land!
However, the main reason for the visit was to officially open the new school extension, which consists of 2 classrooms and an office for the Headteacher.
After a number of speeches (Gambians love speeches!) the building was named ‘The Harry Brown Building’. (Harry is our Grandson born exactly one year previously). Furthermore, one of the classrooms was called ‘The Val Sabin Room’ – Val sponsors 25 children, and the other room was called ‘The Andrew Butler Dream Corner’. What a day – particularly as we won the football match that followed 2-0!

Chief Kalilu Kolley outlined a problem with retaining his teachers. Recently, one of his best teachers had left the school for another job paying more money. A teacher earns around £35 per month which is paid by the government. Chief Kolley asked NTF to consider a teacher sponsorship scheme where we can supplement the teacher’s salaries. He is asking for £10 per month per teacher. There are 7 teachers: hence £70 per month/£840 per year. Maybe you have some ideas how we can help with this?
The Child Sponsorship Scheme is a great success. During this visit we learnt more about where the sponsor money goes. Part of it is for school fees, but the remainder is split between health care, social care, uniform, shoes, breakfast and lunch at school and stationary. Some of the older students have been asked to start putting something back in the programme. Musa Bah and Jainaba Bah have become our ‘Penyem Correspondents’. They will start to report on day to day life in the village.
Two years ago we started The Penyem Football Academy. We would like to move this project forward by funding a Sports Coach from the UK to work in the village for a two to three week period to develop sport in general. This will involve working with the children, but possibly more importantly developing the skills of the Sports Committee in Penyem. If anyone is interested in this opportunity – please get in touch.

Child Sponsorship Fees for 2012/13 are now being collected and hopefully this will be completed by the end of March. We now have two students who have graduated from the programme. One has become a plumber, the other has become a soldier. It does beg the question – would this have been possible without your support? Again we thank all of our supporters who contribute in so many ways. Allow me to list some of the things we have achieved together since 2004. Ambulance, doctor, new medical centre, apiary, fully stocked pharmacy, 77 children sponsored, school extension, school resources, TV room, roof at Busura Primary School, self sufficiency in rice, fresh water system and much more!!!!

For an independent view - try this link! Copy and paste it into your browser.

fayeaustin.travellerspoint.com

Northampton Trustee Fund - Contact us.

2011-11-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

For details of all our projects please read the blogs below. To get in touch -

Andrew and Anne Butler

11 Greenhills Close, Northampton, NN2 8EN.

01604461746/07812111187

ajb1@ntlworld.com

Further progress on the school extension.

2011-11-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

The new school extension is making progress. Completion is expected in late November-early December.

Another group of students from The Kingswood School will visit in February 2012. They will take part in the opening ceremony.

New School Extension taking shape.

2011-06-24T01:52:00.000-07:00

The extension to the new school is now taking shape! These photos show the walls which are nearly complete. The next step is the roof. This will start after the first rains in November. The rainfall will help settle the walls! Completion date is predicted to be December.

The pennies roll in!!

2011-05-05T03:20:00.000-07:00

The children, staff and parents of Moulton Primary School on the outskirts of Northampton have made a brilliant donation!

Back in March 2011, Andy spoke to the children in a school assembly just to update them on what had been going on in Penyem. The school sponsors a child, Mai Kolley.

The children were keen to repeat a coin collecting fundraiser that they did 3 or 4 years ago to pay for Mai's education. Today, we are delighted to announce that the grand total of 1p, 2p and 5p coins (and others) comes to £786.83!

This is a fantastic effort. The money will be used to fund the building project at Penyem School.

Northampton Trustee Fund

2011-05-05T01:56:00.000-07:00

Northampton Trustee Fund is a registered UK charity run by Andrew, Anne and Laura Butler. We are all teachers in Northampton. In 2004, Andrew and Anne visited The Gambia for a holiday. The rest - they say is history! To cut a long story short, we linked up with a local tourist guide called 'Ten'. He was a native of Penyem Village. He coached the village football team, and asked for us to supply the team with a football kit. From this we moved onto a 4x4 vehicle for the village to use as an ambulance/community vehicle, medical equipment, school equipment, lego, board games. In 2007 we successfully renovated the village water system in partnership with Friends of Penyem a US based charity. Each year we aim to make a significant financial input to village funds. In return the village has given us an area of land which we have named Little Northampton. This land is used to grow maize which is given to the school children for breakfast.

In 2007 we embarked on our biggest venture in seeking sponsors for children to be able to attend school. We are now entering our second year of this scheme and have 75 sponsored children attending school! Since then we have embarked on numerous projects - read on!
Contact us on ajb1@ntlworld.com

April 2011. Update! Fantastic News!

2011-03-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

The school fees for the 77 sponsored children were due in April. We are delighted to say that nearly all the fees were received by return of post!

During Easter Andy returned to The Gambia to pay the fees into the NTF account so that Chief Kolley can pay the fees to the schools. During the visit I visited Penyem twice. On the first occasion it was a 'normal' school day at the school. I arrived unannounced as a surprise. The children went absolutely potty!! It is good to go to Penyem like this to see the village going about it's normal daily business. I can confirm that everyone appears as happy as they do on prearranged visits!

