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On Saturday the new volunteers and some of the existing volunteers all gathered together for a bbq (at the compound of an existing volunteer). It was a really good day and the food was excellent. The new group (that’s us) managed to get a photograph together but one member didn’t want to be in it so it’s new volunteers minus one! You won’t know who any of the people are but I’ll name them in the picture anyway!
'The new group' (back row): Pat, June, Lynn, Tessa, Bernie, Marcus, Richard, (front row): Jane, me, Tom, Pete, Anika
Anika, Rachael. Richard
Tom and Pete
Bernie (not looking), Lynn (with mop), Max (next to Lynn), (back on the chairs) Kate, Jim and Tessa
Courtney, Paul (my neighobour in Kerewan), Priya, Pat
Lucy, Jane, Pete (smiling from the chair in the background), June
Yesterday we went to Serrukunda market so that we could put into practise some of our language skills. The market itself was amazing! It was raining as we arrived and it was quite an adventure selecting a route through the narrow walkways carefully dodging puddles, vendors and shoppers, as well as the wonderful range of goods laid out on the floor. As we meandered through the maze, sellers called out to us in a variety of different languages. Everything you might need was to be found somewhere in the market and everything you could possibly imagine was laid out before your eyes from cows nostrils to bright and colourful materials. It was a truly a magnificent multi-sensory experience.
I also got to practice my Mandinka! I’m getting more confident with my greetings now and the women in the market seem to really appreciate you trying to speak the language. They always add new bits and help you learn new phrases. Many times I had to give my apologies and quickly catch up with the group as I often found myself getting left behind because I was chatting with the vendors (and I don’t think I would have been able to find my own way out of the market before midnight!)
It was during this market adventure that I was given my new name! I have been informed by both locals and volunteers that at some point I would be given a Gambian name and this is what most people would call me. I already knew that my Gambian surname would be Siisee (pronounced see-say) because that is the family name of the people from the ‘compound’ where I will be living once in Kerewan. (Most people here live in ‘compounds’, this is like a walled area with several buildings or houses inside. People live in family compounds. I have been informed that I will be living in the Siisee compound with the Siisee family and therefore be linked with the Siisee family name).
Over the last two weeks some volunteers had been given their Gambian names, (it appears to be when they have made a particular connection or friendship with a local, perhaps you chat to them or they recognise or like something about you). I thought that I might have to wait until I reached Kerewan and the Siisee compound to be given my Gambian name however following an exchange of Mandinka greetings at the market one of the sellers kindly gave me her name – Sira. So, for as long as I am in the Gambia I will be known to many as – Sira Siisee (Seesay)!
N too mu Sira le ti. (My name is Sira)
N kontoŋo Siisee le ti. (My family name/surname is Siisee)
Since being in The Gambia I have been using many of my newly purchased items and gifts. My camera is excellent (I think that my photography skills are improving too), my torches (in all their formats) have proved essential, the DEET has been a life saver (literally), sun cream (making me by far the whitest person here), the small rucksack has been really useful (that attaches to the backpack – Lucy recommended taking), the little head scarves (that mum gave me) have been worn every day and that’s just to mention a few. HOWEVER, one of the most useful and most talked about items I brought with me was a multi-coloured poncho! I remember buying it at one of the outdoor shops at Lakeside (The Garners were with me at the time) and being really disappointed because they didn’t have any plain coloured ones left. On reflection I couldn’t have selected a more appropriate colour and design! Not only does it stop me from getting completely drenched during the sudden downpour of rain but it also looks groovy and fashionable. Lots of people here (staff at the VSO office and passersby alike) have expressed their interest and like of my now beloved poncho!
Me modelling my poncho at the VSO programme office!
I went to mass again today and though I believe there is a Catholic church closer to where I live, I decided to venture back to Bakau to Our Lady Star of the Sea. I was very early for mass and (with permission) managed to get some pictures of the church.
It was an excellent service again with another wonderful and energetic sermon. Other church-goers were extremely friendly, and many said hello which was really nice.
During mass and on the journey home I was pondering on what a lovely country The Gambia is. The landscape is beautiful and at the moment everywhere is green because of the rains (I'm told that the Gambia is only green for 4 months then rest of the year it is brown!) And on the subject of the rain - it is incredible. It literally goes from sunshine to a cloud and then a swimming pool of water falls from the sky! Not long after that the sky will clear and the sun shines again - the only trace of rain being the puddles in the road and the wet sand on the walkways. On the whole the people are really nice too and many are so friendly. The greeting process here can last ages! The Gambia has many different tribal groups and they all mix with each other so for example you will find Mandinkas marrying Wolof etc. Plus there are Christians scattered around this predominately Muslim country and yet all live harmoniously with each other.
