Kafuta Tumbung School Trust

26/10/2026

Fresh bananas from the school garden handed out . They just love them and they don’t taste like anything we get our supermarkets - so fresh

15/10/2026

Once more the generosity and love from Nicola, who works for us at Pencil Cottage, has come to the fore and donated a new mosquito net to all the new starters in the Nursery School !!! This initiative is so important and has been running for a few years and there have already been noticeable changes to the level of malaria effecting the students . This is amazing and has in no doubt saved lives . Thank you Nic you are a star

10/10/2026

So at last the Lisa & Derick Building the final building is having the classrooms tiled . This will take place over weekends to limit the impact on classes . We are so very excited

02/10/2026

Well school has kicked off . This week Karl, Darren , Mo and Fatou ( we are still here in the uk ) have been busy going through the shopping list for the new school year and made the first of many deliveries . The soundtrack that goes with the video is composed by Lisa for the school . Enjoy

21/08/2026

Fundraiser at pencil cottage cafe today . Cafe is closed on Fridays so we thought what better with the sun still shining we would give it over for the school and we have been joined by friends to sell some goodies , Lego , antiques and collectibles. We have a tombola and book stall and selling refreshments with all proceeds going to KTST

10/08/2026

Pencil Cottage Shanklin Isle of Wight will be raising funds for the Trust on Friday 21 August see the post below (ignore the dates it is the 21st)

We are closed on Fridays so we thought we would take the opportunity to raise funds for our charity Kafuta Tumbung School Trust on one of those Fridays

We established the charity in 2013 following a visit to a remote village in the Gambia . This has led to us building two schools in the village which we run and now benefit 270 children where there were no educational facilities.

So on Friday 21st August between 12-4 we will have tables selling children’s books, antiques and collectibles , general items along with a tombola and homemade scones to take home . Drinks will be on offer to with all proceeds going to the school.

HOW CAN YOU HELP ?
* come along on the day
* donate some items for the tombola these can be dropped into pencil cottage or jingle bells before the 21st
* or if you can’t make it you can still help by donating to the charity account kafuta Tumbung School Trust number 93170756 sort code 20 79 31

Fingers crossed for a sunny day

07/08/2026

Whilst school holidays are upon us the children at Kafuta Tumbung are keen to keep learning . They are attending some additional lessons this summer - here they are in an English class with the first exercise being to write letters to their sponsors . Hopefully we can get these to you in a few weeks . Other work also continues with the new tiling in the toilets and sinks and taps outside these are amazing facilities for a village school . We are so pleased the school is benefitting from this charitable donation . Elsewhere Mo and some of the older students from the upper school have returned to their Lower Basic school to plant trees around the perimeter. Mo our project manager is organising . With the school garden also flourishing with maize and bananas- a few photos to show you all the hard work

29/07/2026

The wonderful children have now finished the school year and the team have been working hard over the last few months to ensure we can send you year end reports this year . Darren has started to send out all the reports as well as another email giving you an update on the schools . So keep an eye out for the two emails which will come from our new dedicated email [email protected]

Darren will be sending out newsletters and school reports and Lisa will be contacting you regarding sponsorship renewals and graduates . If you have any questions please email us and one of us will respond . Thank you everyone and hope you enjoy the updates

02/07/2026

JUST A FEW DAYS TO GO . Wacklands Farmhouse Open Garden Newchurch Isle of Wight in aid of KTST. Tickets are £10 each and include cream tea and refreshments . If you would like tickets please contact [email protected] or at jingle bells / pencil cottage cafe or ring / text me on 07872619876

23/06/2026

Well here’s the most amazing news from our talented footballers who we highlighted last week . As part of the Region 2 team they played in the national championship at the weekend and WON . What you have to realise is the village is small and remote and to have been selected for a regional team was amazing in itself , where girls come from bigger towns and better equipped schools . Yet 4 of our girls continue to shine . They have made us all so proud and we wish them continued strength . What is also amazing is that these girls also perform highly academically! Couldn’t be prouder of these young ladies