The second visit to Penyem was with a colleague from the Kingswood School, Faye and her partner James. They were on holiday in The Gambia. They were received by the villagers in the usual way and were made very welcome. The main reason for the visit on this day was to lay the foundation stone for the extension to the school.

After some frenzied fundraising in the short time since returning from the school trip in February, we can announce that NTF is funding the new school extension. This will comprise of two classrooms and an office for Chief Kolley. One of the classrooms will be used as the resource centre as The Andre Butler Dream Corner room is now full to overflowing. Avid followers of our work in Penyem will remember that when we first visited the school the resources consisted of one table of old books and knitted toys! Now we are building a whole new room! When the building is complete Chief Kolley will move from his office in the Health Centre, hence freeing up the room in the centre for development.

In the photograph on the right we are eating lunch in the Health Centre waiting area. In the background you can see a some toys. To the right is Chief Kolley's office. The plan is to build a wall across that end of the waiting area. This will form a room large enough for 3 beds in a ward. Chief Kolley's office will be retained but converted into a side ward for special cases which need privacy. Hopefully work on this can start when the school extension is completed and funding has been sourced.

Back to the school...........The extension will start immediately. It will be done in 4 phases. Phases 1 and 2 have already been paid for. They are the construction of the walls and the roof. Phases 3 and 4 - the floor and decoration will need to be funded by NTF, although we have asked the village to do what they can to cover the costs of decoration (£400). We feel it is important that the people make the effort to still do things for themselves rather than be completely reliant on NTF funding. So we are continuing our fundraising efforts. We would estimate to complete the school and the Heath Centre projects we need to raise an additional £2500.

It is dangerous to single out people and organisations who are supporting our work. The most important people are you our sponsors. Thankyou. Moulton Primary School deserve a special mention for collecting over £700 in coins - a brilliant effort! Mark Evans at Imerja for providing a laptop and printer for the doctor - thanks. Also for everyone at Thomas Cook and Thomas Cook Airlines for their support. Thanks to everyone!

We had a quick visit the Busura Primary School. This school takes children from Penyem for their middle years of education. Last February we opened the re-roofed classroom block. The photograph on the right now shows the welcoming entrance to the block. We are pleased to say that Mr Darbo, the headteacher, has sourced new furniture for most of the rooms and they are fully operational. In one year 6 class (normally for 11 year olds) we noticed that one of the students was 17 years old. This is how the system works in The Gambia. Children are placed in classes according to the amount of schooling they have had!

And so another visit came to an end. During my stay I was made so welcome. Our agent Dan Nyang is working very hard for us out there, as is our friend Andrew Gomez. If you feel you would like to get involved with NTF, please get in touch!

Penyem Visit. February 2011.

2011-02-28T02:51:00.000-08:00

‘Smiles on your faces!’ - February 2011.

I have just returned from a week to remember in The Gambia. I have had many fantastic days out in Penyem, but in this week the days seemed to come all once! Anne couldn’t go this time – see the footnote at the end of this and you will understand why!

From previous newsletters and blogs, you will know that this trip involved taking another group of sixth form students from The Kingswood School, Corby. These students were brilliant – I simply cannot say anymore! With us was, David Tristram, Headteacher of Kingswood and Mark Evans from Imerja, one of our key sponsors. Mark was accompanied by his wife Kareena and two young sons Josh and Toddy. We must not forget Sarah, Eve and Kev - our ‘social representatives’!

The main focus of the visit was to be part of the official opening of the two projects undertaken for the last year, Penyem Health Centre and the classrooms at Busura School. All of the students had been sponsoring a child for the last year, so they would meet the children and their families.

We visited Penyem on 3 days. As we sat in our Land Rovers on the way out to the village it occurred to me that in 2004/5 that Anne and I had sat alone in a taxi on our way to Penyem. Now we had a convoy of 5 vehicles!

The generosity of Thomas Cook Airlines allowed us all double baggage. This in itself created a problem. We had to hire extra vehicles to move all the donated medical equipment and school materials! It also became clear that storage was needed at the new Health Centre so we had to set about buying cupboards and shelves.

Our first day visit to Penyem involved the official welcome and tour of the village projects. It was then we saw the true value of the work that had gone on in the Health Centre. The building had been transformed from no more than a run down shack, to a proper Health facility. There was a ceiling throughout, tiled floor, electricity and water. To see this was a fulfilling experience.
The second day visit was a much busier day. We arrived ready for work. Our task was to help organise the Health Centre. So the cupboards were collected en route from a roadside carpenter and transported with us out to Penyem. It was only then did we realise how generous people had been in donating medical supplies. We laid everything out on tables.

Dr Musa Colley was delighted with the specialist items he had requested – examination table, digital thermometers, baby scales etc. The Health Centre has three rooms and a waiting area. One room is the consulting room, another room is Chief Kolley’s office. When we first visited the Health Centre a few years ago, the only medicines they had was a jar of paracetomol. The third room has now become a pharmacy!!!

The Health Centre was officially opened that Saturday afternoon by David Tristram and the students of Kingswood. This was after the students had spent time with their sponsored children. Following the opening we were part of the celebrations with drumming and dancing.

