Specially made abacus and toys suitable for blind and visually impaired children were among the items donated this week by students in Yorkshire. David Pointon visited Breckenbrough School at Sandhutton and Leeming and Londonderry County Primary to collect these.

A few weeks ago at Breckenbrough he explained why abacus would be so useful at the only school for the blind and visually impaired in the Gambia. “These cement place values, help with motor functions, improve tactile skills, and do help with number bonds,” he said. Below: David being presented with the new abacus by two of the Breckenbrough students.

 

These days abacus are quite expensive to buy and may not be entirely suitable for blind children. So he described to the head of the design and technology department at Breckenbrough, Lindsay Wellington Graham, exactly what was needed.“This was a useful teaching exercise at the school as they had to make the jigs so that the abacus could be ‘mass produced’ rather than individually made,” David said.

The students at Breckenbrough and at Leeming know him well as he is one of their school governors. At Leeming some of the children had carefully selected toys to be sent to the Gambia. Hannah explained that she had covered her eyes so that she could use only her hands to work out which toys would be most suitable. Both she and some others donated toys which they had had for many years and become very attached to. Below: David with the pupils at Leeming and Londonderry CP School, discussing how blind children would use the toys.

 

 

Above: The children at Leeming and Londonderry CP school who donated toys: Georgia, William, Hannah, Freya and Megan.

Financial donations received this week included one from the Wheatsheaf pub at Carperby where the Dales Team held their final meeting on Wednesday before departure on January 3. After the meeting they heard that the Rotary Club of Gibraltar had offered them accommodation before they leave Europe for Africa. Once in Morocco they plan to visit Chefchaouen, Azrou and Marrakech before (weather permitting) driving over the Atlas mountains to Tiznit and on to Mauritania. They will be sending messages en route and these will be posted on a “Trip Blog” on this website.

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