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A member of the customer services team at shower manufacturer Mira Showers has been building an adventure playground for children in Gambia.
Russell Harris was part of a team working in the village of Sambel Kunda which was also involved in planning a water tower, and re-plumbing some very leaky washroom and toilet facilities.
The village projects were all made possible by charity Stella’s School Scheme – founded by the late Dr. Stella Brewer-Marsden.
Harris worked in 40deg C heat for the seven days of the playground build, from site clearance to completion and says: “After a sweltering week, we had done it! We’d come up with two tyre swings, three climbing ropes, four trapeze rings, stepping logs, crocodile balance beams, a swinging log and a fantastic Burma rope bridge.
“After all that sweat, a broken finger for a local, a dodgy generator, 56 very deep holes, 25 3.5m poles, 25 litres of creosote and 12m of threaded bar: sorting out the plumbing was a doddle! All credit to the villagers and other volunteers; plus thanks to Mira for a chunk of cash towards getting the project realised”.
Recent examples of the charity’s efforts have included a solar power installation, a school garden, child sponsorship scheme and a recently built kitchen ensuring the children get at least one ‘decent’ good meal a day.