The day was completed with a football match – Kingswood Girls v. Penyem Girls. Girls playing football is another significant progression in the village. It was fun – even though we lost 3-2!

The third day visit took us to the next village of Busura. Last year we had seen that one of the main classroom blocks had lost it’s roof is storms in 2007. Since then it had stood derelict. Most of the children from Penyem attend Busura when the leave Penyem lower school.

With the problems with the accommodation at Busura this has meant that the Penyem children can only attend afternoon school. This had involved walking the 5 miles to Busura in the midday heat. Now that the buildings have been repaired they can go to school at the normal time. The money to pay for this work was raised by the parents, students and staff of Kingswood School with other significant contributions from Northamptonshire companies and organisations. The students took part in finishing off the work to the building by each of them painting the last part of the walls.

There is so much that I can add to this account. The visit to Banjul and Albert Market, the Crocodile Pool, the company of the students, the hospitality of the locals, both in the resort and in Penyem.

For me, what started in 2004 as a holiday, has now become a business trip – and a very rewarding one too! For you, our supporters and sponsors, Northampton Trustee Fund can only thank you again!

Footnote: Special thanks to Chief Kalilu Kolley, Penyem Village Development Committee, NTF Agent in The Gambia Dam Ahmadu Nyang (Dan Da Man) and Andrew Gomez. My Daughter, Laura and Carl for providing Anne and I with a perfect Grandson, Harry Andrew John. Born Saturday 19 February. I was sitting under a mango tree at the time in Penyem!

Busura Primary School

2010-10-13T03:45:00.000-07:00

During our last 2 visits to The Gambia we have visited Busura Primary School. Busura is the next village to Penyem and the school is the one that most Penyem children progress to for their middle year's education. They then return to Penyem Upper Basic School on the outskirts of the village. During our visits we met with the Headmaster Mr Darbo. He asked that we help him set up links with a school in the UK. We also observed the serious damage to part of the school roof. The damaged meant that the school had to be used in two 'shifts' - morning and afternoon. The Penyem children attended in the afternoon and so had to walk the 5km to Busura in the searing midday sun.

During the second half of 2010 we have been able to secure links with two schools in Corby for Mr Darbo to pursue. These are St Brendan's RC Primary School and Danesholme Junior School. St Brendan's have already collected significant amounts of pens, pencils etc for the school. Furthermore, following a fund raising event they have donated over £320 for school projects.

Following the visit of The Kingswood School students in 2010, it was decided to set about raising funds to repair the school roof. In late December, having provided the £4500 funds from some great fundraising, we have heard that the roof has been replaced and the building is well
on the way to completion. Hopefully, we will reopen it when we visit in February 2011.

Although this is a very worthy project, NTF has made it clear to all concerned that they are only able to look after the needs of Penyem Village. The Busura School project was funded from separate funds from NTF. However, NTF did contribute £500 towards the repairs and hours of time co-ordinating the work in association with Daniel Nyang, our new Gambian representative, and Chief Kolley. Any further work at Busura School will have to be funded by Mr Darbo and his staff.

Work in progress at Penyem Health Centre.

2010-10-13T03:42:00.000-07:00

We have just received a report from Chief Kolley about the progress in the Penyem Health Centre. He tells us that building work has been delayed due to heavy rains but the ceiling is now complete, the floor of the entire centre has been tiled and a water tank storage area has nearly been completed.

We are delighted to announce that we have received sufficient donations to enable us to give the builders the go ahead for a complete solar power installation in the refurbished centre.Thanks everyone!

Kingswood School launch Penyem Health Centre Project.

2010-10-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday 12 October 2010, The Kingswood School officially launched their Penyem Health Centre Appeal. Penyem is a small village in The Gambia. The Kingswood School has been working closely with Northampton Trustee Fund, a local charity on a number of projects, including repairing a school roof and setting up a Football Academy.

In February 2011, ten Year 13 students will be visiting The Gambia to help the projects develop in Penyem and to start the renovations of the village Health Centre. The Centre needs a ceiling installing, the floor tiled, a water supply connected and a solar electricity system. The Kingswood Students will be fundraising in order that these projects can be completed.

Andy Butler, School Sport Co-Ordinator and representative of the charity said:

'This is a fantastic opportunity for the Kingswood Students to visit a third world country and to make a huge difference to the villagers of Penyem. The students will also each be sponsoring a village child to attend school and will get the chance to meet their child and their families when they visit. It is a trip of a lifetime!'

For more details of the charities work please call Andy Butler on 07812111187.

Kingswood School visit February 2011

2010-09-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

A group of Year 13 students from The Kingswood School will be visiting the Gambia and therefore, Penyem in February 2011. As you will see from previous posts in this blog this is the second year running now that a group has gone to The Gambia. This group has taken on the responsibility of fundraising to renovate the Village Health Centre as decribed below. Work in the centre has already started. Watch this space to see how the students get on!

June visit 2010.

