Blogging Around the World the Gambia

7/28/2019 Blogging Around the World the Gambia

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Blogging Around The World

Cover Design: Cara WilliamsPhotography: Cara Williams

Copyright 2006 by Cara WilliamsAll rights reserved

By Cara Williams


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CONTENTSChapter 1: 3Chapter 2: 6Chapter 3: 7Chapter 4: 8

Chapter 5: 10Chapter 6: 13


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Chapter One

April 16th 2007Its the day we jet off to The Gambia, (and by

we, I mean myself, my sister Faye and friend,

Amy), for a two week volunteering experience

with The Wonder Years Centre of Excellence

(WYCE) http://wyce.org.uk/?page_id=734.

I was up at 5am, taking my malaria tablet and freaking out about flying. So far, it was a

typical start to a trip.

At Heathrow, I got through a bottle of wine, realised the check-in desk was at the other

end of the airport, almost missed check in and started to feel very nauseas. Still normal.

Amy and Faye did their best to mother me through the flight (very normal), but on

landing at Banjul Airport, everything became un-normal.

Firstly, the airport was packed with people. I have never seen that many people

squeeze into a building.

A group of WYCE staff greeted us, all in bright white WYCE t-shirts. After greeting

Mama (a young, cheeky assistant chef at WYCE), Gemma (one of the WYCE volunteer

co-ordinators), and assorted members of WYCE staff, we all got onto a rickety old

WYCE bus and made our way to the small village of Madina Salaam, where the project

HQ is based.

There dont seem to be any rules of the road here. Its fair game; donkeys, cows, and

bicycles share the road and travel on whichever side of the road they feel like.

By the time we arrived at the project HQ, we were all

shattered. We went to our room to unpack. The room was

actually a bamboo hut, with a sandy floor, tin roof and

separate room with running water for washing.

There were three metal framed beds, complete with

mosquito nets and an array of second hand sheets.

Before we could take anymore in, we all fell asleep.

An hour later, we got up to change before dinner. I went

to get some fresh clothes from my bag, which is when I realised my bag wasnt there.
http://wyce.org.uk/?page_id=734http://wyce.org.uk/?page_id=734


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We all scrabbled around looking for my bagin fact, I was amazed how many people

helped me look for itall the staff were really concerned and stopped what they were

doing to join the search.

Emily (one of the charity coordinators) offered to take me back to the airport to see if it

was there. It was pitch black now and the airport was a good hour and a half away.Emily, Malang; (the local WYCE go to man) and I headed back to the airport,

narrowly avoiding running over a donkey on the way.

The airport was quiet and there were hardly any staff around. I went through customs

and spoke to a woman, who said that the only place it could be was the unclaimed

baggage area. It wasnt.

As we got back on the bus, Emily had a call from Omar; the WYCE staff gardener. He

had been investigating for me and tracked my bag down. It was locked in customs at

the airport. Relief.

Back at the lodge, I had some chili, cooked by WYCE chef, Ensa.

There is no electricity at the WYCE lodge, so once the sun goes down, it is pitch black.

The staff lit a fire in the pit, which we sat around for a while after dinner, before heading

to bed.

April 17th 2007We had tapalapa for breakfast (local bread) and then Emily, Malang and I made our

way to the airport (again).

Thankfully, a guy appeared with my bag straight away and I was reunited with all my

western luxuries.

Back at the compound, Faye, Amy and I had a welcome chat with Gemma and

Mama. They told us about the various projects we could get involved with during the

two weeks.

We could help out at the local school, help in the local clinic, work with Omar on his

allotment, and/or manual labour.

We opted to do all of the above.

We then handed over the five suitcases of clothes, stationary, text books and medicine

we had brought from the UK, (including my dads wedding suit!) and sorted them into

piles for distribution.

