A Good Year

Kate's leaving-do with the Jawnehs


Work has been progressing at a steady pace - I experienced probably one of the busiest days just before I was due to leave Soma for our annual VSO educational conference. I must point out that I remain very busy - some of the previous posts may have given the illusion that a volunteers life is just parties and trips to Kombo - not true Justin! With only an hour's warning I was informed by our Director that we would be holding a workshop for the new GABENTRY & WASSCE software. Gambians love acronyms - WASSCE has something to do with the West African Examination Board - I work for MoBSE, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education. All our cluster monitors and a selection of school principals descended upon our offices with Dell laptops in-tow. This is the time when we have to be on full guard as the spread of viruses could wipe-out all of the last few months good work. The customary procedure for workshops involves holding prayers/making greetings at the beginning of the day followed by breakfast at 10am (usually beef/chicken luncheon meat or Sardines with onions, potatoes and mayonnaise. This is usually accompanied by an incredibly sweet cup of tea (I make my own). A very lively debate ensues on whether mobile phones should be switched on or off and what should be the protocol should you miss a call! I took the opportunity to scan all the laptops and flash drives while breakfast was consumed - good job I did! Some people (no names mentioned) had even removed the anti-virus software I had installed as it was "making too much noise every time it detected a virus"! The rest of the afternoon (and I was trying to make an early exit) was spent assisting in the installation of the software and fixing rogue laptops.

The following morning I awoke at 6am to get the 7am "big green bus" to Kombo. Some weeks before Terry (advisor to the Director) and myself had "volunteered" to facilitate the educational conference. Terry does an excellent job in Mansa Konko and believe it or not his wife baby-sat me when she was studying at university quite a few years ago! Talk about a small world but my father taught her at Keele! By all accounts I was very well behaved! For some reason the big bus wasn't operating today and we made do with a gelleh-gelleh ride. I suspected either a lack of tyres or the road works between Sibanor and Kalagi (they're upgrading the road to asphalt!) Compared to previous journeys this was one of the best - Soma to Kombo in three and half hours.

I would be staying in Kanifing House during my stay in Kombo - this was the house that we originally used when we arrived in The Gambia. My choice of accommodation was based on the fact it had recently been "upgraded". I think VSO use Kanifing House so that volunteers can be acclimatised from hotel conditions to those up-country! Say no more! Our conference went very smoothly largely down to Terry's facilitating skills and the sausage and egg rolls we had for breakfast! It was held at the offices of TANGO - a very good acronym - The Association of Non Governmental Organisations.

During the end of week I had been made an "offer I can't refuse". If I could visit the Safari Garden Hotel and fix their computers I would be offered a couple of nights stay at their five star eco-retreat in Sandele (Winner of The Guardian/Observer Travel Award). When the owner Geri heard I was staying at Kanifing she immediately offered me a room for the duration of my work. As with many a case the work went smoothly apart from one PC - this of course had to be the main machine. Removing viruses is a complex job of ensuring both the PC continues to function and that as many of it programs and data aren't lost. Add the fact that many viruses will employ tactics to stop you from removing them and you're looking at quite a lengthy bit of work. Things quite often get to the point where you have to wipe the PC completely and start afresh. Fortunately after many a scan (and hour) I got to the point where I could sign off the PC as having a full bill of health.

You may remember that a few weeks back I had a meeting with the Deputy High Commissioner - the purpose was to find a home for some unwanted IT equipment. While at the High Commission party a few weeks ago I arranged another meeting to do the deal. I arranged this after the conference and to my surprise the amount of equipment increased and I was allowed to pick it up the following day. I'll need to do some work with the hardware but each region of The Gambia should get a PC! I also managed to get a vehicle from our region to head to Kombo to pick myself and the hardware up. This is a good food re-stocking opportunity as you can't easily take a box of groceries etc. on a gelleh. For security reasons the majority of the PCs have had their hard disks and memory removed - I'll need to replace these and then rebuild the machine (i.e. put the software back on).

While in Kombo I also took the opportunity to get a haircut - again things didn't go too smoothly. The friendly barber didn't mention that he had only previously cut local hair. My concerns were raised when he began to "line" my hair - this is when the perimeter of your hair-line is shaved. It was only by a few millimetres but as my hair grows quickly I already have "head-stubble" all around my head! Lesson learnt.

It'll be Christmas in two days - my first outside the UK. It's strange to be in a tropical country this time of year especially with the weather conditions back home. Many volunteers and family have been affected by flight delays caused by the snow. Thanks for the food parcels received - I'll enjoy those treats over the next few days. One of the amazing things that hits you about The Gambia is the incredible religious tolerance - I guess it's hardly a surprise when you consider how friendly people are. Even though the population is 90% Muslim - Christmas will still be observed with two public holidays next Monday and Tuesday. I'll be sharing this period with VSO friends before heading back to Soma on Monday.

