Exhausted!
on Lynn Sellwood (The Gambia), 05/May/2011 13:37, 34 days ago
The last month has seen me as host to more visitors, Vicky; another volunteer from up country came down and stayed because she was ill. The first thing she wanted to do was to wash her feet!Vicky, smiling! Our feet get filthy from mud and sand roads and it gets ingrained into your nails and skin. Only a nail brush and a pumice stone will shift it and then it only lasts a day! Christine and I took advantage of the spa at Coco Ocean to get a super-duper pedicure.Exhausting?Martyn was exhausted by his massage!Really exhausted! Julie, my youngest sister, had never been to Africa before, and found the heat and dust a little overwhelming at times!Just a little hot! I had a week off work to be with Julie, who stayed at my house but I had to be back at work while Christine and Martyn were here, although we had the long Easter weekend to do stuff!As you can see, we are all exhausted! We certainly made the most of our time together.......We visited Campama School. Julie spent the day in the classroom with two children labelled as“autistic”. After five minutes she realised these children were not on the autism spectrum, one was a severely neglected child with behaviour problems, the other had severe learning difficulties. She spent time with the class teacher, shared the resources bought from England, courtesy of ThomasCook’s extra baggage allowance for charities. I, on the other hand, taught an English lesson to Grade 6 (13-14 year olds) and really found out more about the level of English language in the class. At first, the class teacher stayed with me, reiterating all my instructions, so I had to put him right and assure him that I didn’t need “back-up”.It was great fun but I was concerned that the creativity of the children was fairly hidden. This has been a comment from all of us on the education programme; teaching in The Gambia tends to rely too much on mindless rote learning and chanting with no room for self-expression. Both Julie and I were exhausted afterwards. The unfamiliarity of the setting and the constant comparisons of facilities in the UK make you mentally and physically tired.Christine and Martyn visited Campama the following week when the children were on holiday. Their purpose was to look at what we could do with the money raised from their“Curry Night”. We decided to mend the roof of the library, tile the floor, paint the outside walls and redo the school motto in fresh paint as well as buying food for the children to eat at lunchtimes. Photos to follow as proof!The hole in the roofThe dirt floor Just shows how far £500 will go! They were both overwhelmed with the needs of the school and so started our daily conversations about aid in developing countries. We constantly changed our opinions after every visit or meal with other volunteers.The welcome with KankaranChristine, Martyn and I also visited Sinchu Njabo School which is near Farafenni on the North Bank. It is very remote and the staff live on the school premises; children come from local villages, some as far as 20 kilometers away! You may remember that I was given£500 from a friend after telling the story of their kitchen which was not in a fit state to feed the 1000 children of the school. The school is in receipt of food aid because the families are so poor, but this is not enough for a whole term. The children will often go all day, until evening beforethey have food to eat.Happy Kids The work on the kitchen was done at Christmas but the school wanted to show its gratitude so we finally arranged to travel in a Ministry vehicle as a day trip. We left at 7.30 am and did not return until 10.30 at night but boy was it worth it! We were greeted by all the school children who clapped and sung our vehicle into the compound led by the Kankaran dancer.The Iman,The Chairman, The Chief and the Alkahlo There were speeches by the head, the elders, and the chief; presents, dancing by the women, drummers, Kankaran masquerade, singing by the children and food! The cooks were delighted with their refurbished kitchen, the new utensils and pots and most of all with their new uniforms.New kitchen We were emotionally overwhelmed by the out-pouring of gratitude and I certainly had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. We were physically and mentally exhausted from the day and again it showed what £500 can achieve. More food for thought for us as we battled with our feelings about lifein a developing country.It was three weeks of contrasts which I have now become used to but which constantly wrong-footed my sisters and the” in-law”, (which is a family joke now because this is how Martyn was addressed at Sinchu Njabo). Julie was similarly moved by our visit to Mandina Ba to visit a women's group. They sang and danced and entertained us all as well as providing new outfits so we were all dressed the same.This is the welcome in the compound Julie was overwhelmed at one point and would have preferred to leave rather than face this emotional welcome and friendliness. It never makes you feel good to be the "Lady Bountiful" but at the same time you can't ignore the fact that we have so much, by comparison. These ladies want to raise money to but plastic chairs and tables so they can rent them out for big occasions and make a little money for their group to share.Amazing dancing and drummingWe moved from having treatments at Coco Ocean, which is very posh