Baba (the WYCE General Assistant) offered to take us to the local beach, which was

about a 15 minute walk away. Along the way, he taught us some Mandinka the


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local dialect. We met a group of young school children in yellow and purple uniforms

on the way to the beach; they were adorable. They all wanted their photos taken with

us and were very affectionate. We walked them to

school, where a load more children came to greet us

with more hugs and cries of tubab (white person).

Once the school bell went, we continued onto the

beach.

After a walk down the beach (which was also the local

seafood market), we headed back to the compound

and joined the other volunteers and WYCE staff for lunch. Its really nice that everyone

eats every meal together here.

After a lunch of vegetable stew, we were taken on a tour

of the village by Malang and Sharan (a long term WYCE

volunteer). We were taken to meet the local tribes

people. Each compound looked the samedilapidated

wooden huts (which housed 5-8 people), chickens

running around and small children dressed in ripped t-

shirts and nothing else. The children were fascinated by

us and clambered all over us.

After meeting the tribes people, we were taken to the local bakery, where Malang

introduced us to their local delicacy; Tio Fudore, which is stale bread pounded in a

stone pestle, mixed with peanut butter and sugar.

We then went to see the school (built by WYCE). There were 6 early years classrooms

and 4 primary school classrooms, plus a Head Teachers office and a football pitch.

Everything was basic but I was impressed with what they had achieved with very little.

After a tour of the school, we headed to the Mothers &Babies group, which is held

every Thursday at the WYCE school, to give local mothers a chance to mingle with

other mothers and enjoy some to themselves, while the staff look after the babies. It

was an hour of playing, singing, dancing and cuddling gorgeous babies.

Our dinner was Yassa, which is a chicken/onion stew in a spicy sauce, with rice. It was

delicious. We all played Uno after dinner; (memories of home on a Friday night).


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Chapter Two

April 18th 2007After a breakfast of eggs with tapalapa, Lettie (the founder of WYCE) took us to the

clinic to meet Dr Yusapha and his assistant, Hour. Considering he was poorly educated,

Yusapha was interested in western medicine and read numerous medical textbooks

from the UK.

Two patients visited Yusapha while we were at theclinic; a pregnant lady with advanced stage Malaria

and her son had a painful abscess in his stomach. Both

conditions were too complicated to treat at the

facility, so Yusapha referred them both to Gunjul

Hospital.

We headed back to the lodge to find Omar, to do

some gardening. Omar was highky respected within

the Madina community - he had been Chief of the village up until he retired a couple

of years ago.

We planted courgette plants until it got too hot and then cooled off at the batamba

(meeting place). The batamba is a sheltered area where family members typically

congregate in Gambian families.

After lunch, Tony (who was in charge of operations at WYCE) took us on a project tour.

He took us to see the Bee Farm, which was developed to create employment for the

locals. Tony then took us around the schoolhe said that WYCE wanted to build new

classrooms for older children, but in The Gambia, football is more important than

education. The Government said they wouldnt fund more classrooms until they find a

new place for the school football pitch!

After the tour, it was time to water the vegetable patch again it took three of us

about an hour to water everything; I have no idea how Omar does this on his own.


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Omar introduced us to a new fruitthe cashew fruit. It grows on the cashew tree and is

lime green in colour and is the size of a walnut. It has a really weird flavor. It is really

acidic but dry at the same time and has a nutty,

potent flavor. They are refreshing, but not very nice at

the same time. They are weird.

Dinner that evening was Goulash there is something

about the word Goulash that doesnt sit well with

me. Im still not sure what goulash is, but apparently it

doesnt agree with my stomach. I stated getting

cramps after three mouthfuls and there began my

night of Gambia belly

April 19th 2007I couldnt face breakfast. I was still getting cramps and feeling sorry for myself. I went for

a walk with Amy after breakfast and we ended up having a craft lesson from Omar; he

taught us to weave palm leaves into fans, which were really intricate.