Reception at the British High Commission

The evening was also in honour of the Gibraltar Regiment

As we draw closer to Christmas quite a few of the friends I've made over the last few months are heading home (that's my charisma!). Some are just popping back home for a few weeks while others are heading back for good. Ashley who painted a map of our region headed back a few weeks ago, north-sider Priya (based in Farafenni) headed back to Norway last Sunday and fellow compound in-mate Kate heads back to Blighty the week after next. I would definitely have started getting a complex about things had Lucy (my other neighbour) not told me she would be returning in January.

I have decided to extend my placement for another six months taking me through to July 2011. My IT officer (a local chap called Lamin who I'm training) is proposing that we trek to every school in the region to extend our IT services. This of course will require the use of a motorbike to tackle all those dusty jungle paths! Our region contains the Maniama Forest which is one of the largest areas of unspoilt jungle in The Gambia. Sightings of leopards and hyena (which I heard the other night from Soma) have been known! I've yet to see a VSO motorbike do more than 50kph so the odds aren't that good if I need to make a quick getaway.

I will have a break in February/March to squeeze in a bit of skiing - the difference in temperatures from The Gambia to Canada/France will be a major shock to the system. Evenings/early mornings here are now a very pleasant 18-20 degrees Celsius, the temperature still manages to get to the high 30s by mid-afternoon though. All those pictures of the heavy snow in the UK made me feel quite jealous - well OK for perhaps 10 minutes!

We had a small fire in the compound last week with one of the best excuses. As it hasn't rained for almost two months the vegetation is tinder dry, so perhaps not the best time to try and clear it with a fire. A young lad in a nearby compound had found a six foot snake is his living room and decided he'd make sure there weren't any bushes for further snakes to live in. The result was a singed latrine (we thought Mr Fatti was still inside!) and the rest of the compound having a distinct volcanic look. On the plus side we're only 5 minutes from Soma fire station so we weren't overly worried.

Our rather charred compound following the capture of a 6 foot snake

During the middle of last week I received an email from our VSO programme office informing us that as new volunteers we had been invited to a reception at the British High Commission. It would be a shared function between us and the Gibraltar Regiment - nibbles and a free bar would be provided. As it was short notice and a week before our educational conference in Kombo many volunteers couldn't make it. It's a four/five hour trip from Soma so I needed a long hard think about it. When a free lift in an air-conditioned VSO vehicle turned up I jumped at the chance. We had celebrated "International Volunteers Day" in Soma that Sunday so dignitaries/volunteers for across the country had attended. I was actually on the planning committee for the celebrations - things must have gone so well at the initial meeting they didn't need me for any more! The reception was held the following Monday at the High Commissioner's residence high on the cliffs above Cape St Mary. Getting the chance to drink proper G&Ts and red wine was a real luxury - and all courtesy of HM Government! We ended the evening with a ride home in what appeared to be either a diplomatic or special army SUV. With discretely hidden strobe lights all of a sudden we didn't have to worry about traffic lights or road-blocks, we were coming straight through! It definitely wasn't a five-five taxi trip!

Our VSO pickup vehicle leading the International Volunteers Day parade


Benachin (or "one pot") food-bowl following the celebrations

Tobaski or Eid-al-Adha

Ashley, Lucy and Max - under a Mandarin tree.

We left Soma early on Saturday morning for Kombo - again I would get the big green bus. As we waited for the bus to depart the last few Tobaski rams were loaded onto the roof. We then departed 45 minutes early (or maybe we were 45 late last time?) and I thought "excellent we'll get there for lunch". As the bus hit full speed you began to feel sorry for the poor rams bouncing on the roof above. We soon learnt to keep the windows shut as the rain and hail wasn't coming from the sky! I then heard a huge bang a couple of feet in front of me - one of back tyres had just exploded! The bus slowed to a stop, stranded on the dusty south road without a spare. The driver informed us that he had given his spare to another bus the day before and that we shouldn't have to wait much longer as the 6am bus from Banjul would pass us within the hour. Three hours and three green buses later (some slowing down just to look at our plight) we were beginning to get concerned. Stoke City were due to play Liverpool that afternoon so we had to get to Fransisco's in Fajara to watch the match. Luckily a truck with a spare finally did arrive and we ended up in Kombo only four hours late with plenty of time before the match. The bus driver was very apologetic and took us almost to our hotel door (well a junction called "Traffic Lights" - named because they were the first in The Gambia).