2010-06-16T04:35:00.000-07:00

In June, Andy made a last minute visit to Penyem. This was not intended as a surprise visit, but a good package price came available towards the end of May. The main reason for the visit was twofold. One reason was for the delivery of funds for the the child school fees. We now have 75 children sponsored. It is fantastic that nearly all our sponsors have offered to continue. Thanks. The photo shows a group of some of the sponsored children. During the visit there was a graduation ceremony for four grade 9 students who were leaving the Upper school for Senior Secondary school.
The second reason for the visit was to discuss plans for the Health Centre. Since the employment of the Doctor in February, the Health Centre has been very busy. On this trip we were able to supply £300 worth of medicines bought locally, and to give 20kg of donated drugs, bandages and equipment. Thanks again for your donations.

The Kingswood School is visiting again in February 2011. It was agreed that the Kingswood students would fundraise to tile the floors of the health centre, install a ceiling, connect running water and a sink and hopefully install an electricity supply.

ThePenyem village doctor receiving donated medical supplies and a new banner!

The open roof inside the Health Centre. The Kingswood students who will visit in February 2011 will fundraise to supply a new ceiling.

The unofficial opening of Penyem Health Centre!

The Kingswood School Trip. February 2010.

2010-02-23T01:33:00.000-08:00

Twelve Year 13 students from The Kingswood School, Corby and their Headteacher David Tristram accompanied Andrew and Anne Butler to The Gambia in February 2010. This was a joint school and charity venture. During their stay the group made a number of cultural visits including spending 3 days in Penyem.

The students were received in Penyem by the children and villagers with the usual fantastic welcome including drumming and dancing. One of the main reasons for the trip was to set up The Penyem Football Academy. This included the organisation of a football resource room and the instalation of a satellite TV system. This room would allow villagers and others to read football coaching books and to watch football matches on the two large TVs. After the successful installation the villagers told us that over 200 people had watched 4 football matches. They had paid 5 delasis each. These fees had more than covered the cost of the fuel for the brand new generator which was an additional purchase. It is hoped that if managed correctly the TV system would provide a regular income for the village. Previously, people used to walk to the nearest town, Brikama, to watch matches.

Each Kingswood student had sponsored a Penyem child's education for the year leading up to the trip. They met their child in the school and then went off to visit their families. This was a magical part of the week, which was difficult for the students, but they managed it brilliantly!

Later on that day, the Penyem Football Academy was launched with a mass coaching session on the village football pitch. This was chaos! It seemed that every child from the village was there.

The afternoon ended with a special challenge football match - The Kingswood School verses Penyem Under 14 team. This short match in very hot conditions finished in a 2-2 draw! The match was great fun for all, including the spectators. At the end there was an exchange of shirts - well we gave them ours, followed by an exhibition match by two other village teams. Eventually, the group of exhausted students loaded up the Land Rovers and headed back to our hotel, to complete probably the best day of their lives!

On the 3rd and final day in Penyem, we visited Busura Primary School where most of the Penyem children go to school after Penyem school. We were made so welcome. We visited every class and were sung to each time we entered the classroom! The children also put on a drama production for us at the end of the visit.

Indirectly, Busura is supported by NTF. All the Penyem children are equipped with pens, pencils etc. from NTF donations. The school is desperately seeking a sponsor. It is our hope that we can introduce another UK school or schools
to twin with Busura Primary School. If you can help - please get in touch!

We completed our visits that day with a short tour of Penyem Upper Basic School, which is just outside Penyem. This is the next school after Primary School. Again they are desperate for educational materials and furniture.

And so, it was time to leave Penyem. We said our final farewells. During a short thankyou speech to the villagers David Tristram (Kingswood Headteacher) announced that The Kingswood School would be attempting to fund a large container of furniture, tools and materials to arrive in Penyem later this year. This will be known as The Red Chair Project. Anyone who would like to help with this project should call David on 01536 741857.

Andrew and Anne Butler also made the announcement that the annual £500 donation to the village would be available from April. Furthermore, the charity would guarantee the funding of the new village medical worker/nurse for a second year in 2011.

To finish we would like to express our special thanks to the following: Chief Kolley for his tireless efforts in ensuring this visit would be a success. Dan Nyang for his excellent organisation for us in The Gambia and his attention all week. Also thanks to Mustapha Camara and Andrew Gomez.

We would also like to thank Thomas Cook Airlines for allowing us the luxury of double baggage allowance, without which we could not have achieved such success!

Funding for a full time medical worker is secured!

2009-08-28T06:09:00.000-07:00

We are delighted to announce that we have managed to secure enough funding to pay for a full time medical worker/doctor for the next year. You may recall that the villagers asked if we could help with this when I visited last Easter. Some of you were kind enough to send personal donations towards this - for which we thank you again. Just this week a company called IMERJA who have supported us in the past with provision of mosquito nets contacted us and offered £1000 towards the fund. This will pay for the salary of the worker. This, combined with the donations you sent will also pay for basic medicines etc to get the project fully up and running.

We will also hold onto some of the remaining money (£300) to start the fund for the worker to be employed for a second year - so further donations will be still very welcome!!!!!!!!!

Chief Kolley is obviously so pleased and he thanks us all on behalf of the villagers of Penyem. He is currently advertising the position and will hold interviews soon.

December 2009 visit.

