Sheer Bloody Luxury
on Lynn Sellwood (The Gambia), 09/Dec/2010 21:26, 34 days ago
You may not know that the part of the Ministry of Education I work for is the Quality Assurance Directorate which is the Gambian version of OFSTED. So, we go and monitor the quality in schools.Kawsu, me, Wally and Kebba I went on a six day trip right into the east of the country and visited ten schools in five days staying at a different place every night.Gathering evidence! We were a team of four, Wally Senghore, Kawsu Sama, Kebba Mbye and me, plus our wonderful driver, Hatab.HatabWe had a Ministry vehicle and I got the front seat and spent hours just looking at the fantastic countryside and being amazed and appalled by degrees. Our mode of transport was common enough but the donkey and cart is more usual as is the bullock and cart.So much dirt! They are driven by young boys from about the age of nine or so. These poor, rural children have to grow up fast and have responsibilities on the farm from an early age. To cross the river there is only one bridge, mostly people cross by canoe, small boats or the ferry. It is chaotic and can take ages.Ferry at Janjanbureh The gelli-gelli is available in every large town and can look very unsafe to a Westerner’s eyes!Gelli park at Soma There is a south road which follows the river and a north road on the other side. The north road has got tarmac but there are miles of the south road which haven’t been done and as a result dirt and sand gets everywhere and you get out of the car looking as if you’ve been tangoed.We often started our day with breakfast at about 9.30. Sometimes the school would provide it but often we would stop in a town and sit in a cafe. My standards just had to be adjusted or go hungry.Eggs for breakfast This is a picture of a breakfast seller who is passionate about Manchester United and we had an interesting discussion about the relative merits of MUFC and Arsenal and Chelsea while he cooked me my omelette in tapalapa (a sort of doughy bread, a bit like ciabatta) and half pint glass of coffee.Coffee, Tea or Ovaltine That keeps you full for the day. I also had my first food bowl. You get a bowl of food and most Gambians eat from the bowl with their fingers, each person adopting a section of the bowl. I can’t do fingers so I was given a spoon and everyone else did too. It was delicious.We all have our section Another regular part of the day was the stop for prayers.The guys let me take the photo. It is an integral part of the day for everyone and also part of the children’s day at school. Assembly takes place under the tree.Assembly But it did upset me to see children who could not afford prayer mats getting their rice sacks out of their bags.So apart from outstanding natural beauty, birds, a bush pig, herds of cattle and fantastic night skies where you can actually see the Milky Way, what else was there? Well there were the small towns which are largely there as transit towns to Senegal and beyond. Lots of lorries thunder through and women try to make money by selling fruit and nuts and drinks.Market at Soma Soma reminded me of the Wild West, it just needed a little tumbleweed and filming could begin; except the horses were lorries and the cowboys were the drivers.But perhaps the most shocking thing for me was to see all along the road were groups of round, mud huts with thatched roofs which people really lived in. You see this on TV but nothing prepares for the reality of the sight of lives lived without electricity and running water.This is the real thing It has haunted me, really. I don’t know how to react to it. Outrage? Fascination? The life that is lived under those circumstances is so hard and I should think, pretty boring and repetitive. Going to the well or pump for water, fires outside at night to cook on. X-Factor....never heard of it!tyres to do what exactly?Of course, there were the schools. Often very basic, with hardly any equipment and resources, the teachers fall back on rote learning and chanting. They are supposed to be delivering child-centred education, with schemes of work and lesson plans (this bit is for my teacher colleagues) but we saw rural schools with one book for four pupils, where boys only came to school after the harvest and some only came because World Food Programme meals were cooked and their parents wanted them to have a decent meal.This is a school pump Schools are awash with policies but not enough funding and there are some schools which do a fantastic job. I wanted to fund them all! But I have enough of a grip on reality to know that I can only help a few and hope that my little contribution will positively affect some of them.What chance have they got?I stayed in quite basic accommodation, whether it was with VSO friends or regional office rooms. There aren’t any hotels in this part of The Gambia. But I demanded a bit of luxury on the final night spent in Kerewan when I heard there was the Governor’s House for rent for the night. Apparently the President stayed there once a few years ago! So, I had a night of a giant bed, sofas, TV, air-conditioning (but the electric was only on from 7pm to 2am) and a shower and western toilet but the water was on from 5pm to 7.30pm and 6am to 8.30am so I had to get my timing right. It was sheer luxury (said in a Monty Pythonesque voice)Real luxury came a day or so after getting home which, believe me does now seem like luxury after the trip, when I got another invite to the British High Commission.The Gibraltar Regiment were in The Gambia! Yippee, Gordons Gin and proper tonics.......I have also been out with friends and saying goodbye to a couple of them. Max, my friend from The Phillipines is going homeDean and Max and his friend Nap is returning after working here for two years, there is nothing he doesn’t know about mobile phones.Max, me, Nap and Denise And now it is time to think about Christmas which is celebrated by Christians and Moslems alike here in The Gambia. Drinks, the beach and a few silly games with new found friends....... like I said, sheer bloody luxury.