I think we need a new tyre?

Whilst watching the game I also decided to indulge myself with the finest British cuisine - fish and chips. Fransisco's is a watering-hole for many expats and has a good selection of pies etc. - they even do a Sunday roast! Stoke ended up comfortably beating Liverpool 2-0 with goals from Fuller & Jones. I don't think Liverpool had a shot on target (you can correct me Keith) - a fine end to a long day.

Tobaski celebrations were held on the following Tuesday - we were invited to the compound of a Filipino VSO's friend, Max (we have VSO volunteers from Uganda, UK, Holland and The Philippines). By the time we arrived the ram had been slaughtered (phew) - most of it's carcass had been butchered with just it's head left to be put in a soup the following day. In true westerner style I have to admit that my appetite suddenly dropped when I saw the kids cleaning out the intestines near where we were going to eat. One of the top honours is for the head of the compound to eat the fresh liver - this was shared with us, fried with spices and onions (very tasty). We then ate various "bits of meat" before having the main shared food-bowl meal. The slaughter of the ram is carried out in commemoration of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only son to God, who at the last minute exchanges Abraham’s son for a ram.

The remainder of the week we spent relaxing at various hotels in the Kombo area - I also managed to fit in a good beach/cliff walk from Fajara (near St Paul's church) to Cape Point. We were joined on the outward part of the journey by a chap who we suspected to be a "bumster" (tourist pest). At first he didn't ask for money and we began to wonder if he was just a very friendly local (he walked a good 5 miles of the route!). We managed to shake him off for the return leg but as we approached our hotel we could hear Jimmy the Fixer (the name was in hindsight a big clue) calling out our Gambian names (I'm also known as Alkali Jawneh - which means village leader, a sensible choice I think made by the head of our neighbouring compound). He now wanted a 200 dalasi donation to his reggae band! Bumsters usually disappear pretty quick when we mention we're volunteers or use a bit of Mandinka - Jimmy got the message that we wouldn't be fixing his bands financial problems anytime soon!

All good things come to an end - we had to head back to Soma at the end of the week. I decided to use the south road (the same way we had arrived) but this time to save on an early morning start we'd use "gelleh-gellehs" (shared mini-buses similar to collectivos). The first part of our trip to Brikama went without incident - we then had to change gellehs. As we had started the journey later in the day we also had the problem of a longer wait for the vehicle to fill. Eventually we started (although the vehicle needed a bump start - always a bad sign) and quickly got to the point where the tarmac ends and the road turns into a dusty, pot-holed track. On these roads vehicles don't really stick to the left or right (The Gambia drives in the right) - instead drivers pick the route with least holes. This often leads to chaos and the occasional crash! Soon after our start we had to pull in as we seemed to lose something off the vehicle - the gelleh boy was sent back down the road to find the fan belt (I think it was this anyway). We then carried on before again stopping as the front wheel was making a funny noise. This seemed more serious as the 12 year gelleh boy now turned mechanic needed to rebuild the brake mechanism! We also noticed oil dripping on to the real wheel from the axle - I was beginning to have major doubts as to the vehicles MOT status (yeah right)! When we stopped ten minutes later the twenty or so passengers decided enough was enough and we undertook a gelleh mutiny! Seemingly out of nowhere an empty minibus (with proper seats) appeared and a deal was done to carry on the journey. The unpaved roads are unbelievably tough out here - drivers still try and get up to 40-50mph though which puts a huge stress on the suspension and wheels. Our new driver was no different and guess what - after thirty minutes one of our rear wheels started to fall off! This time we got as far as Kalagi, just into our Lower River Region. We're not entirely sure what happened next but another empty gelleh arrived to complete our journey - luckily just before it got dark. Total time for return journey eight hours - the same as the outward journey the previous Saturday! Record for the north road, less than three!

Kate leaves the mutiny behind her!


Kate inspects gelleh number two!


Inside our final gelleh - great travelling companions!

Video Club Regular

Our lovely new secure router box - the paint is now dry


I'm now settled in to my pattern of work - word has spread amongst the local community that I can fix PCs so I'm always busy rebuilding a laptop or two for school principals, staff and friends. I have also started my training courses - every Friday at 10am. So far attendance has been a little disappointing - hopefully things will improve otherwise I'll have to offer free biscuits! Friday is the best day for cluster monitors (the guys who check the performance of schools in our area) as they're usually office based - but as it's a half day due to prayers sometimes people are busy elsewhere.