2009-08-28T05:12:00.000-07:00

NTF founder members Andrew and Anne Butler made a visit to Penyem on Thursday 4 December 2009. The Gambian visit was to prepare for the school visit by The Kingswood School in February 2010. The day spent in Penyem was a greatly useful day as we were able to go to the neighbouring Busura Primary School and Penyem Upper Basic School.

We were welcomed in the now usual way of the children singing and waving flags. The drummers were local boys using drums presented to the village last April. A nice touch was the banner made up to celebrate Anne's birthday!

Once in the village we gave our gifts which this time were a variety of things. Whiteboards and markers from The Abbey Primary School, football shirts from Moulton Magpies, a full set of games equipment and a wheelbarrow from Imerja.

We were able to add to the collection of musical instruments previously donated to the school with two wooden xylaphones. Furthermore, in our boxes we had general school stationary, books and posters, all of which was gratefully received by Chief Kolley.

We then had a short tour of the NTF projects. It was interesting to see the village in what is their springtime with trees in full leaf and the vegetation fully grown.

The afternoon was mainly spent at the two other schools in the area. These schools provide the education for the children from the surrounding villages including Penyem children. The conditions were very poor, with little or no equipment, basic furniture and overcrowded classrooms.

Back to school with Saja Camara!

During our visit we were also able to present a laptop to Martina Mendy, another of the sposored children who is now at college study IT. Martina is hoping to get a job in the hospitality industry.

Finally, during our visit we were please to present the village with £1000 to employ the full time nurse from January. We game an additional £300 for medical equipment and medicines and a further £200 for the redocoration of the medical centre and for basic furniture.

'Doctor' fund rises above £700!

2009-07-17T01:38:00.000-07:00

During the visit in April we were asked to consider providing funding for a full time medical attendant for the village. This is to cost £1000. In the short time up to date (July) we have received over £700 in donations. This is fantastic! Thanks everyone!

April 2009 Visit.

2009-03-02T02:20:00.000-08:00

Andy Butler, founder member of NTF returned to The Gambia in April 2009. Andy travelled by himself on this occasion. Each year the original family holiday turns more into a business trip. I am sure those who do similar work in the Gambia can understand this!

This year the 'gift' to Penyem School was musical instruments. I took 30 recorders, a clarinet, some boomwhackers (plastic tubes which when hit play notes), 6 sets of percussion instruments and I bought some local drums which were donated by Millway Primary School. In the photo Veronic Gomez receives the musical instruments on behalf of the school. Veronic is sponsored by Millway.

A further gift was 20kg of pens, pencils etc. donated at the very last minute from the generous children of Moulton Primary School. This photo shows Mai Colley receiving the stationary. Mai has lifetime sponsorship from Moulton School.

Other gifts were given to the school that had been donated by Uk residents.

During the visit to the village I was treated to breakfast and lunch of rice and chicken cooked by the ladies. There was a football match played between Penyem and a neighbouring village.

I was able to inspect the various projects that NTF is involved in. The Village Development Committee told me of a bee keeping project and the ongoing need to repair the water tanks. Chief Kolley showed me how some of NTF's money had been spent in repairing school furniture. Last year's initiative from Imerja had allowed every household to take delivery of at least one mosquito net -BRILLIANT!

The Izusu Trooper was being put to good use as the village ambulance and I was able to see documented evidence of it's trips to health centres and hospitals.

Of course, one of the main reasons for the visit was to see the sponsored school children. This project is going.particularly well. In the photo below you can see all of the sponsored children.

One of the next major projects is to provide a full time medical attendant at the village health centre, so we would be pleased to hear from anyone who would like to help in funding this position.

The photo below was taken by the villagers to show the distribution of the mosquito nets donated by Imerja.

Kingswood School to visit Penyem!

2009-02-07T10:05:00.000-08:00

Year 13 students from The Kingswood School in Corby are to visit Penyem in February 2010. NTF board members Andy and Anne Butler will take a party of 17 to stay in The Gambia for a week. During their stay the students will run soccer schools in Penyem village for the local children. This is part of The Kingswood School's Sports Leadership Academy which is run by Andy as part of his teaching role at the school.

Planning is in it's early stages, but the students are looking for sponsorship to help with their costs and to provide equipment to run the soccer schools. Can you help? Call Andy Butler on 07812111187!

July - Tree Planting Week.

2008-08-12T02:50:00.000-07:00

On July 18th 2008, Andy returned to The Gambia to be present at Penyem's Tree Planting Week. This is a huge initiative to regenerate the forests around the village. On one day 1500 saplings were collected from the nearby Brikama Forest and transported to the village. This is alot of trees but the target is actually 10000! The collection was hindered by the very heavy early rainfalls. On all of the seven days of the trip there were heavy rains each day. Apparently this is normal for late August - not July - it seems as we in the UK are not the only ones experiencing a change in climate.

With the saplings collected a second day was spent in and around the village planting them. This was a big community event with large groups of villagers coming to help. During this time the Little Northampton land was ploughed and 5 orange trees planted. Ploughing is done by hand using long handed spades. Most of the work is done by the youths of the village with the women following behind sowing millets seeds.
After the ploughing there was an informal ceremony where Andy was asked to plant the first of the saplings on behalf of Northampton. The crowd then walked around the forest infilling gaps with the young trees.

