Projects

Since its foundation in 1990 by the late John Pickering, many goals have been achieved not least of which is the building of a school and the continued education of Dumbutu’s children.

A number of people from Woodbury Salterton have been fortunate enough to visit the African village gaining a first-hand insight of the projects they supported and making many friends in the process.

This all shows the improvement in their lifestyle, from a hand to mouth existence to a degree of independence. All your donations are really making a difference.

Supply of materials and equipment

Many hand sewing machines and tools for the carpentry and metal workshops have been sent out from our village. In addition, a tractor was provided although the it is no longer in use due to lack of parts and availability of maintenance.

building of the school

The school is attended by around 250 children from Dumbutu and its surrounding area. The new school, partly funded by the Link, was built in 1990. Currently 83 children now have their education partially funded by East Devon residents. (see our “Schooling & student sponsorship” page for more information)

Multipurpose centre

In the early days of the Link a multi-purpose centre was built by the villagers themselves with materials funded mainly by the link.

The Well Project

The Gambia is a small country of 1.85m people surrounded by Senegal and dominated by the River Gambia which flows east-west through its entire length. The rainy season is from June to September when the predominant crop is groundnuts. Much of the year is dry and there is a growing use of groundwater supplies for dry season irrigation for vegetable production. Some farmers, with the help of loans, are making use of solar energy to pump water from wells and boreholes.

Dumbutu is a good three hours drive east of the capital, Banjul which is on the coast. Although there is a drinking water supply there is no natural water supply for irrigation apart from a 60 metre deep well from which the women have to lift water in buckets. A loan is not an option for the people of Dumbutu. For nearly two years we raised funds to help with their solar pumped well project but fortunately the women did as we suggested and applied for matched funding from another charity and were granted their well outright. This means that the £8K already raised by WSDL can now be used by Dumbutu over the next two years to further help with some educational projects and with the women’s garden for seeds, fertilizers and tools.

The Garden Project - The Vegetable Garden

In more recent times we have supported the establishment of a communal garden for 135 women residents. This has included paying for training in organisation and vegetable growing delivered by Concern Universal (a Berkshire charity)

This is a project which got under way in 2010/2011 when an area on the edge of the village was developed by the Dumbutu women to grow vegetables for the village. It was also hoped that they might raise money by selling any surplus vegetables. In 2011 We provided the money to pay for half a km of fencing around the plot to protect the produce from wild animals. In 2012 we also went on to provide funds to enable 123 women to be given training in horticulture. This was with the assistance of an ex Bicton College student and necessitated transporting the teachers from Banjul to Dumbutu, on a daily basis. It has proved to be a very successful project and in 2012, when representatives of the Bicton Overseas Agricultural Trust (B.O.A.T) visited The Gambia to study and report on various agricultural projects, they reported very favourably on the Dumbutu vegetable plot.

The vegetable plot was divided up into 756 small beds and the women were each allocated three beds which were situated in different locations within the garden to try and make it as fair as possible. The pictures shown below give an indication of how it has progressed between 2009 (before the project commenced) and 2015.

nursery school

(5-7 years) no government funding, help with roof repairs and books for the village primary school which has minimal funding, (see our “Schooling & student sponsorship” page for more information)

bicycles for secondary children

to travel 8 miles to school enabling them to live at home and not ‘farmed out’. Each bike carries 4 children per day.

small village bakery,

two lads are being apprenticed to a baker who visits each week to teach them a trade, and we will support this.

Student Sponsorship

Education Sponsorship scheme

The new school, partly funded by the Link, was built in 1990. Currently 83 children now have their education partially funded by East Devon residents. (see our “Schooling & student sponsorship” page for more information)