We've been experiencing quite a few Internet problems in the last few weeks (hence a lack of blog posts) - it appears our 3G signal (all rural Internet use mobile phone connections) has reduced dramatically to the extent that we can't get a signal anywhere indoors. Fortunately I can get a very good signal if I sit under a tree in the car park (people think I'm being lazy) but this involves disconnecting from the network first! Today I've managed to hang the dongle from a fire extinguisher and we're all getting a good signal again. We've also just had a special box installed to securely house our network switch and Internet router. For some reason the guy who built it tried to attach it to the wall when the paint was still wet - I was underneath holding it when it slipped and landed on my head. I almost had another haircut emergency - luckily most of the paint came off when I stuck my head under a nearby stand pipe!

I'm also now a regular at our local "video club" in Soma - this isn't quite the same thing as back home. For 10 dalasi (25p) I can watch live Premier League football matches with about 50 other cheerful Gambians. Recently I watched Stoke City play Manchester United. Stoke unfortunately went a goal down quite early on (and against the run of play). When Man Utd scored the shed erupted but I kept my stony silence. Then in the 80th minute Stoke's Turkish striker Tuncay scored an absolute cracker of a goal. He curled the ball in from the edge of the penalty area just past the out stretched hands of Edwin Van der Sar! I jumped off the bench to celebrate together with a local guy five rows ahead. To my disappointment it turned out that he wasn't a fellow Potter just someone who supported anyone but Man Utd! Stoke then switched off thinking that the point was secure - in the 85 minute the Red Devils snatched their winner and I went home unhappy.

As it's Tobaski next week (for most Gambians this will be their Christmas) the office will be closed. I'll be heading down to Kombo for a week's holiday - if I get chance I'll pop into www.cocoocean.com (I've called in here before and it's very nice). When we return we only have a couple of weeks before returning to Banjul for our week-long educational conference. Christmas (which is observed in The Gambia) will then arrive the following week - before I know it we'll be in a new year. It'll be my first Christmas outside the UK - I'll be back home in early February so the turkey and Christmas pudding will just have to wait. Anyone who would like to ship-out a festive hamper is more than welcome - Marcus Briggs c/o VSO, PO Box 677, Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa (no pressure).

Gambian Wildlife

A Golden Silk Spider - their silk really is that strong


Though most large game animals such as elephants have been hunted to extinction a long time ago hippos can still be found in the protected area of the River Gambia National Park. Only last week a hippo was sadly shot when it entered the town of Basse during floods. The country has a diverse bird population which is unusual for its size. Over 560 species of birds have been recorded including a family of swallows that life above my front door. The mammals which are most often seen are baboons and monkeys. The species of monkey to be found are the western red colobus, patas and the callithrix. There are also small antelopes such as the Maxwell's duiker, sitatunga and bushbucks. Other animals to be found in The Gambia include aardvarks, hyena, nile crocodiles, warthogs, bushpigs, monitor lizards, chameleons, geckos (many in my latrine), puff adders, spitting cobras and green mambas. Bottle nose dolphins can be seen near the entrance to the river from the Atlantic Ocean on the Barra ferry. Spotting any of these is a major event - most creatures maintain a sensible low profile.

You do see a large number of domestic animals in and around Soma. Goats, sheep, chickens, pigs (something of a surprise), donkeys, packs of stray dogs (which don't actually look too badly off) and cats will be seen most days. We're heading towards the major Muslim festival of Tobaski (also known as Eid) - the tradition being that all family heads will slaughter a ram outside their compound - less goats/sheep in December I suspect! The sound of a donkey's bray first thing in the morning was one of biggest surprises and most alarming - the noise fruit bats make in the evening is one of the eeriest!

Apart from birds The Gambia also excels with the number of species of insect - this country really is bug central! If you're outside around or after dusk (or first thing which doesn't happen to me!) without 50% deet then you'll be eaten alive. We're all concerned about mosquitoes and the risks of catching malaria, but the majority of bites appear to be from other flying nasties. We rarely hear the tale-tale Mosquito high pitch shrill - but we will always know where we forgot to spray! Any food that is left out will be consumed by ants within minutes - usually by a miniature species - they also have large biting soldier ants, but these appear rarely. Large grasshoppers/crickets frequently jump out of the groundnut (peanut) field in front of my house and force entry under the front door. A gang of geckos/lizards patrol my latrine area so things aren't too bad - I do find quite a few Praying Mantises on my mesh screen though. The fly situation surprisingly isn't too bad - we're all looking forward to the dry season (which is starting now) when the temperatures drop and the number of insects declines dramatically.

