2011 The Beginning!
on Lynn Sellwood (The Gambia), 11/Jan/2011 15:03, 34 days ago
So, the New Year came with a surprising event in the form of Kumpo.Kumpo about to perform. I cannot possibly describe the masquerade except to say imagine a man covered in strips of palm, with a broomstick coming out of the top of his costume, who moves with a group of 30-40 young men and women who are chanting back and forth to the sound of drums and, at a signal turns himself onto the pole sticking out of his head and spins looking like a car wash rotator! Then, when things really hot up he spins in the bonfire sending showers of embers all over. Truly amazing and beyond my ability to photograph! So here is aLink. In addition, the cricket team invited us to another masquerade called "Hunting", which was truly amazing with the residents of Banjul fully involved as the characters with fantastic animal costumes performed their dances to the sounds of drumming and chanting. It was mesmerising.Hunting couldn't be videod so click the link.Andrew arrived on the 4th with an invitation from the Gambian National Cricket Team to coach them for a week. The facilities are poor but they are very keen in the face of a very poor wicket,Old matting laid down on concrete little or no decent kit and little formal coaching. The charity "Sunshine with Smiles" will continue to collect kit and money to help support their efforts to promote the game.Watching and talent spotting However, they are playing in their first ICC Twenty-Twenty in Ghana at the end of February and are determined to represent!Concrete base! Sunshine with Smiles had already donated some second hand kit, Andrew donated his kit bag and its contents and there is more to come.Presenting the donated kit The players were delighted to have him around and are trying to find ways to fund him for a year so he can be with them to improve their skills.After the game They would also like him to accompany them to their first Twenty20 in February in Ghana! by the final day, the President of The Gambian Cricket Association, Jonny Gomez and the secretary, Wilfred Riley came and presented Andrew and me with fabulous Gambian outfits.A Friday dressAndrew settled into Gambian life very quickly. Appalled and amazed by degrees, he struggled to find vegetarian food that was edible. Awa, my cleaning lady, told him that she had heard there were people that didn’t eat meat but she’d never met one! He met Gambians who have quickly become his friends, including Lamin, our taxi driver.Andrew and Lamin He loved the climate but sometimes complained it was just too hot! He refused ever to ride in a gelli gelli again after one trip where his legs were forced round his neck and he sat next to someone smelly!The best yet! He was amazed by the poor state of the cars and by the amount of luggage they carry on their roof racks.We went for day trip to Juffereh, the village where Kunta Kinte is supposed to have come from. His story is told inRoots, by Alex Haley and some of you will remember the TV series or will have read the book. It was an emotional experience for Andrew because he faced the history of his ancestors who were bought as slaves to Barbados.Reminded us of Bussa in Barbados We saw the memorial; we went by boat to James Island where the slaves were kept before getting into the slave ships; we went to the museum and saw the economic and physical details of the trade.The Slave Ground where slaves were assessed before boarding the ships Between 10-15 million people were shipped as slaves to USA, West indies and South America. Great spirits of rebellion have been honoured at the museum includingGeorge Padmorefrom Barbados,Marcus Garveyand Bob Marley from Jamaica andToussaint L'ouverturefrom Haiti. I think it was made more emotional because everywhere he goes he is told he looks like a Gambian, particularly from theSerahuletribe who were once Kings and merchant traders. the links form Gambia to Barbados were everywhere on that day which served to make the whole experience an emotional one.The attrition rate was about 45%So, now it's back to work. I have to get all of my documentation up to date because all registrations are renewed in January. The next blog may well feature me driving a car. Some friends have come up with a deal which will see me with wheels!