Many of the VSO volunteers here are friendly people, both the ones I came out with and some of the existing volunteers that we've met. (I've met Paul and his wife Courtney, Paul is living in Kerewan, I will be his new neighbour and he's going to help me settle into work when I arrive). And the VSO staff, well they really are great.
Wow, I'm feeling exceptionally positive! Must have been the church service (I'm going to miss the little church in Bakau when I go up-country). All the best to everyone at home and thanks for all your comments on the blog, I’m surprised but so happy that people are actually reading it!!
Yesterday all the volunteers went for a day trip to a village called Ndemban (the programme called this day a 'community experience')
As our minibus arrived the villagers came out to greet us and everyone wanted to shake our hands (this lasted about 15mins!!) Some of the really small children (babies and toddlers) actually looked quite scared however the rest of the children seemed really intrigued and a group of girls followed us round the village all day! We did meet some boys later but they were less interested in us!
The day began in one of the ‘lower basic’ (primary) school buildings where we had a welcome from the Alikaaloo (this is the ‘chief’-type person who is a go between for the village and the government) the Iman (Muslim religious leader in the village), the village elders, and members of the village development committee (VDC). It was all very formal.
After the welcoming talk we went for a walk around the village (which was huge). Everybody was so polite and people came out of their houses to say hello. Like I mentioned before there was a little group of girls who followed our every move staring at us intently and speaking in their native language (they were from the Jola tribe).
The village has rice fields (both a rice that doesn’t require much water to grow and one that does), they have fruit trees and they also grow their own food (they have a ‘vegetable patch-style’ garden) and then they have a crop field (both of which have had input from external organisations/charities). We met the women who looked after and tendered these gardens; they are really hardworking. I was trying out my Mandinka! One of the women said that I could marry her husband (i'd like to think it was because she was impressed with my Mandinka) and then some of the others told me that her husband was the Alikaaloo! So I felt very special!
After our tour the villagers put on a wonderful feast for us and we were able to try lots of different dishes. We had a final goodbye from the group of people who welcomed us and then we went on our way. It was an excellent day.
After a week at Safari Gardens (the hotel) the group were split up and those who will be living in the Kombos area went to their houses. Some of these volunteers had spare rooms in their houses so some of the group are ‘squatting’ with them and the remaining 6 volunteers (of which I am one) went to the VSO house (still in the Kombos area).
It’s a bit strange now that the initial group has been split up; the ‘holiday’ feeling that I had is slowly starting to wear off. I guess it’s like gradual withdrawal, the big group was split in half and then by the end of next week over half the people in the VSO house will be gone and then a week or so after that I will be going to Kerewan on my own!
We’re currently following a VSO programme, it’s very busy, and a lot of time is spent sitting around the VSO office waiting for the things to happen! It’s all good though because the office is ace, air-conditioned, western style toilets, (free bottled water to drink)! Plus all the staff there are really nice and friendly and whenever we go the group are all together. Part of our training is learning the language and we have a total of 16 hours (which is a lot less than the handbook suggested)! Most of us are learning Mandinka. I’m loving the language training and am trying to use it all the time! I only know greetings at the moment (of which there are lots). I’m not great but most of the locals really respect you trying however it’s not the best area to practice in because there are not many Mandinka people where I’m living at the moment. I’m sure (hope) I’ll get better when I get to Kerewan as I believe that most people are Mandinka there.
N ka taa le (I’m going now). Fo ñaato (until later). xx
As I set out on my 45 min walk back from church a young boy (around the age of 13) and his friend of a similar age latched onto me. The boy then started a series of stories of woe.
The first went something like this, ‘I really want to play football on the beach with my friends but you cannot play football unless you have a ball and I can’t afford one’. I began by saying that I wasn’t going to give him any money and then I discussed what he had said with him and said that it didn’t really make sense because if everyone had their own football then you wouldn’t be able to play a game?
