Updated
April 20, 2006

Regular site visitors you will know that I now spend months each year in Gambia - but the same old problems prevented much updating of the site - though the Bantaba was busy

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Very happily and after 3 years of a close working friendship, Filley agreed to marry me. She will continue to welcome members to the GTS houses and as my wife will supervise all the services we currently provide at GTS Kololi.

The news this year is very much the same as last years news summary, ONLY more of it all.

The charity registration of GETSuk has made a fantastic difference to the funding of many of our projects, including Bakoteh and Essau Nursery schools. Tim and Lesley continue to raise massive sums to complete the Younna sports Hall which is being used on a daily basis for SPORTS and Badminton.

GTS and GETSuk continue to be approached ny smaller Gambian charities to help with their administrration & a major merger is planned with a project in Bwiam.

In a very Gambian close kept secret until the last minute Filley and I got married on 14th March at the Justice Department in Banjul. We had a small private wedding and an invitation only reception in the evening.

It was a lovely day and despite the houses on th ecompound still being unfinished we really didn't let it bother us.

The idea of a two week honey moon before I left Gambia was simply out of the question BUT we will make up for it later this year with a four week break during September.

Filley has moved from housekeeper to wife with the same sort of flexability that I knew and loved her for during all her time working at GTS.

When I retire in August this year, we will throw ourselves into the last phase of the compound dedvelopment,

Comments to GTS

• 2005/6 we have had EVEN more members visiting The Gambia
• We continue to administer 3 nursery schools
• We have two major educational projects (aimed at raising standards) under way in Gambia and in the UK
• GTS have around 45 members of staff working in Gambia, some now sponsored work and training placements
• GTS is supporting nearly 800 children's education
• The GTS Bakoteh Computer workshop is being developed
• The Youna sports hall is now in use but still requires tiles & painting
• The GTS Bar & Restaurant has grown in size and popularity
• We now have 5 serviced rooms for members visiting Gambia
• GETSuk was registered in 2005 No 1110998 and is steadily growing
• GTS has shelved it's plans to go for NGO status until the two organisations settle down and consolidate working practises
• Francis the founder got married to a very special member of staff
• Francis is retiring this year and will be spend even more time in Gambia - Sept 06 to May 07 (9 months each year)
• The first issue of the GETS newsletter is published April 2006

Educational Projects
Jo Evans a retired primary head has now moved out to Gambia and after getting the administration at Bakoteh school sorted he spent some time with the teachers helping them approach the teaching of small children with some activities each day aimed at providing them with some rudimentary skills of using the tools of education paper, pencils, scissors and glue. Jo is now spending more of his time preparing the detailed curriculum and making or sourcing the resources that will be needed to deliver the new curriculum

As a seperate initiative Cliff Parfitt has written a teaching manual for our teachers and is now developing at great speed audio tapes for use in language learning (Remembering that none of our children speak English as a first language and most never hear English outside the school - English is however the officail language of the country so it is essential for Gambians to become fluent in its use. Cliff Parfitt worked for ILEA Londons Education Authority before spending almost 40 years in Japan teaching English to children whose parents spoke no English at all

We are very lucky to have Cliff and Jo prepared to work so hard as volunteers.

Computer Lab
Helen Touray a long standing GTS member and our first Working holidays volunteer has raised more money for the school she was placed in and this time it is being used to develop a computer lab next to the library that was completed last year.

Younna Multi Purpose Hall
Tim is returning shortly April/May to supervise the finishing off of the halls floor and painted walls. The head at Younna is delighted with the hall that not only provides a sports facility but a large enough room for the whole school to gather for assemblies and for taking examinations. For the children it has opened up the pleasures of Badminton and they shoiw a remarkable natural ability - Tim has high hopes of organising an exchange visit to the UK fo rsome of the more talented players.

GTS Bar and Restaurtant
After a few years operation behind our original Dardeema Restaurant due to sub leasing problems - GTS took over the whole site during November and spent almost 6 weeks demolishing and rebuilding to make the whole look as if it was always intended to be how it is now.

The changes have transformed the frontage and GTS has just grown in popularity - It is now a restaurant recommended by Gambia Experience in their holiday brochure and continues to be one of the few Restaurants where visitors return day after day during their holiday - for Breakfast, Lunch, Happy Hour drinks or for our special evening menu, like the native Cameolian the place changes character and appearance from 8 in the morning until late at night

GETS and GTS Office
The changes at the Restaurant have provided GETS with a splendid office that is now not only decorated and working but has an excellent staffing addition Ousman who has joined us as our Secretary - and provides an excellent means of communications with GTS and GETS in Gambia by phone (00220) 4462476 or by email to GETS@GETSuk.org

GTS Kololi
A great deal of my recent visit was making changes in the Kololi Compound. The Guest house now has two of the bedrooms with tiled ensuite toilets and showers and finally a reliable water supply with plenty of pressure. The verhanda has been extended and a new Night Watchmans room has been added to make sure guests can get into the compound at night at all hours. The rooms are still just £65 a week, but are STRICTLY only available to GTS or GETS members.

Also completed this year is our new two bedroomed 2 storey self contained house with large tiled sunbathing roof. This provides private accommodation for upto to 4 members and currently costs £150 a week, there is no discount if only one room is required and we suggest single room visitors take a room in the Guest house.

All rooms in both houses are cleaned daily and beds changed regularly. Sheets and the towels provided are washed regularly ALL inclusive in the price. Our aim is to give you the maximum time to enjoy Gambia without domestic chores, we even provide an additional cost service of washing and ironing all your holiday clothes so no long washing, drying and ironing session on your arrival back in the UK.

Next year the Guest house will have the last bedrooms made ensuite - This work will be carried out fron early November 2006 and will be completed by 1st January 2007.

The Guest house will then change from self catering and the rooms will have the facilities of our onsite and NEW specialist West African Restaurant, serving dishes from all over West Africa and guests will have their own private roof garden for sunbathing and a dip pool for those who don't want to visit the beach - which is only a 15 minute walk away and just a few minutes from the GTS Bar and Restaurant.

GETS Newsletter
This has been a long time coming - it was first intended as a GTS newsletter over 8 years ago BUT has finally found its form in the very able hands of Rosie Holder and Angie Thomas who have made a fantastic job of the first issue which will go to all GETS members and will be available as a pdf file from both websites shortly.

The production will go into printed form to be available at the Restaurant from November 2007 and this has been generously funded by Mr Stephen Freeman and Sons of Freeman's Caterers who provide event catering services at prestigious events like Silverstone, Party in the Park and the CLA Game Fair.