Kaddy Jatou Susso

Just over a year ago Kaddy Jatou Susso married Sherrifo Sonko (one of Nfamara's brothers). 14 days ago she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. 7 days ago she celebrated a naming ceremony for her new baby. Yesterday I chatted with her on the compound as she cradled her daughter and last night she passed away. Today she will be buried.

I was informed that at 11pm last night she had chest pains and was taken to the local health centre and that she passed away an hour later. Cause of death unknown.

People here tell me not to cry and that this is God's will (In sa Allah). I can't stop crying, crying for Kaddy Jatou Susso, her baby, her husband, her family and her friends but also I can't stop crying for a people so familiar with death and suffering that they have had to learn to rationalise such sadness, accept it as God's will and quickly move on.

Please keep in your prayers the soul of Kaddy Jatou Susso, her family and her friends.

Kaddy Jatou Susso - A beautiful lady

Kaddy's baby - Assmao (picture taken 7 days ago at the naming ceremony)

Kaddy and Kaddy

Peace and quiet

Living on a big family compound can be great and having lots of children around and people to talk to ensures that life is always interesting. However sometimes it's quite hard to get a bit of peace and quiet.

It's not only me that feels this way, a few times I’ve had adults and children alike seeking refuge in my house telling me to close the door and not tell people where they are just so that they can get half an hour or so of peace!

Well baby Sarjo (who is almost 4 months old now and as beautiful as ever) often finds it difficult to rest in her own house. Her 'loving' sisters just want to play with her, pick her up, carry her around and just generally keep her awake. So, whenever she gets the chance, Isatou (Sarjo's mum) will sneak Sarjo into my house and tell me to close the doors so that her baby can sleep in peace.

And sleep peacefully she does as I sit at the side of her tapping away on my computer! Peace and quiet at last - well that is until her curious sisters come banging on the door!!

Death by chocolate cake?

On a recent trip to the Kombos, I decided to treat myself and splashed out on a black forest gateau from one of the western style supermarkets.

The picture on the box was enough to make your eyes water and both Lucy (friend and fellow volunteer) and I were keen to open the box and sample a piece.

Well the cake did not disappoint, it tasted wonderful - how we didn’t eat the whole thing I just don’t know - BUT.... I'm glad that we didn’t.......

About half an hour after eating the cake I started to feel a strange tingling sensation just above my upper lip. The tingling became more and more intense and I felt certain that I was going to come out with some sort of rash in the shape of a moustache above my upper lip.

At first this sensation was strange but when Lucy started to describe the same tingling sensation just above her upper lip the two of us started to panic!

After about an hour the tingling became more like a burning sensation and though it was confined to the moustache area both of us became more and more concerned that we were having an allergic reaction of some sort to the cake.

But why would we both have exactly the same allergy? And why would it affect us in the same way? There was only one conclusion to be drawn - we had been poisoned and we were both going to 'suffer' death by chocolate cake!!!

As Lucy and I contemplated our fate all I could think about were my poor parents having to tell people that they lost their daughter in Africa. "What happened to her?" people would ask. "Was she savaged by a lion? Crushed by an elephant? Fatally wounded in a tribal conflict?" "Not quite" they would have to say, "she was, well, err, she died of chocolate gateau."

Needless to say we didn't actually die and we both lived to tell the tale. By morning both Lucy and I were no longer experiencing the burning sensation though neither of us have any idea what it could have been that caused us to react that way?

Has it put us off chocolate cake? I'm afraid not however we decided it best not to finish the rest of the cake!

Anyone for a piece of cake?