The boy looked a little confused and frustrated and then changed tact, this time saying, ‘My parents cannot look after me anymore because they have no money and now I live with my aunt but she doesn’t like me and gets angry with me and I need money to get away from her’. I then proposed that if his Aunt had been so kind to take him in when his parents could no longer look after him then he should make an extra effort to be kind and patient towards her.
Even more frustrated the boy tried again, ‘I live a long way from here and I want to get home but my feet are tired and I don’t think that I can make the journey without resting and then I will be home too late. I really need the money for a taxi’. I told him that I could understand his predicament because I too had a long way to walk however he shouldn’t wander so far from home in the future and then he wouldn’t find this a problem.
Persistent, the boy tried again, ‘Your white skin, does it burn in the sun yes? Well I have some cream to stop this; you can buy it from me’. I asked him why he had such cream and he told me it was because he knew lots of white people so I thanked him and said as I had my own he should really save his cream for all the other white people he knew.
After half an hour!! The boy finally cracked and said, ‘You don’t understand, I want money’. To which I said, ‘I told you I wasn’t going to give you any’ to which he huffed and then the boy (and his silent friend) turned away from me and walked back in the direction from which we had come! The walk home seemed to go so quickly!!
He was quite a young and relatively pleasant bumster unlike the guys me and two other VSO girls encountered on the beach. The three of us had gone down with a few VSO boys to watch them play football and once the boys were off playing we were ascended on by a group of 4 men who really wouldn’t give up.
They began by polite conversation, what is your name, where are you from, what is it like there, how long have you been here etc. Then they stepped it up a notch and asked for your telephone number, hotel and other personal details, telling you that you look pretty etc. When we politely told them that we didn’t want to talk to them they got angry saying that men in Gambia are friendly and if you are not prepared to be friendly then you shouldn’t be in the Gambia (all this took place whilst they were communicating with each other in their own language – all very off-putting).
In the end we couldn’t take it anymore and the three of us left. He guys were pretty hardcore (probably all aged between 18-30). When we got back to the hotel and discussed it with the others some suggested making up a foreign language and acting like you just don’t understand them at all. I’m going to try that next time!!!
On a positive note I’ve been told there are very few bumsters in Kerewan!!
I had decided that I wanted to go to mass on Sunday so after a little bit of research I discovered that the closest Catholic Church was in a place called Bakau. Various people informed me that it was about a ‘20min’ or ’30min’ walk depending on who you spoke to. I decided to leave myself 45 which incidentally is how long it took!
About 20 mins into the walk, the heavens opened and the rain turned the sand path into quick sand. It came so suddenly that by the time I had reached for the umbrella in my bag I was already soaking wet.
When I eventually arrived at the church, it was opposite the street market in Bakau. I arrived just as they were singing the opening hymn. The church was small and in the typical style of buildings here (concrete blocks covered in plaster and then painted – usually white or yellow). Inside there was a central aisle with rows of wooden pews either side. It was quite warm and there was a pungent smell of damp and body odour. On the walls were wonderful paintings of Mary (the patron Saint of The Gambia) and one of Jesus (with very red lips!) I originally sat on the aisle-end of the pew, but as the service went on, more and more people came and I was eventually squashed down the to the wall end! At a guess I would say (by the end of mass) there were about 130 people there (but I’m actually really bad at this type of estimating so I will make a real effort to count next week!!) There was quite a range in wealth and class from the market vendors to those dressed in Western-style clothes who turned up in huge 4-wheel drives.
The service itself lasted 2 hours!!! It was in English with just one of the readings being in a local language (I believe that the whole mass will be in local languages once I am in the North Bank Region where I will be living). The sermon was fantastic. Fr Peter (the priest at the church) read out a letter from the Bishop about funding. The Bishop is calling on Gambian Catholics to contribute some of their wage towards the church.
After the priest had finished the Bishop’s letter he then gave his own sermon about ‘Santé Marie’, Saint Mary and the Feast of the Assumption. It very good, though delivery was totally different to any church I’ve been in before. After mass, the priest introduced himself and asked me about myself. Another guy - who it turns out was Senegalese - chatted to me for a while too.
Mum and dad very kindly took me to Heathrow in the early hours of Thursday (12th) morning and from there I got the plane to Brussels. In the boarding area I overheard some people introducing themselves as VSO so I thought I would join them. There are about 13 of us in total.
