A Toubab’s View of Work, Football and Ramadan
on Lynn Sellwood (The Gambia), 06/Sep/2010 22:27, 34 days ago
top: Pat, June, me, Tessa, Bernie, Marcus, Richardbottom: Jane,Vicky,Tom, Pete, AnikaWe are the Toubabs. This is what Gambians call white people or foreigners. From what I currently understand it isn’t necessarily a term of abuse. Our Wollof teacher says it assumes that you are coming as a foreigner to bring something to the people. I have to say it feels like abuse when you walk past people and you can hear them discuss you as “toubab” or little children shout out “toubab” and followyou asking for sweets or money! You are always assumed to have money or you are a tourist and so available to be ripped off by higher prices. Just like London, really!So this is a toubab’s early impressions of The Gambia.The first day at work was confusing, I met so many people and I can hardly remember their names. I am in an office with two guys, one, Lamin Sonko, a Senior Education Officer with responsibility for Assessment and EvaluationLamin is on the right! and the other, a Principal Education Officer, Sang Gomez, responsible for Exams and Assessment.This is Sang, the man that knows everything! Sang is part of the Senior Management Team which also includes (below) Dr Aida Sallah (Quality and Monitoring) and (below again)Amadou Jacko (Islamic/Arabic Education). This means he is an Arabic scholar and is in charge of the madrassa education of the country.We work for The Director of SQAD which stands for Standards and Quality Assurance Directorate and his name is Omar Jatta. He is a really cool guy who certainly knows his stuff and is very sure of the direction we are all travelling in. As he said to me this week, "We have made great progress with access to education, now we need to concentrate on its quality!" The office is part of a suite of offices which also houses the Minister of Education and the Permanent Secretary and his two deputies.I consider myself lucky that my office has air-conditioning, I have a desk but I have bought my own computer (thanks to Ian Webber for that). The internet connection has been down for a week but it is promised soon. I have been given a series of projects which form part of the overall workplan for the department. I can’t wait to get going, you know what I am like, but I have to keep reminding myself that I am not in charge and I now work in “development” which means assisting and sharing skills!!!The office is very basic from our standards and it is something I am going to have to get used to. I can see the benefit of an intranet system for the department and the team but without enough computers and non-surging electricity it is a little way off.The view from my office windowRamadan has been going since 10th August and in essence 90% of the population, except pregnant women, the elderly, the young and sick, fast between daybreak (about 5.30am) to sundown (about 7.30pm) for about a lunar month. I am not just talking about food, it includes not drinking anything either! Some people positively enjoy the process of fasting (one lady told me she loses a stone in weight) others find it hard and they admit to getting bad-tempered. As Lamin, quoting Bob Marley, says,“A hungry man is an angry man”.Try thisIt is true that tempers get a little frayed three weeks into it. Ramadan ends with a series of festivals; one is calledKoritehwhere each compound or village will celebrate by having a huge feast often killing a goat or a cow for the purpose. I have been warned that this killing can take place in the compound or in the street. Luckily, my landlady, Aunty Lucy, is a Christian! I have been told that if I get an invite to a Koriteh celebration it will be worth going because the spectacle, the food, the dancing and the general celebration is amazing....so watch this space. It is very evident that this is a very tolerant society with the Muslim majority quite at ease with their Christian neighbours. Intermarriage is not uncommon and I have felt very comfortable asking questions about Islamic beliefs and culture in a way that I wouldn’t dream of at home. In fact, my neighbours tell me that everyone celebrates all the Muslim and Christian festivals so they get lots of public holidays. In general the society is very serious about religion and its place in people’s lives. My work colleagues were a little non-plussed when I tried to explain I was a non-believer. It just didn’t make any sense to them and in truth as I was explaining.......... I had doubts!Now, The Gambia v Namibia at the National Stadium was an eye-opener and in wonderful contrast to the England Bulgaria match which I watched in an ex-pat bar in Fajara drinking a couple of double gin and tonics. (I made sure I was heavy on the tonics!) One of the volunteers went the whole hog and had a meat pie and chips to boot....The ridiculous thing is that I enjoyed the night in the bar, I could relax and chat nonsense to other Brits and the football made a useful backdrop to the increasingly bizarre world I am living in.me and Bernibeer, pies and flags!The Gambia Namibia game was a spectacle held at the National Stadium very near to where I live. It managed to rain increasingly throughout the whole match so sitting on concrete, raked steps was like sitting in a pleasant waterfall....until the thunder and lightning started. That, accompanied by vuvuzelas, chanting, rhythmic clapping, and the bad-tempered, fasting Muslims made for an interesting afternoon. The Gambia won 3-1 which was very important (for them) and in truth the football wasn’t so bad considering the pitch was a slip-slidey affair which didn’t bring out the best of skills.Go The Scorpions!!!Waiting with June, Paul, Denise and the kidsIt's that rain againFootball is a wonderful game to bring the best and worst out in people but I’m not sure I’ll go again because the crowds seem so volatile and “helf and safety” systems were a little lax. I think I’ll stick to the ritual of an ex-pat bar and the agony of England qualifying well and then making a hash of the next tournament.Other news includes the fact that I have joined TheFajara Club and have bought material for new curtains and some foam cushions to put in some wooden armchairs. I am looking at a kitchen unit next week from a second hand furniture shop and will buy some plants and pots to go outside next week. My trousers are feeling looser and I am used to wearing ugly walking sandals every day! I have read three books; Committed by the woman who wrote Pray, Eat, Love; Martyr by Rory Clements, which is a bookclub book and Toast by Nigel Slater. I have just started“Travels in the Interior of Africa” written in1798 by the explorer,Mungo Park. It is all about his experience in Gambia and so far....brilliant. I have no shortage of books. The VSO office has an extensive library, stocked by volunteers over the past ten years.So, the adventure has really begun and work starts in earnest with the ritual clearing out of cupboards!