AID TO SCHOOLS AND SKILL CENTRES.

With the promotion of village self-sufficiency through literacy and skill development being our main objective, 'Aid to Schools' and skill Centres was given more priority during the period in review, as it was a fundamental approach to link the Gap between Basic skills and.

technological development. The programme involved the supply of Educational materials and tools/equipments to schools and skill centres to facilitate the training and the development of marketable skills that can make life worth living for our beneficiaries. Through this programme several schools and skill Centre in the country were equipped with tools/equipments that has gone a long way in improving the performance of the their institutions. The following schools were assisted in many way, in most cases more than once.

Following the massive donation of tools to schools and skill Centres in the first half of the year, several requests were received from across the country for assistance in the fields of education and skills development. Among the many requests that came in, few of them were deemed very urgent and therefore needed quick response from the Trust. Below are few of the schools and skills the Trust assisted during the period in review. 

DONATION OF TOOLS AND HAND-PUMP REPAIRS FOR KOLIOR PRIMARY SCHOOL.

The first time Kolior Primary school received assistance from the Trust was in March of the year(1998), when a good number of sewing machines, Carpentry and metal work tools were donated to the school. It was during the presentation ceremony that a request was made to the Trust for assistance in repairing the school's hand pump which had been broken as result of pressure from users, especially the school pupils. In response to the request, the trust ordered the spare parts needed for the repairs and hired the service of an Engineer, with whom two members of our staff traveled to the village to get the work done. The pump has been repaired and it is currently use. In a visit two months after the repair of the pump you could see a marked improvement in the vegetable garden.

DONATION OF TOOLS TO THE "N.Y.S.S." AND THE BARRA SKILL CENTRE.

The Gambia National Youth Service Scheme was donated with many useful books and six electric sewing machines to facilitate the operation of the Scheme. The items donated were said to have played a viable role in the scheme. The National Youth Award Scheme is one of its kind in the country, in that, it is really animating disadvantaged youths and helping them to become useful citizens in the country.

The Barra Skill Centre was also one of the many institutions that have received assistance from Kingfisher Trust during the year in review. The Centre received thirty sewing machines and typewriters from the Trust, and these machines are said to be playing a vital role in the operations of the Centre. Barra Skill Centre occupies a very strategic position in the.

development of skills training in the North Bank Division, in that it provides services for a whole district that is without adequate skills training facilities.

DONATION OF TOOLS TO KUSAMAI AND BULOK (BRIGET) SKILL CENTRES.

Two other requests for assistance were responded to, in the month of July 1998 when the Trust visited Bullock and Kusamai to donate skills/training tools to both institutions. Mainly Carpentry tool and metal work tools were donated to the centres for a start. The Bullock and Kusamai skill Centres are a part of the up-country project of the President Award Scheme, and the link between the Centre and the Trust was established as a result of the Trust's regular assistance to the President's Award Scheme.