Chapter ThreeApril 20th 2007After beans on toast for breakfast, the three of us, Lettie and her husband Bernard,

Sharan and two new volunteers from Birmingham (Ian and Rob) went to Abuko Nature

Reserve. Unfortunately the animals were elusive and we ended up basically going for a

walk in the forest. We did see a monkey and part of a crocodile (if that counts).

We then drove on to Brikama Market, where we were hassled by everyone. There were

hand crafted sculptures and beautiful paintings etched with sand, instruments and

jewellery. I left with a salad bowl, spoon and fork and two paintings.

We went to a local caf for lunch, called Nice to be Nice, where we had chicken andchips and then got back on the gilly gilly (bus) to head back to the lodge.

Amy, Faye and I decided to organise a quiz, to help the staff with their English and learn

more about everyone. Yusafa (the local DIY man) and Ensa joined in the quiz, as did

Mama and Baba. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

It was Fayes turn to be sick this evening and through the night, and into the morning.


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April 21st 2007We officially started work at the school today. After watering the gardens, we went to

meet Lamin (the Head Master) and choose our tasks. I said that I enjoy reading with

children, so I was assigned to Mr Mendys c lass, to

help them with their English.

Before joining the class, Lamin took us to meet all the

teachers (there are 5 in total, each with 25 children

per class).

I really enjoyed spending the next two hours with Mr

Mendys class. We had a maths lesson, science lesson and then music, which involved

singing and dancing. The class broke for lunch at 1.30pm, so we headed back to the

lodge for a debrief.

After lunch, I was helping the 11-12 year olds learn about animals and the environment.They then split into small groups for English and I spent time with each group, reading

aloud with them and asking them questions about the books.

Amy, Faye and I finished for the day at 4pm, as we wanted to help at the Mother &

Babies Group again. It was another hour of playing, laughter and cuddles.

Chapter Four

April 22nd 2007Lettie and Bernard invited us to make a visit to a local High School, where they had a

meeting with the Principal, EK, to see how the school was run, (as they want to extendthe current school to give the children in Madina the opportunity to continue their

education. From the age of 13, families that can afford it send their children to

secondary school, where they can get the equivalent of GCSEs.

Grade 10 costs 140, grade 11, 125 and the final year; 150. The average family has atotal income of around 50 a month.

We went back to the lodge to meet some new volunteers; Tim, Phil and Amy, who were

lovely. Phil was helping he staff fix their gilly gilly, which had broken down. The staff

relied on it to bring volunteers to the project.

After a shower, everyone gathered round the fire pit for a drumming lesson.


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April 23rd 2007Faye and Amy went to the school today and I went to help Yusapha at the clinic.

I sorted through the medicine cupboard to check the dates on them and restock

supplies.

Yusapha had a few visitors from the school while I was there a young boy had a huge

gash on his arm from a fall, which Yusapha treated without a whimper from the child.

Another boy had cut his leg, which Yusapha asked me to treat. I was worried about

hurting him, but again, I was amazed by how calm he was. He didnt flinch.

We broke for lunch and went to the fish market to buy ingredients for the authentic

African cooking night that WYCE had arranged.

We bought 10 fish and headed back to the lodge to meet the local tribeswomen, who

had been invited to share their recipes and cooking techniques with us.

All the volunteers gathered at 3.30pm to start the cooking. In Gambian culture, men do

not cook, so the boys had it easy! The tribeswomen dressed the girls up in traditional

Gambian clothing and then split us all up to prepare various parts of the meal.

We didnt realize quite how involved a simple meal is without modern kitchen

equipment. Amy and I were tasked with preparing the fish mince, which involved us

going with the Fuller tribeswomen to their compound; a twenty minute walk away. The

compound was really basic. The family of 7 lived in a small round rotting wooden hut.

Two of the tribes sons were playing noughts and crosses in the sand, but stopped when

their two year old sister Maryama started crying. To placate their sister, the two boys

attached a piece of rope to an old il drum, sat Maryama on it and dragged her around

the compound. It made me sad.

