ABC Nursery School in Ebo Town

When Butterfly Friends opened its doors in Ebo Town, the school was planned for 60 pupils. On registration day, 120 small school-ready children stood in line. That says everything about the need — and the school has only grown since.

The new building was completed on 15 November 2003 with 8 classrooms, an office and its own kitchen. Children attend for three years before moving on to primary school, and the school day always includes a hot meal.

Head teacher Marie Sophie Sarr was Butterfly Friends' very first teacher and has been with the school for more than twenty years. She leads nine teachers, plus cooks, cleaners, a caretaker and a night watchman — 21 employees in all.

Ebo Town is a suburb of Serrekunda on the south bank of the Gambia River, built on former rice fields. In the rainy season from July to October the area regularly floods, and malaria is a real threat.

Around 80 per cent of the adults in the area can neither read nor write. For the children here, school is not just lessons — it is the road to a completely different future than their parents were given.