Dear friends and family,

News from Tubakuta

Although we returned to the UK in April, our Crosslinks colleagues, Mark and Mands Vernon, were able to stay on at the college. They have been brilliant at co-ordinating ongoing WhatsApp lessons and checking in on how the students are coping with the lockdown and remote learning. Nick has been writing worksheets for classes, sending them to The Gambia for printing and then later on hosting a WhatsApp text message group discussion. It’s obviously much less effective than classroom teaching, but it’s kept the students engaged and learning and we’re very thankful for that. We’ve also both continued to be involved in the devotions which are still being given on a daily basis (technology is a wonderful thing!). All this has been possible because many of the students have remained on site and continued their manual paid work as that is allowed under the lockdown rules. It has been interesting to observe the difference in national priorities with mosques and churches opening before schools.