Things get very busy

Just about to have lunch at Ngala Lodge


Stabilisation has ended and so the director and his management team have returned to the office. The task now is to process all of their data and generate the required reports. The local power generator for the office is still required each day as we have major problems with the main electricity supply. My campaign to remove viruses from as many machines as possible is beginning to backfire. The process of removing a virus will more often than not damage the Windows operating system (and these machines have 100's of viruses) so further work is required to rebuild the PC. The machine would be out of action when it was needed the most! The alternative would be a "working" PC spreading viruses to all users receiving copies of the reports!

During the middle of the week I received a call from the local Peace Corps working at the nurse's training school in Mansa Konko - they had a few PC issues they wondered if I could look at. The Peace Corps is a similar organisation to the VSO - American volunteers spend two years volunteering around the world - quite often in very basic conditions in rural villages (yes even more basic than mine). They do have very good air conditioning in their computer labs though!

My plans towards the end of the week had to make a quick change when a VSO friend in Kerewan needed a temporary supply of anti-malaria tablets (I had the nearest supply). The humanitarian trip to Kerewan was then extended to the Kombos so I seized the chance to stock up on restaurant food and supplies. For some reason on Wednesday evening I had decided to go for a "haircut" using a volunteer's spare "hair clippers". The result was a disaster and I aborted the haircut looking like an extra from "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". It turned out the clippers were actually beard trimmers - now I had an extra reason to head to the Kombos - I needed a number 4 quick!

The trip via the north road (the south road is a non-asphalt dusty roller coaster) again went very smoothly. I met Priya in Farafenni first - we then picked Vicky up in Kerewan (I leaned out of the gelly waving my hands so she knew which one to get on) and then made the 6.30pm ferry from Barra in Banjul. To keep the costs down I'd stay with Kombos based volunteers - we still had chance to have a meal at Mama's though. We went overboard a bit on Saturday (so much to keeping costs down) with lunch at Ngala Lodge (5 star - check out www.ngalalodge.com) followed by an excellent evening meal at The Blue Kitchen (under German management no less!).

We should have returned to our various Gambian locations on Sunday but a very heavy thunderstorm put paid to that. Getting drenched in the storm also meant I needed time to dry out so we decided to get the first ferry at 7am the following morning. Watching the sun rise on The Gambia River was a magical event - the weather was also the coolest I'd so far experienced. We got to Farafenni in a record 1 hour 25 minutes. We travelled in a "set place" which is a direct 7 seater taxi - well worth the extra 40 dalasi (£1)! Expecting to be back in the office before too many people missed me I was let down again by my local ferry at Bambatenda. This time a Senegalese bus grounded itself while boarding - it turned out to be two and a half hours to do the last 16 kilometres!

A Typical Week

My office - where I work very hard


The following week turned out to be rather quite - a result of both the busy weekend and problems with the local power supply. I'll take this opportunity to run through a typical day back on the compound. The sunrises at approx. 7am - by 7.15am I'm out the back having a bucket bath in surprisingly cool conditions. It makes a pleasant change to actually feel properly cold water. You get used to the pit latrine quite quickly although the office does have WCs if needed. Breakfast is currently porridge with powdered milk and honey washed down with a cup of coffee. I'm usually enjoying this meal on our verander with my fellow VSO volunteers - sounds quite civilised doesn't it? We head into the office usually around 8am-ish GMT. I occasionally get a lift on a motorbike (thanks Lucy), the alternative is a 10 minute walk shared with nurses at the nearby training college. The temperature by this time has usually got into the mid/high-20s with high humidity so you can often reach the office requiring another shower. If I've been organised enough I'll have filled up one of my water containers (we have no taps in-house) and then left it in the back yard to heat up ready for my evening wash (I also have a 5 gallon camping shower, thanks Kanti).

Work usually ends at about 4pm, although it has been a little later this week. We'll usually discuss the possible delights of our evening meal in our office before heading home. We normally take it in turns cooking (yes I cook with no reported stomach problems so far!) with Kate supervising when we get into difficulty (she's a bit like Gordon Ramsay!). The menu usually depends on the vegetables in our fridges. The following items can be bought from Soma market; potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, squash, aubergine and cucumber. There's also a "mini-market" that stocks more exotic items such as biscuits, pasta, coffee etc. Apart from the stocks of tinned meat we bought in the Kombos we tend to stick to a vegetarian diet - with the occasional meaty stock cube or two. With the recent high temperatures and humidity an early evening nap helps before a hot bucket bath (my camp shower can get to 130F!). We'll either eat in the chef's home or more often than not just sit outside on our water containers watching the glorious sunsets or evening lightening storms in the distance. By the time the sun sets at 7pm we'll usually start a game of cards, scrabble or stand outside gazzing at the amazingly bright stars. Navigating the pit latrine before bed is the last highlight of the day - not!