Eventually, a traditional lunch of rice and fish was served out in the bush at which point Andy made a presentation to the village of 150 mosquito nets which were donated by a company called Imerja. This was an unexpected but very welcome donation which helps towards a target of 1000 nets, one for each of the villagers.

This trip was different to the trips we usually take in April. The April trip is a combined holiday. This July visit in many respects saw the village and The Gambia in it's normal day to day state. One can wander freely in the forests, through the small towns and villages. It is only then - away from the trappings of the tourist season, do you realise how poor these people are.

Northampton Trustee Fund - Tree Planting Week. By our Special Gambia Reporter - Daniel Nyang.

2008-08-12T02:44:00.000-07:00

Daniel Nyang is NTF's Public Relations Officer in The Gambia. From time to time he sends reports of NTF's activities. During our visits he follows our activities and writes reports from a Gambian viewpoint.

This is Daniel composing the report you can read below.

"Climate change, being a serious problem is caused by the release of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas. There is a lot we can do about it and one of the most important things is to plant trees and protect our forests to go carbon neutral. It is very essential to know the dangers posed by climate change towards our environment and nature. It is responsible for the lack of rains causing drought, desertification, soil erosion and poor harvests, being the main cause of rocketing global food prices. Living carbon neutral is an easy way to take responsibility for the carbon dioxide emissions we create every day.

Northampton Trustee Fund, a U.K. based charitable organisation in the Gambia, in collaboration with Penyem village youth, will be engaged in a tree planting exercise through the active participation and co-ordination of the Village Development Committee under the leadership of Chief Kolley.

The aims and objectives of the project will be to establish the basis for a carbon offset programme of which this occasion will be a community tree planting exercise. Various varieties will be planted, ranging from fruits to medicinal value whose flowers can attract bees, hence creating an opportunity for bee keepers and the community. I will not hesitate to Mr Butler for such a meaningful venture and genuine participation towards maintaining and reserving our forest.

The N.T.F. is not only a charitable organisation that provides educational opportunities and infrastructure for the people of Penyem but are also interested in making sure that the forest is being preserved for future generations. A community based labour was organised by the V.D.C. of Penyem for ploughing of lands and tree planting exercise. The day started with the ploughing and growing of millet on little Northampton land, then we proceeded to the land allocated to the Day Care Nursery School. Ploughing and growing continued then we had a short break for breakfast of peanut porridge made of rice and peanuts.

The tree planting exercise started with the first tree being planted by Mr Butler which continued until lunch time. A lunch of palm oil stew and fish was served in the forest, followed by a presentation of mosquito nets and gifts to individually sponsored children from the various sponsors, accompanied by the usual claps as a sign of appreciation to the good will gesture. Some children were present to collect their gifts and those who couldn't make it due to reasons, were represented by parents or family members.

The N.T.F. representative, the Gambian agent, the village head, I will not hesitate to thank all the people of Northampton for their endless contributions and support in any way in making this project a progressive and successful one."

Signed Dan Ahmadu Nyang (Public Relations Officer)

2008-04-21T06:33:00.001-07:00

Sunday, 20 April 2008.

Here we are having returned from Tha Gambia after our April 2008 visit. Needless to say we had a brilliant time and were yet again made so welcome by the villagers of Penyem. We visited Penyem on a Saturday which allowed all of the villagers the opportunity to join in the celebrations. We were met by drummers and dancers and a guard of honour of 50 young children who were singing and waving flags.We were able to tell the villagers that the number of sponsored children has now risen to 61 in total, and we thank all the sponsors again for their generousity. We have encountered a problem with the sponsorship agreements. Last year the fees were calculated at 50 Delasis to the £. The rate has fallen recently so we worked on 44 Delasis to the £ - in fact the best we can do is 35 Delasis. This means the cost per year has risen, but our list of sponsors have stuck with us - thanks! To sponsor the youngest child the fees are currently £40, middle age children are £80 and the senior children are £110. We still beleive this is a small price to pay for a year's education. We still need to find sponsors for 7 additional children - 4 older ones and 3 youngers ones. Get in touch! ajb1@ntlworld.com

The Kingswood School

2008-04-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

The Kingswood School, Corby have taken on the sponsorship of two children. Denbo and Jainaba are bright children, and Kingswood will support them through to the end of their education - hopefully to university. Sheelagh Rugg from the Kingswood School said 'This is a great opportunity for out students to learn about a different country and their culture. We hope to have a full educational exchange and one day we may visit each other's country'.

2008-04-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

Moulton Primary School

2008-04-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

Moulton Primary School have supported us this year. In a sponsored event they raised over £4200 for our general fund. In addition the children saved 1p and 2p coins. This raised a very heavy £507! Thanks to The Halifax Bank for counting all these coins! This money will be used to pay for a special girl called Mai Colley to attend school. Mai is 5 and the £507 will take her through to the end of her primary education at Penyem School.

A message from Joyce - who supports NTF!

2008-04-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful experience to see at first hand the work that I had, for the past year, only read about in newsletters. For those people who have never visited a third world country, it is very difficult to have any true concept of the conditions that these people live under. Materialistically they have very little but they all try to make the most of what they do have, just wanting to be able to provide for their families. There are very few opportunities for work and so we can only hope that by enabling some of the young people of Penyem to gain an education more opportunities will open up for them.

