Letter to members
Winter 2019/20 For you, dear members, we summarized the news of the past half year. In May big preparations for the school festival for the 20th anniversary began. The students with their teachers rehearsed songs and plays, sewed clothes, organised meals, seating and pavilions. During the Pentecost holidays, a group of 20 people flew to Gambia to visit the school, the Skill Centres in Brufut and Sintet and to get to know the country and its people. The colourful and impressive school festival with almost 900 guests was the highlight for all participants. 620 pupils were presented with wooden hearts. Students from the Amberg area painted them under the motto “A heart for Gambia”. All employees received a sack of rice as a gift as a token of gratitude and appreciation. Longstanding employees were also honoured with a certificate and a club shirt. We are especially pleased to have met former students with their success stories. They proudly reported that they work as fashion designers, run their own hairdressing business or are successful in the music industry. You can find pictures and travel reports on our homepage. The trainees in Sintet passed the examination for dressmaker with flying colours. Karin Neumüller personally handed over the certificates and footstitching machines to our seven proud women. In July the sixth classes successfully completed primary school. The majority of the students attend the secondary school in Brufut. Thanks to the financial support of a sponsor, seven graduates of the Secondary School now receive a scholarship at the GTTI training centre for craft and economic professions. The carpentry workshop with Schreiner Landing Tamba was moved from the Skill Center to the school to carry out the necessary repairs at the school. Since our tailoring shop at the Skill Center is growing steadily, the former carpentry shop was converted into an additional sewing room. On August 31st, a flea market was held at the Kulturstift Amberg for the benefit of the association. Numerous sellers offered flea market goods and donated their proceeds to our projects in Gambia. The visitors could stroll through the flea market with coffee, cake, cold drinks and snacks. Karin Neumüller showed pictures of the group trip and informed all interested people. Thanks to the numerous visitors and great feedback the day was a complete success. Many thanks to all participants for their donations! A women’s garden was created on the