Newsletter
5 August, 2006
NEW
SCHOOL BUILDING OPENS
After
a year of building work, the official opening of the new school building
took place on March 8th. The event was marked with a performances by
pupils, including dances by the senior girls and a recital by the junior
years. A ceremonial dancer (Sampa) travelled from the neighbouring village
to perform in honour of the opening accompanied by her female drummers.
There were T shirts for every volunteer who took part in the school build,
and from Brandeston School in Suffolk who raised much of the money for the
school – a wristband for each pupil bearing the names of the two
schools. In return Rogbonko pupils sent bracelets they wove themselves in
the local style. The event culminated in the grand ‘switch on’ as the
brand new solar lighting system installed by Lachlan Bateman and Simon
Westcott was demonstrated for the first time. (See below for Lachlan’s Diary of his trip).
Never
too Late
Evening
classes in literacy and numeracy aimed at adults began shortly after the
installation of the new solar lighting system. A total of sixty people
aged between 16 and 65 and including the village headman attend classes
three times a week. In September instructors from Makeni Teacher’s
Training College will hold a two week intensive course to train
Rogbonko’s four teachers in adult education teaching skills.
‘Diary’
By Lachlan Bateman
We left
our guesthouse in Magburaka early on the first morning, whilst the air was
still cool and the streets only mildly chaotic. Driving out of town, we
continued off the main road, past the vast sugar cane fields and onto the
dirt track that got us to the school. Rogbonko is literally at the end of
the line - after passing through four or so other villages and under some
stunning palm canopies, you pull into a clearing with the school - a brick
construction and the glare of the suns rays reflected from its zinc roof.
How hot it must be up there I wondered as we pulled in. Over the next two
days I found out.
Things
started seemingly slowly, but with Simon, myself and Alimamy – a local
electrician - working consistently through the day we had planned out the
system and managed to get two of the four panels securely mounted up on
the roof - not bad going on an African time scale. Highlights included
drilling through the roof deck using a hand drill and brace - we were
installing the first electricity for miles around! A delicious lunch was
cooked for us - I had heard stories of the scorching spicy local food but
I managed reasonably well, I reckon they might have been going easy on us.
Day two
and I was back on the hot tin roof, mounting the final two panels and
practising my hastily learned Temne greetings with the locals. Alimamy and
I got to wiring up the batteries and inverters whilst Simon installed bars
in the window. Wherever they are installed in the world the most common
solar system malfunction is theft! Properly looked after the panels on the
school will continue to provide a good level of energy for 50 years.
We got
our first bulb to successfully light that afternoon, which left the
morning to train four school officials in the correct use of the system,
then the celebration began! The kids performed a series of songs and
dances that blew me away. The sights, smells and music were so colourful
and authentic, I was really impressed. The only disappointment for the day
was the cancellation of a traditional music piece known as a ‘Bou-bou’
– the required instruments which are a series of large hollowed out
bamboo canes, not dissimilar to the didgeridoo, were not able to be
produced in time. One to save for next time.
IN BRIEF
Sporting
Triumph
In
April’s Inter-Primary School Sports Competition, Rogbonko Village School
beat five other local primary schools to win the trophy.
Pupils Exam
Success!
Thirteen
Rogbonko Village School Pupils sat the National Primary School Exams (NPSE),
which will allow them to graduate to secondary school. They are the first
pupils from Rogbonko to sit the exam.
Teachers’
Exam Success!
Augustine
Kamara has graduated from his second year at Makeni Teacher Training
College. James Fullah has successfully completed his first year. Both
began at Rogbonko School as untrained teachers and have been sponsored by
the Rogbonko Village School Trust to attend college to obtain formal
qualifications. The Trust also provided each with a bicycle to travel the
distance to the college.