The Longest Week

A Baobab tree - I'll be sitting under a few of these!


The week began well with a staff meeting with the new director. I will be arranging an IT meeting to set the directorate IT policy - hopefully after the new team has completed their period of "stabilisation". This involves the director and his colleagues visiting each school in the region to ensure they have enough teachers (and headmasters!) - 60 school visits in total. The Gambian version of "Question Time" visited our offices on Monday - I joined the audience to watch the recording of "Education Forum". Hopefully I'll have appeared on TV looking very interested - you may catch it on Gambia TV's iPlayer!

On Tuesday I was introduced to my new IT Officer - I'll be sharing my skills with him so that he can continue supporting the office after I leave. I suspect most of his time will be spent scanning machines for viruses and fixing old PCs! This brings me nicely back to a PC at Pakalinding Upper Basic school - I scanned it this week and I found 16,700 virus infections.

This must surely count in the Guinness Book of Records! The level of infection here is at epidemic proportions - I'm seriously considering removing Windows and installing Linux on the majority of machines (an operating system with a much lower chance of viral infection). The key here is giving people proper access to word processing, printing and email/Internet and not lining Bill Gates pockets!

The weather this week has been something of a surprise - during my first few week or two in Soma I was surprised at the cool breeze and mild morning/evening temperatures. This week the temperatures have rocketed into the high 30C's/100F with high humidity - hopefully this is the last few weeks of the wet season and things will begin to cool off a bit. Keeping up with the laundry is especially difficult - I'm still doing it by hand, although a local lady has been found who'll do a much better job.

After a long hot week I was hoping for a relaxing weekend to catch up - instead our new director announced a "workshop" for all headmasters/mistresses for Saturday and Sunday. The title for the weekend was "Workshop on Time Tabling and Familiarisation of the Minimum Standards Monitoring Tool for Basic Schools". Providing IT support meant I finished at 2am on Monday morning! We all started again at 8am for the week part 2.

Back to the Kombos

My offices in Mansa Konko


The weekly email from the VSO office informed us that we needed to return to Banjul to complete our biometric ID card application on Thursday of this week. The travel time is typically 5 hours each way so Wednesday and Friday were also booked off. At the beginning of the week I'd made further progress fixing computers at the local school in Pakalinding. The headmaster of the nearby Madrassa also required my assistance and picked me up on his motorbike - a short trip down the highway without crash helmets!

We decided to take the early morning bus to Banjul (it's a big green US style school bus). Getting to the Soma bus stop at 7am gave us the chance of getting a seat - the bus left at 8am. We then had a very bumpy 3 hours on dirt roads before hitting asphalt an hour out of Banjul. I've never been so happy to see tarmac! The bus was very full with people in the aisles - it was absolute chaos when the bus stopped and people from the back decided to get off. The time past quite quickly but I would be planning an alternative route back. I did had a very well behaved chicken sitting behind me - not a single cluck and it was definitely alive! It is quite common to see goats and sheep tethered to the roof!

Back in The Kombos I made a bee-line for my hotel to marvel at the shower and WC. I was staying very close to the VSO office in a hotel run by a Swiss lady called "Mama". It was also refreshing to sleep in a room without a mosquito net - although the windows were fully screened. The process of getting our ID cards went without a hitch - half a day spent in Banjul at the immigration office. It was good to meet up with all the other new volunteers and exchange stories of the first few weeks at our placements.

The plan originally was to return to Soma on the Saturday - but this would change. Friday morning was taken up with a visit to the British High Commission on behalf of the University of Gambia to check out a room of recently decommissioned computers (no pun intended). The selection was really good and hopefully some PCs, printers and other bits should be making their way to the VSO! On returning to the office I struck Gambian travel gold - a delegation of members of parliament would be visiting Janjangbure in the east and would I like a lift as far as Farrafeni (only 16km from Soma)! Without much hesitation I agreed and found myself in a gelly-gelly (minibus taxi) getting priority at the Barra ferry (usually 3-4 hours wait) - the a.c. VIP lounge was also appreciated. We whizzed through every road-block until I jumped off at Kerewan to visit another VSO volunteer. Staying a couple of nights I got the chance to experience a wonderful Gambian compound family - 2 husbands, 4 wives and their 20+ children! I also experienced some Attaya - a strong green tea mixed with plenty of sugar. The process of making the drink by pouring the tea between various cups makes up an important part of Gambian socializing.