The visit to Penyem itself, despite not feeling too well that day, was an amazing experience. I will never forget the welcome that awaited us. The sight of the school children lining the side of the road waving their home made Union jacks and singing a welcome song made me feel like the Queen! This was followed by drum beating and dancing that seemed to go on for ages. Another highlight was meeting my sponsored child. Most of the children were a bit overwhelmed by the occasion and just seemed to stare, probably they had never seen a white person before. My child, a boy of fifteen, seemed pleased with the football shirt and book I took for him, but wasn’t quite sure what to say. Again I expect that he was not used to getting presents. It was noticeable that when the other children were given their gifts from their sponsors they didn’t open them but hung on tightly to be opened I suspect in the privacy of their own homes.

Another part of the day was a meeting with the village group to make decisions on what they would like help with next. Unfortunately by this time I was feeling quite ill and have to admit I did doze off once or twice but not before I realized how grateful these people are with the support that they receive from The Northampton Trustee Fund and how every penny that is collected from fundraising is put to good use. However, during this time Chief Colley did seem to find time to become engrossed in a book I had given him for his school on Prince William – he couldn’t fail to notice the difference in lifestyle!

There is far too much to write about here but if you get the chance to go out to Penyem take it with both hands you will have an experience that you will never forget. Joyce Nicholls

Penyem – An example of direct development projects by NTF member and 2008 visitor - Nick Pyke.

2008-04-19T06:29:00.001-07:00

Penyem – An example of direct development projects
We arrived at Penyem to a raucous, friendly welcome. It seemed as if the whole village was there to greet us. It was obvious that Andy and Anne’s annual visits to the village were an excuse for celebration and a ‘big party’. We were treated to a fascinating display of local music, dancing and traditions in which all generations of the village participated from very young children to quite elderly grand parents. The formal welcome was a led by Chief Kolley and other village elders and it was an expression of their gratitude for the various projects that the Northampton Trustee Fund (NTF) has supported over the years.
We then went to the village primary school where we had a good lunch consisting of local food, and discussed the projects that we were going to see in the afternoon. These were as follows:

Lifetime Sponsorship of students
We met with students who have been awarded sponsorship for their education from primary school through to university. It was very moving to see and hear how proud the parents and families of these children were and to witness first hand the basic way in which families in the village lived.
Water Pump
We then visited the village water well. This provides water for the whole village and is powered by solar panels which provide the energy for the large water pump. NTF have been involved in this project over the past two years as part of a joint venture with some sponsors from the USA. This venture has been very difficult to coordinate and it could be seen that it was huge relief to the village development committee and NTF that after many set backs this project was now up and running and working successfully. In fact, the water pump works so effectively that that one of the next projects is to increase the capacity of the water storage tank for the village so that all villagers can access clean fresh water very day, instead of every other day as they do at the present time.
Chicken Farm
This project has also taken a while to come to fruition, however, Andy and Anne were both pleased to see this project was now producing results. The village has set up and cooperative chicken farm which operates on a commercial basis and will help Penyem to become self sustaining and earn precious revenues which can be ploughed back to the economic development of the village. It was good to see that NTF money has been used for investment in a self sustaining project such as this.
Little Northampton
It is wonderful to know that a small part of West Africa is named little Northampton! It comprises of an area of land in the agricultural area of the village which has been gifted to NTF. This land is currently being used to grow maize which is used to provide all the students at the primary school with a breakfast every day.
Football match
At the end of the day we were invited as honoured guests to the village sports field to watch the young people of Penyem first team play against Penyem reserves. This was a brilliant experience. The standard of football was truly excellent with many of the players displaying a very high level of skill and commitment. The pace was very quick, the tackling was hard and the standard of play was of the highest level. We were told that since NTF ‘s support commenced Penyem village football teams have improved each year, so much so that in 2007 they made it to the regional final and are now playing at a level well above that of a small village. Support from NTF has been vital in helping to develop sports in Penyem and the surrounding area. It seemed like the whole village had come out to watch, young, old, men and women. It was a party atmosphere throughout the match with loud music, dancing and fun for all spectators young from the age of 2 to 70.

Overall my visit to Penyem was an amazing experience. There are several lessons that the visit has taught me
· Just how much we take the basics of life for granted in England, such as clean fresh water, electricity and food.
· How in an African village such as Penyem, the whole village community seems to be responsible for raising the children. Although deprived of material possessions that we take for granted, youngsters in Penyem are lucky in the sense that they grow up in a loving, safe and secure community where all are looked after and watched over with seemingly no conflict or friction between generations.
· How much education is seen as the most valuable gift that can be given to a young person
· That the work of organizations such as NTF is invaluable in terms of contributing to the development of countries such as Gambia through small projects which have a direct influence on improving peoples lives at a local level.
Finally the work of Andy and Anne Butler needs to be recognised as making a real difference to the lives of many hundreds of people in a very remote and poor part of inland Gambia. (now click older posts below).

A few photos!

2008-04-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

Delivery of the Izusu Trooper April 2005.

The damaged solar panels in need of repair.

Penyem Boys in Northampton Town colours!

