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How far would you walk to school each day?

In one of their trips to Rural Gambia, The Gambia Teachers Union (GTU) saw students walking long distances to school under the hot burning Sun (40 degrees and more) often without proper shoes. This causes a lot of students to drop out of school or come late, and this affects performance and retention.

Teachers at Njoren School, in the Upper River Region of The Gambia, noticed that Lamin, one of their students had holes in his shoes, and eventually had to walk bare foot. The teachers were concerned when he explained that his parents could not afford to buy any more shoes, they wore out so quickly, as he lived an hours walk away and they were concerned he would stop attending school altogether.

When Marie Antionette, General Secretary of GTU (Gambia Teachers Union), heard this story she discussed ideas with the teachers in the region and they decided that many of the children needed bicycles to get to school. She contacted the Steve Sinnott Foundation to see if they could provide funds for them to buy bicycles locally to give to the children who lived far from their schools.

We were able to help, and now students in Bollybana School, in the Upper River Region of The Gambia have received bicycles from the Gambia Teachers Union through the support of the Steve Sinnott Foundation. Now Lamin and many other children at his school have bicycles to get to school. They are not tired when they get there, their shoes are not wearing out and they are able to concentrate at school.

Education is a basic human right, and sometimes the obstacle to getting an education is simply that the school is hard to get to.


Some communities are very isolated and consequently some students have to walk 9km to school every day, that’s an 18km round trip. In one of the remote schools in the Lower River Region of The Gambia some of the children walk the equivalent of 50 miles a week to get to school and back. Long journeys to school result in students arriving late, being too tired to study when they are there and some students don’t enrol at school at all. Walking long distances in the heat can also be dangerous.


Bicycles enable students to get to school more easily, and safely. There is a huge impact on their performance at school too, as they are more able to study effectively.


When they received these bicycles the students were overjoyed. They are so keen to get an education, even if it does mean walking long distances to get there, but having a bicycle enables them to get far more out of their education.


Educators are also delighted to see the children at safely at school, on time and not too tired to work. They can enjoy teaching and see the children thrive.


If you want to support more children to cycle to school you can buy the gift of a bicycle here:



Give the Gift of a Bicycle
Steve Sinnott • June 8, 2021
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