Monday – First Day of School

Sunday night was filled with anticipation: final try-on’s and fittings of the Marina International School uniforms, early showers, organizing backpacks, setting alarm clocks for 6:30 a.m. The uniform is nothing like I imagined – it’s much more cheerful. Boys and girls wear the same top: a blue and white tie-dyed shirt (like a Hawaiian summer shirt) with a white cotton Marina school logo patch sewn on the left chest, and for girls, a knee-length full-pleated royal blue skirt (boys wear blue pants). Everyone wears black, traditional school shoes and white socks.

We arrived just after 8 a.m. to meet the school director and get the girls settled. I was amused to find that the teen-agers would not walk in to school with their parents and they always ask their parents to drop them a bit farther from the entrance so they are not seen to be dropped off by mummy or daddy. One group of older students was hanging around across the street of the school (also not paved, made of sand, very dusty) at a food stand set up by local women living in the compound facing the school.

While this school is based on a Cambridge British curriculum, it is really a Gambian school (there is also an American school nearby). 90% of the students are Gambian-African and so are most of the staff. The school director is a lovely, gentle, petite woman of Caribbean-Chinese descent, who grew up in England and was a director of an international school in Germany prior to the Gambia. She exudes capability, but also warmth. The academic director is an exuberant and friendly British man, who was previously at an international school in Thailand. He was informal in his own version of a tie-dyed African shirt, but also conveyed his dedication to the school and the kids. Many staff are African. We met the honors French instructor, an African wearing a tailored three-piece suit. One physical education teacher is Danish, the other Gambian. Anisa’s “Form 1” (6^th grade) team leader is a warm and elegant Indian woman, wearing a striking pink and green sari; Mrs. Ansari immediately took Anisa to her classroom and made her feel at ease.

On our way out of the school and our initial meeting, I wanted to take a quick look around the grounds. I spotted both of my girls. Layla was walking with her cousin Amelia (they’ll be in the same class) and three other African girls, to buy a math instrument set from the school store. Anisa was in the distance in the sports fields, already changed for her p.e. class and starting a jog with her classmates. They purchase a snack at mid-day and come home for their lunch/supper, the big meal of the day, at 3 pm. I can’t wait to hear how the day went.

(Pictures forthcoming under separate file.)