Blogging Around The World

Cover Design: Cara Williams Photography: Cara Williams Copyright 2006 by Cara Williams All rights reserved

By Cara Williams

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Chapter 2: Chapter 3: Chapter 4: Chapter 5: Chapter 6:

3 6 7 8 10 13

Chapter One
April 16th 2007
Its 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. 3

We all scrabbled around looking for my bag in fact, I was amazed how many people helped me look for it all 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 2007

We 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 4

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 same dilapidated wooden huts (which housed 5-8 people), chickens running around and small children dressed in ripped tshirts 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).

Chapter Two
April 18th 2007
After 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 the clinic; 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 school he 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.

Omar introduced us to a new fruit the 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 2007

I 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 Three
April 20th 2007
After 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 and chips 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. 7

April 21st 2007

We 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 class, 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 2007
Lettie 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 extend the 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 a total 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. 8

April 23rd 2007

Faye 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 tribes woman carried a heavy cement container on her head, which contained the minced fish and made it look effortless.

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 climbing palm 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 name mine was Caddy. The whole day was really special for all of us.

Chapter Five
April 24th 2007
It 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 was secretly 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! 10

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 2007

On 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 to the 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 were known 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 people we have been really lucky.

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April 26th 2007

I 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 the school, 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 2007

We 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 2007
I 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 2007

Last 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 feel honoured. 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 unimportant the 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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