The Gambia is the smallest Country on mainland Africa, and is completely surrounded by its much larger neighbour Senegal. About a third of the population live below the International poverty level. Soma is a small but growing up-country town, with a population of roughly 10,000. In 1992 Julie Bomken, a frequent English visitor to the Gambia, met with Kanu, a fellow Scout and teacher, and from that chance meeting grew the Bomken Nursery School – the first of its kind in The Gambia. Initially the School flourished, with over a hundred pupils in four classrooms gaining the vital basic learning skills to prepare them for primary education – especially the learning of English, the language used for all formal education in The Gambia. However, following the deaths of both Kanu, and more recently Julie, the School struggled to maintain its position, and was reduced to just one unpaid teacher with a handful of children.

In memory of Julie, and in tribute to her tireless struggle to improve the lives of these children, her family determined to restore the Nursery to its former standing, and to achieve a standard when the running will be taken on by the State. To this end we have founded the Bomken Nursery School Trust, and are well on the way to acheiving Julies original intentions.