The flight to Banjul was fine; it was only about half full. It made a 'stop' in Dakar (Senegal) which was really odd because I've never experienced a plane making a 'stop' before. About 3/4 of the people got off and then a cleaning team came on board. After about 45mins some more passengers got on and then we set off destined for Banjul!
Banjul airport was small, hot and sticky but it wasn't particularly crowded. As we were queuing to go through immigration you could see the 'bumsters' grabbing trolleys and looking eagerly at the new arrivals! I was able to carry my own bag and case and therefore was able to turn down the bumsters help. All of the VSO people stuck together as there was no VSO rep to meet us! The bumsters swarmed around us trying to change money, hold people's trolleys, asking for telephone numbers and making general conversation. A little off-putting but quite timid by Sri-Lankan standards.
Once the VSO pick-up trucks arrived the bumsters went crazy trying to load our bags onto the back of them. Then they went round the group asking everyone for money, even people who they hadn’t helped (like myself). Some people caved in and gave them money, I heard others saying things like, and ‘no I’ve already paid 3 people for that'. I'd been taught well by my worldly friend Donna and remained polite and firm repeating 'no, I carried my own bags'. After a while the trucks set off down quite an impressive looking dual carriageway with the bags and cases flying all over in the back of the trucks. I kept a close eye on mine and the fact that it didn’t fall out defies gravity!
A little while after that, we turned off the main road and went down a side street. The bit of road at the top of the street quickly disappeared and the rest of the road was a combination of rocks, rubble, sand and holes. I have been told that this is pretty much what most 'roads' look like outside of the Kombos area (the sort of tourist north east coast area). We pulled up at a hotel (which we have been told we will be staying at for about a week).
The hotel is basic but clean. The rooms have an overhead fan (subject to when the electricity is working) and a mosquito net. The first night at the hotel we all had a meal together which was really nice. It's actually Ramadan at the moment and the people here don’t eat or drink (even water) during the day so it's pretty quiet with most people appearing to be using as little energy as possible.
The following day we went to the VSO office. We had introductions and were shown around. We then spent much of the day filling in forms, immigration forms, identity forms, bank forms, medical forms and many more. We haven’t actually finished them yet and will have to go back on various different days to get id-cards and register at medical centres. Looking at the timetable we've got quite a busy 2 weeks ahead (the 4 week 'in-country' training has for some unspecified reason been reduced to 2 weeks).
Today we met up with some current volunteers and were shown around the Kombos area. Our hotel is near Fajara and today we went to Bakau and Serrekunda (though they are in the Kombos they are not really tourist areas). We experienced a market, some very busy streets and we travelled by 'bush taxi' (which is just like a taxi but you pay a fare per person and the driver won’t go until the taxi is filled with 3 other people) and also a 'gelly gelly' (which is like a minibus which they cram as many people as they can in to and they go on certain routes). It was all quite exciting though really hot and crowded. There were hardly any white faces around and people reacted differently to you. Some ignored you, some looked intrigued, some wanted to talk to you and many wanted to sell you something!
I've found a bookshop near the hotel that has wireless internet and this is where I am right now writing this blog entry. So far my experience here has been good. I could definitely live in the Kombos area, however, people (current volunteers) keep telling me 'it's not like this in Kerewan', 'you don’t have this in Kerewan', 'you should buy that here because they don’t sell that in Kerewan' so I’m getting the impression that Kerewan is going to be pretty basic!!!
We will be staying at the hotel until Wednesday and then the volunteers who will be living in this area will go to their houses and the rest of us will stay at theirs or stay in the VSO house. I think we have an up-country visit timetabled soon. Will try my best to keep in touch. Thanks for your lovely messages on my blog, made me quite emotional reading them. Thinking of you all. xxx
Will be heading down to Heathrow later this evening (well the early hours of tomorrow morning really) and then flying to Brussels and then on to Banjul (The Gambia's capital city). Due to arrive in Banjul early evening. I'm almost packed but starting to get a bit nervous now. I'm beginning to worry about little details such as my baggage - will they let me take my motorbike helmet on the plane as hand luggage or will I have to wear it on the plane?!! Who knows?!! Will have to wait and see!
Thanks to all those who have posted their best wishes on the blog and to those who have text or phoned. Will do my best to keep in touch. Watch this space!!
Thanks to everyone who came to the 'goodbye' celebration in Clumber Park. I had a great day and was in excellent company! Apologies to anyone whose picture isn't here and apologies to anyone who doesn't like their picture!!