Although we did not speak the same language, the

tribe were very welcoming. The women gutted the fish

and then showed us how to mince it in their hand held

machine. This process took about an hour. We then

headed back to Madina

for the next stage of

cooking. The head tribeswoman carried a heavy

cement container on her

head, which contained the minced fish and made it look

effortless.


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Back at Madina, we made the minced fish into patties and added tomato, onion,

aubergine and fish sauce and left the concoction

to boil for another hour and a half (we cooked

rice separately).

While we were cooking, the men were climbingpalm trees to collect palm fruit to turn into palm

wine. This is the only alcohol they have access to in

Madina and they love it. We really really didnt. It

tasted more like a spirit than wine.

At 7.30pm, (after 5 hours of prep and cooking),

dinner was ready. It is customary to sit on the floor in a circle and eat with your hands

straight from the shared bowl of food. The meal was basically a fish stew, which they

call Sauce Farvine.

I felt pathetically emotional as the tribeswomen made a speech after dinner, (Mama

translated it from Mandinka for us). The ladies thanked us for coming to The Gambia

and spending time with them and showing an interest in their culture. The nicest

moment was when the head tribeswoman hugged and kissed me and said that we are

their friends and they will never forget us. We were each then given an honourary

Gambian namemine was Caddy.

The whole day was really special for all of us.

Chapter Five

April 24th 2007It was back to school today and I was asked to take a

group aside of the English lesson to focus on phonics.

Having never actually studies phonics myself, I wassecretly relieved that I was working with a bunch of

seven year olds.

After English, the lessons were divided up into 45

minutes of; PE out on the field, maths, (a break of 15

minutes), then more maths. I was exhausted by lunch!


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Back at the lodge, we had Njiebe (beans in sauce) and then spent the afternoon

helping Omar in the garden.

We went back for Mothers & Toddlers group, which was heaving. Word was spreading

about the group, which was great.

We had to be back at the lodge for 6.30pm, as there

was a goodbye picnic on the beach for Lettie &

Bernard (the founders of WYCE) as they were flying

home the next day. All the WYCE staff and volunteers

ate tapalapa with chicken and watched the sun go

down the staff had even found a few beers, which

we drank before heading back to the lodge for some

more drumming round the fire pit.

April 25th 2007On a Friday, each class takes part in a weekly quiz, testing what they have learnt during

the week. I think this is brilliant. It covers every subject and it is a popular feature with the

children.

I spent from 8.30 11.30am with the younger

children. On a Friday they finish at 11.30 for the day,

so we took the opportunity to go back to the lodge

and say goodbye to Lettie and Bernard. We went

back to school to catch the last hour of the older

childrens maths class, before being called back tothe lodge by Mama. (She came to collect us every

day from wherever we were working for lunch and

dinner).

Last night, Faye, Amy and I had decided to make friendship bracelets for all the WYCE

staff, as a thank you for all that they had done for us. Amy had brought some different

coloured threads with her, so we started work on them in the afternoon. After 3 hours,

we had run out of thread, so we asked Malang if we could go and buy some more in

the village. We had also seen the local children wearing these lovely palm woven

necklaces and asked Malang if we could buy these in the village. He told us these wereknown as jew jew necklaces and the particular design we had seen was specific to

Madina. He said he had a friend who could make some for us, so we gave him money

to make nine of them for us.

We watered the garden for Omar and then had a chat with the other volunteers. They

are a lovely group of peoplewe have been really lucky.


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April 26th 2007I had weird dreams about face transplants from dead people last night. I am getting

used to these bizarre dreams now and find them quite funny.

Today was manual labour day. While Amy went to a teachers training day at theschool, Faye and I spent the morning shoveling large piles of sand and rocks from the

compound to the main road. As monsoon season was approaching, the pot holes in

the road needed to be filled, to stop vehicles getting stuck in the wet, muddy holes.