and sophisticated to Rainbow Lodge at Sangyang, which is not....It is a lovely rustic, simple lodge on the beach with a good bar, entertainment, beautiful beaches with just the fishermen to watch.Rainbow lodge; waiting for fish and chips It was interesting though that I managed to have an altercation with a young Gambian woman at the posh place, Coco Ocean, who was swearing like a trooper while we were having cocktails. I asked her to be quiet and mind her language, she told me to mind my own business, she could say what she liked in her own country (with a few more f’s and b’s), I retorted by saying that her mother must be very proud of her!We went to Sangyang for Easter with lots of the volunteers and managed to have a lovely chilled weekend in very simple surroundings. We were also entertained at the British High Commission, in much grander surroundings on the occasion of the retirement of Mr Phil Sinkinson.At the end of the night at the BHC The VSO’s were the last to leave, having emptied the free bar and then on to the Scottish Embassy to raise the Welsh flag, if that makes sense!Raising the flag with only two true Welsh peepsMy boot doesn't open anymore! It was a case of posh frocks and high heels one minute, sand, cheap beer and pizza the next. Bloody exhausting!We managed to try all types of food. Julie and I were offered lovely food bowls at a local compound at Mandina Ba,Domada Christine and Martyn tried food bowl at Sinchu Njabo and BeeCause.Josh, presiding over the Gentiles and MuslimsJosh prepared a Passover supper at his house: Max organised an Easter lunch at his, I held a barbeque at mineSettling in for food! and we all had a full English breakfast at Francisco’s while watching the Royal Wedding. However, this paled into insignificance to the full English offered by Lucy, Ellie and Marcus at Mansa Konko as we made our way to Baboon Island.Full English, Mansa Konko style My sisters could see the accommodation of up country volunteers and sample their life and pit latrines!Three volunteers, three bikes!So to Baboon Island, the four of us, driven by Lamin was an adventure. The day was hot, the roads were unmade which left us all looking “tangoed” and Martyn had acquired a ginger hue to his hair from the red dust. We had a puncture on the way which gave Christine and Julie a chance to take some photos of the traditional roundhouses.Sorry, Julie......... The stop at Mansa Konko was very welcome except Martyn left his “man-bag” which had most of the money in it. Lamin got lost in the bush when we were trying to find the lodge. So, we got there in a state of dehydration and exhaustion.lovely chimp...one is having a baby soon!But, once on the river to see the chimps we all revived, especially when a huge crocodile rose from the depths alongside our boat. Unfortunately we were all so surprised that no-one took a photo! We saw lots of chimps and a small family of hippos. The food was fantastic but there was a moment of hysteria as we all got locked in the restaurant area.You never have the right tools with you! Martyn and one of the guys managed to free the lock but by the end of the first day we were all exhausted.All four at Baboon IslandIn the morning we were woken by a huge troop of baboons who took up posts right by Christine and Martyn’s lodge. They made plenty of noise and were shaking the trees and Christine was convinced one would come and attack! So, after a walk along the ridge in the morning we made our way home down the south road to Soma and went to meet Marcus to watch his beloved Stoke win 5-0 and as far as we were concerned Arsenal beat Liverpool 1-0, only to find out the next morning that Liverpool had equalised in the 101st minute! We watched the football in a video club which was a bit like a cowshed with two fans, wooden benches and 40 sweaty men inside in 40 odd degrees.Between us we had an amazing time and managed to cover large parts of the country and see its beauty and ugliness and almost daily we questioned the role of aid in general and personal charity towards our fellow humans. We were driven mad by bumsters on the Senegambia strip and humbled by the kindness of strangers. The Gambia is a country of contrasts as I suppose all struggling developing countries are. As one part flourishes it just throws into contrast the other parts where life is very tough.We were ridiculous ex-pats while watching the Royal Wedding, although I have to say the Americans outdid us with the fancy hats and their general passion for all things royal.Lucia (Peace Corps) and me! There are some amazing people working in The Gambia, from passionate head teachers like Alhajie Njie, people like Lawrence Williams who runs theMakasutuproject andWide Open Wallsstreet art project, Mick and Jenny working on the BeeCause project, Marit, working on the ipad and Lego project in Serekunda.Using ipad apps for learning! All the while the Arab world is turning itself upside down, Osama bin Laden is dead, AV is being debated and voted on in Britain and I am still trying to do something meaningful in Africa.......it’s exhausting............!PS I need some money to do the perimeter fence of Sinchu Njabo School.......please send me something. A fence will keep out the goats, sheep and cows which poo everywhere in the grounds and eat the vegetables in the school garden. some of you have promised, so now is the time....I'm looking for another£500!PPS I have just read“Team of Rivals”........amazing