Gambia Report

The pupils who had been on the trip to the Gambia reported back to the school in All School Worship, giving just a flavour of what was a challenging and eye opening excursion.

All the students and staff wore the Gambian Clothes that they had been given, adding a touch of colour to the proceedings.

The boys told the school about some of the things that had shocked them - people living on rubbish tips, open sewers with children playing nearby, that not all children get to have an education, the health hazards of meat and fish in the markets and being hassled by Gambians to buy their goods.

Ella Vacani explained in a very moving way about her Gambian friend; the pressures on her to get married, but not to the person she would want to marry, which would almost certainly mean she could not pursue her dream of becoming an accountant.

Sarah Marsh and Elvin Delaney, along with Sister Dimery told us of some of the medical centres they had seen as well as the dentist and the clinic. Sister Dimery had been tested for malaria to show us how easy and comparatively cheap this was (about 70p).

We challenged the school to think about the malnourished children's clinic in Marakissa. This had been not been used for over a decade. Some of the equipment was there, but the building needs renovation. Pupils agreed that it would be great to get a trip up and running to do some of the work on the building. The Headmaster pointed out that the nurse at the clinic had himself been treated at the malnourished children's clinic and wouldn't have survived without it.  Making a difference here has become a challenge for the pupils and staff of Queen's.

The service was led by the Chaplain, with prayers from Mr O'Donnell. The choir, led by Mr Quick, contributed a fine Introit and Anthem on the theme of the resurrection of Christ, as well as a moving rendition of "Kum Ba Yah" as a background to the prayers.