W stopped at midday as the temperature reached 34 degrees. After a rest, we went on

a manure finding mission with Sharan from the areas outside the compound. We found

a tribe down the road with a healthy amount of crap in their garden and asked if we

could take it. They not only obliged, but invited us in for lunch. I have forgotten why we

were collecting shit, but Im sure there was a good reason.

Things got more bizarre. We headed to the beach for a paddle in the sea,accompanied by Ya Ya, (a friend of Mr Mendys), who randomly asked us to sing an

Elton John song for him.

We returned to the lodge at about 5pm, to find three beautiful palm fans outside our

door. Omar had made us one each as a thank you for helping him with his garden. We

paid him to make some more for us to take home as presents.

Mama turned up with some coloured thread to save us a trip to the village. She had

cycled 10 miles to get it for us.

April 27th 2007We spent the morning making our bracelets. Yusafa

was keen to learn to make them so Amy taught him

and the knitting circle was formed.

We went to our last Mother & Toddlers Group in the

afternoon. I felt emotional seeing these children for the

last time.

After the group, we went on an outing to the local bakery, to see how they make the

tapalapa. It was cooked in an open stone oven in an open topped bakery on the side

of a road. We each bought a loaf, (for about 10p), but were so full after dinner that we

ended up giving the bread away.

That evening, the staff threw a party to say goodbye to Emily and Tony (who were both

going home after a year in Madina). There were about 50 locals and staff dancing and


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drumming. They were teaching the volunteers the local dances and rituals for goodbye

ceremonies.

I dont know what happened on the 28th!

Chapter Six

April 29th 2007I felt very teary today. It was our last day at school. I had become really fond of a boy

called Tijan, who was really studious, inquisitive and sweet natured.

They were doing experiments in their science lesson and then times tables in maths.

After a break was art. Mr Mendy got the children to draw us goodbye and thank you

pictures, which had us all in tears. Tijan was saying tomorrow, plane and bye bye

Gambia and me sad.

We had to go back to the lodge for our official goodbye speech from EK (the Leader of

the village). He made a moving speech about how appreciateive the people of

Madina are to us for showing an interest in helping them and learning about their

culture. He then gave each of us a certificate of

appreciation.

After the ceremony, Mama insisted on plaiting our hair

Gambia style. Its not my best look, but I appreciated

the gesture!

We watered the gardens and then went to meet the

new volunteers. I was glad that Maureen was a Nurse

she would be such an asset to Yusupha at the clinic.

We decided to take all our leftover medicine to the clinic and say goodbye to Yusupha

at the same time. Faye gave Yusupha her trainers, which he had admired earlier in the

holiday, which he was really grateful for. They were a UK size 4! Faye gave Mama her

bottle of Moschino perfume, which she loved. It was the best present she had ever

received.

We all had a lovely last evening, chatting and drinking beer.


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April 30th 2007Last day. We played with the local children in the

morning. I introduced them to Connect 4 and watched

them play with sacks of rice.

We were asked to go to the school, where the children

had written a goodbye song for us, which they all

performed for us. They then presented us with the

goodbye drawings they had done and said individual

goodbye messages. More tears.

We went back to the lodge said our goodbyes there too.

Omar, Malang, Mama and Yusufa cdame with us to the

airport Gemma told us that it was very unusual for WYCE

staff to come to the airport and that we should feelhonoured. Mama was really upset about us going and

wouldnt speak. We were all very quiet and feeling

emotional, as we went through the gates to the patio,

yes patio, (where we waited for our plane).

The rest is unimportantthe plane was an hour late, we

had to stop off in Las Palmas to refuel as they were running out and I developed

tonsillitis on the flight.

The enduring memory of Gambia is the generosity of the people. They were generous

with their time, with their efforts to accommodate us and with their trust of us. This has

been the most moving two weeks of my life.

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Blogging Around the World the Gambia