The final leg of my journey involved another gelly-gelly ride into Farrafeni - my luck continued with a half-empty, super fast ride. Things were going to change when I headed south to get a ferry back to the south-side of the Gambia (take this opportunity to have a look on a map). The ferry captain seemed to have great difficulty mooring his vessel - I think I counted at least 4 attempts. This then resulted in a truck getting stuck half-on half-off the ferry! After an hour the patience of the other inbound ferry (2 boats operate the crossing) disappeared as he steered into the grassy banks in an attempt to let passengers off! We finally got across the river - the captain this time made no mistake and rammed the ferry half way up the landing area to the concern of quite a few waiting passengers. It was good to be back in Soma in one bit.

My First Week at Work

Literacy Day Celebrations


My working day is 8am-ish to 4pm-ish - as electricity doesn't start until 9am-ish the first part of day is usually taken up with greeting people. In The Gambia this can easily take an hour as the typical Mandinka greeting is as follows (per person):

Salaam aaleekum - Maaleekum salaam (Peace be upon you - Peace be upon you also).
Kayira be - Kayira doron (Peace be upon you - Peace only).
Suumoolu lee? - I bee be jee (How are the compound people? - They are all fine).
Kori tana te jee - Tana te jee (Hope there is no evil - There is no evil).
I be naadii - N be jan doron (How are you - I'm fine).
Dookuwo be naadii - N be a kan doman doman (How is the work - I'm on it slowly slowly).

Once the electricity has kicked in I can begin the technical side of things - connecting the network to the 3G mobile broadband and then assisting users check emails. The work then is a mixture of planned upgrades/policy changes and general IT problem solving. At the moment the office is undergoing a change in directors so the workload will probably pick up after next week. I have managed to make my first site visit (walked in 35 deg heat) out to Pakalinding Upper Basic - my skills were required to print off their new class list from an awkward paper-jamming printer.

At the end of the week (Saturday) we were required to attend the National Literacy Skills Day celebrations in Soma. We got to the marquee on-time at 9am - however we hadn't taken into account GMT (Gambia Maybe Time) - the event finally started at 1pm-ish! We managed to whittle the whole alphabet out of twigs during this time to the amusement of the local children (it was literacy day after all!) We made an early exit at 3.30pm and headed over the river to Farafenni for a weekend celebratory chicken and chips at Eddy's Bar. As a storm moved in from Senegal we were lucky to make the last ferry back!

My first week in Soma

Compound life - a quick game of Gambian pétanque


I've finally made it to my "house" in Soma. It took about 7 hours to do the journey of a little over 100 kms! Most of the time was spent waiting for the Banjul to Barra ferry as the north road is by far the better route (fully tarmac-ed to Farrafenni). We also had to drop off a fellow volunteer en-route in Kerewan. The system of loading vehicles onto the ferry seemed to have nothing to do with reservations/time of ticket purchase and a lot to do with something else. The trip itself got rather alarming at one point when the supposedly stationary vehicles behind us started to nudge our pickup closer to the ferry's edge and a trip to see the fishes! From Farrafenni we headed back south and crossed the Gambia river again. The road is very poor here (a great shame) and the 16km distance took well over an hour.

My "house" is part of a compound (the name used for the walled area of land surrounding a building of numerous family members). The slight difference here is that the compound is only being used my VSO volunteers & nurses working for Riders for Life (motorbike medical assistance). It therefore means it's reasonably quiet without kids but it doesn't have the Gambian vibe other volunteers have experienced. The power/water supply is much better than in Kanifing (which is now being renovated) - water from a stand pipe seems available 24/7 and electricity is available from 7pm until 3am and then 9am until 4pm. I've charged our meter with 100 dalasi (£2.50) which seems to last a week! The compound looks completely different to the photos you may have seen - as it's currently the rainy season everything is green and lush. Half of our compound is being occupied by a ground-nut (peanut) crop.

I'm currently the only volunteer on site - I'll be joined by Kate & Lucy next week (w/c 12th) as this is when the schools open. I'm not that lonely as another volunteer lives in a nearby compound. The Gambians are also very friendly - as one of the only toubabs in town I barely walk 10 feet without kids shaking my handy or locals asking "How is the morning" or "i saama" in Mandinka.
Getting used to the latrine has been interesting - together with bucket baths out-back in my alfresco bathroom. My predecessor left me a "leave in the sun" warm-up camping shower (thanks Kanti) so it's not all cold water at 7.30am. I've also worked out that having a shower at the same time as a tropical downpour makes a lot of sense (although the thunder/lighting can be a bit nervy at night). Work starts next week - 1 month completed, 5 to go (and then I extend or head to another part of the world).

