I've just returned from the most amazing trip to The Gambia - it was one of the best things I have ever done! To see more of the hard work we did in the classrooms have a little look at this blog post. While we were having breaks from the scrubbing and painting we went into the playgrounds to meet the children in the school and use some of the resources that we donated... So here are a few photos of the fun we had!
I have just returned from The Gambia! I've been out in West Africa working for a charity called F.R.O.G.S (friends of Gambian schools). It's a brilliant charity that works with over 100 schools all over Tha Gambia, working to improve education for children throughout the country. For those of you that don't know, I had raised £1000 to go and transform some classrooms in Bijilo Lower Basic School by cleaning, white-washing and painting their learning resources onto the walls. The school cannot afford to provide the children with textbooks so this enabled all children to access the learning...
The Gambia Girls team!
The classroom before we got our hands on it. The floors were crumbling away with huge holes in, the walls were dirty and bare... but not for long!
After a lot of elbow grease, we scrubbed, rinsed and white-washed the walls all ready for the learning resources to be painted onto them!
The respiratory system
Please excuse my hair and general scruffy appearance, when you're working hard in the 40 degree heat of Africa, there is no time for beautifying!
Adult and milk teeth diagrams, a cross-section of skin and the excretory system.
Traditional costumes of The Gambia
An 8-point compass with a cheeky elephant to help the children remember :)
The new improved chalk board
The Gambian crest
A map of The Gambia
We left our own little signatures to mark our hard work, each of us printed our hand and wrote our name
The most rewarding part was letting the children back into their new classroom and straight away they started using the resources on the walls. Here is a boy reading aloud the poem "you are what you eat" that we painted onto the wall.
Hip, Hip, Hooray!
The Head Teacher Mr Fatty and one of the teachers, Lamin, with some children enjoying the resources that we provided the school with!
Marie Claire, Mywardrobe and Storm have teamed up with The Rainbow Trust Children's Charity to put on fabulous fundraising event in London. Celebrities, top models and the cream of the fashion industry are to turn out in force for the fundraiser. There will be a VIP fashion show co-hosted by Sadie Frost. It will be a 2 day event on the 29th and 30th of June held at London's One Mayfair. The 29th June will be an exclusive evening of catwalk fashion show followed by a sample sale on the 30th crammed with top brands. There'll also be Storm's top model scouts attending to find the next new face... so if you fancy yourself a bit of a fashionista with model potential it'll be an opportunity you can't afford to miss!
Theo Fennel Necklace - up for auction
Retrosun 1970's Christian Dior shades - sale
Benefit Lipglosses - sale
monsoon Dress - sale
While you're browsing the fabulous things on offer on the 30th you can also get your nails done by the brilliant Boom Nails. I love the rainbow polka dot design... but then again, I'm biased! Liberty Ross will be attending the event and Kate Moss has signed the bag that she has donated to the Trust in Fashion auction! So if you are free on the 29th and 30th and fancy grabbing yourself some fabulous goodies where all the money is going to a good cause... buy your tickets now!
We kickstarted our day with yoghurt, granola, raspberries and almonds, fruit juice and a sneaky pain au chocolat! :)
We're still feeling pretty enthusiastic at the start of the walk. The first leg of the walk took us through Regents park, Hyde Park, Green Park and St James Park. It was absolutely glorious weather all day! Most of us managed to get some pretty serious tan marks by the end of the day!
There were so many herons in Regents park! They were amazing, you don't realise quite how big they are until you're up close to them!
Horse riders in Hyde Park
Everything looks so much prettier in the sunshine!
Brief pause for a photo moment!
Big Ben!
I love this building on the North Bank
A much earned ice cream break at The Tower of London... over halfway to our end destination!
I think this little sign was pretty apt in the circumstances! There wasn't a "triumphant moment" photo at the end of the walk, mainly because we were all so completely shattered that we all collapsed in Jenny's flat and was unable to move! It was tough towards the end of the walk but I definitely feel like I've achieved something! Plus, it's all in the name of chairty!