August 2007, these boys enjoy a unexpected shower as the water tank fills from the new pumps!

Our partners!

2008-04-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

We could not do this without you! Of course we cannot mention everyone. However, we must mention a few! Val and David Sabin from Val Sabin Publications in Northampton for a huge input, Millway Primary School and Chiltern Primary School for their regular contributions. Moulton Primary School and The Kingswood School have already been mentioned. Little Sutton Primary School for sponsoring a child, although the school is near Birmingham! Imerja, a northern IT company for supplying £750 of mosquito nets. Imerja also have sponsored the village nursr for 2010. Thomas Cook airlines for providing us with double baggage allowance on each trip!

We thank you all!

Who are we?

2008-04-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

Northampton Trustee Fund

UK Registered Charity: 1115191

ajb1@ntlworld.com

Telephone: 07812111187

Every penny donated goes directly to the village of Penyem!

April 2008 Newsletter

2008-04-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

Registered UK Charity Number: 1115191
www.northamptontf.blogspot.com

May 2008 Newsletter

Dear Friends

At last we have been able to put together an update on our trip to The Gambia last month. The reason for the delay is that we have been waiting for some additional input from the Penyem Village Development Committee. At this time of writing we are still waiting on GMT – Gambia Maybe Time! The reason for the delay will become apparent later in this letter.

So Anne and I set off for The Gambia in early April this time accompanied by our friends Nick and Joyce. Nick works as an Education Officer in the LEA (Nick’s wife Sue was unable to come). Joyce is now retired after many years teaching in Northampton schools. Our passage went smoothly. On arrival at Banjul airport we were greeted by the enthusiastic baggage handlers. We quickly ‘employed’ 4 of them to look after the 200kg+ of luggage. The head honcho said to me ‘ Oh sir I saw you on TV 2 years ago’ so we were well away! Another group of willing baggage handlers located all our boxes from the aircraft hold and bought them to the arrivals hall on a ‘private’ trolley. Customs can be difficult! However, this time we were shown to a side room – opened 3 boxes for approval, and after much nodding and handshaking and the liberal distribution of £1 coins, we were on our way!

Our visit to Penyem Village was on a Saturday. The welcome was again superb! Nick and Joyce were overwhelmed! The children lined the track, singing and waving home made flags. We were surrounded by the villagers and escorted to the village centre, to the tune of drums and colourful dancing.

We then had two hours of speeches, dancing and presentations. At this point we were able to hand over this year’s resources of board games, sports equipment etc. In addition, we were able to announce the continued sponsorship of 33 children and a further 18 for this year. We also are able to help two eleven year olds and a five year old for a special sponsorship initiative from The Kingswood School, Corby and Moulton Primary School. The villagers were so grateful.

For the first time we were part of VDC meeting to discuss various projects. Moulton Primary School, where our daughter teaches, had raised over £4000 for the fund. This is more than we have been able to offer in the past and so we asked the VDC to meet again at a later date to decide how to use this money – the results we are still waiting for – hence the delay with this letter. We are not concerned about the delay – all it means in the VDC are taking the decision very seriously.

Furthermore, to the surprise of the VDC we asked them to cost up an extension to the school. The Andrew Butler Dream Corner is a room they use to store all the gifts from NTF. It is now too small! So we asked for a price to build rooms twice the size. We have interest from a local source to fund this project. However, if any of you know of anyone who would like to get involved please let us know. In the whole scheme of things is would be such a small cost. A cost beyond the hopes of the villagers – but to us – perhaps 5 secondary schools doing a non uniform day a £1 per student? Nothing!

Anyway, back to our trip. We then moved to look at the land called ‘Little Northampton’. This has been well cultivated, growing maize to feed the children breakfast at school. The chicken farm had chickens! A small banana plantation had been planted in the same area. The water system was working well – but they really need a larger storage tank, The very primitive health centre was a little more organised. This is all due to you and the contributions you have made over the years.

And so onto the exhibition football match, by which time we were wilting a bit! But it was a time for the whole village to come together for a carnival! After the first half we need to return to civilization as we know it! (A cool beer or two at the hotel!) So, we loaded the vehicle and left, stopping at the house of our friend and agent Abdou Camara (Ten) to give his Dad some tobacco we had bought earlier. His Mum got some cash and soap!

In this short newsletter we cannot possibly tell all. You really need to come with us! Bookings are being taken for next Easter! Call us to talk about it. For much more detail on what we do have a look at –

www.northamptontf.blogspot.com

If you sponsor a child at school please continue to contact them through us. New sponsors, can write to their child and send the letters to us to post in the first instance.
Just to remind you of the procedure. Write to your child (do not put your address on the letter). Put the letter in an envelope and label it with the name of the child (you may wish to include a small gift – money is good! £5 max – but don’t feel obliged – and it is best if it is in Delasis. Then get the letter to us and we will post them off from time to time. Please don’t expect an immediate reply.It often takes 3 weeks for post to clear customs and another 3 weeks to find it’s way to Penyem!

Finally, we have some tablecloths and bed covers from the village for sale. They are really nice, £25 and £30 with the small profit going directly back to the village.

Thanks again for all your support. We will be in touch again soon.

The Butlers