The final week in the Kombos

The Gambia 3 Namibia 1


At first my third week looked like a relaxing week without any VSO training as I wasn't required to complete the motorbike training. It ended up being the reverse with work at The University of Gambia, a trip to Brikama to visit Gambian College and an eventful trip to the national stadium to see The Gambia play Namibia.

I attended the first session of motorbike training in a vain attempt to get on the course (and get a bike at Mansa Konko). After this failed I called in at the law faculty of University of Gambia where my assistance in setting up wireless internet access was required. Having worked out the problem I made the fatal mistake of heading off for lunch. On return the electricity had failed and the gas generator had emptied so I had to return the following morning to finish things off. I won't bore people with the technical side of things. The supply of electricity & water in our area had been very temperamental - we lose power most evenings and water isn't available between 8am and 9pm (we use water containers to get by). After the success of the university visit I decided to visit fellow VSO trainers in the nearby town of Brikama - a 1 hour Gellie-Gellie ride due south (shared small van of varying quality that plies set routes - similar to a Collectivo). With hindsight I should have arranged a meeting with the IT manager so I could arrange a schedule of work. As the manager was out of the office my work at Gambia College was limited to plugging a keyboard into a PC!

As we were heading up-country the following week we decided to finish our stay in the Kombos with a trip to see The Gambia play Namibia in an African Cup of Nations qualifier. The weather in September has turned out to be more rainy than normal. August was fairly mixed with temperatures around 35c/95f, high humidity and afternoon/evening tropical downpours. The day of the football match the weather changed to more monsoon conditions (and it hasn't stopped raining since!). Despite the weather the game proved to be entertaining with The Gambia winning 3-1 (3 goals in the first 20 minutes!). The sound of vuvuzellas and the goal celebrations were worth the admission price alone (£2.50 FA take note!) Sadly the game was marred by the theft of several cameras, phones and my wallet! Luckily I had little cash in my wallet but credit cards have had to be cancelled and ID cards re-issued. I'll be paying more attention in crowded environments! We'll be heading up country tomorrow to our placement locations - Mansa Konko here we come...

Training is over - getting ready to go up-country

Discussing crop requirements in Ndemban


My second week in The Gambia (and final week of ICT training) started with a trip to Ndemban which lies 75 kilometres east of Banjul. The trip was arranged by the VSO to give us an opportunity to visit an up-country Gambian village. The area we're currently in (known as the Kombos) is part of the coastal tourist industry and doesn't reflect the country as a whole. We received an incredibly friendly welcome from the villagers (and this is saying something as Gambians generally are very welcoming). The day started with prayers and a meeting with the village elders & imam held in their in-village school classroom. After quite a few Pringles/digestive biscuits we began a 5km guided walk through the local agricultural area viewing fields of rice, ground nut and various fruit crops. As we returned to the village the heavens opened as we experienced a true tropical deluge, luckily we made it back to the classroom just in time. We then experienced our first "food-bowl" - our hosts had prepared a selection of local dishes which we shared using a spoon each (no plates). As we're still in Ramadan the villages members couldn't eat with us as they were fasting from sunrise to sunset. Plans for a display of dancing & other local celebrations were also postponed (we were invited back at a later date).

In the middle of the week we returned to the Afrimed centre (the hospital that the VSO uses for volunteers) for our blood groups to be taken for our VSO ID cards - it turns out I have B+ rg which is twice as popular in Africa than Europe! Whilst we're talking about health I need to warn people about Wonjo juice. Widely available in cafes this hibiscus flower based drink (which tastes wonderful) has alarming laxative properties - not something you need in your first fortnight in Africa!

The remainder of this week has been taken up with Mandinka training - my quote from last week you'll be glad to learn translates as "How is work?" "Work is here only" "slowly, slowly"! I passed my exam at the end of the week thanks to Alhaji's excellent teaching combined with my payment of his taxi fare back from the Serrekunda market!

As I'm not required to ride a motorbike at my placement (although I'll see if I can) I have next week off as bike training is taking place. I'm scheduled to leave for Mansa Konko on September 7th - this gives me plenty of time to purchase the necessary buckets & pots and pans for my new home. It'll also give me the opportunity to explore the local area a little more (including crocodile pits) and visit Banjul properly.

My First Week

Ebrima - our security guard at Kanifing


I'm now settled in to our temporary house in Kanifing - this morning after 2 days we had water for a cold shower. After 5 days in a hotel with a swimming pool and laundry service we needed to start to adjust to the life of an up-country volunteer.

So far the highlights of the week have included attending St Paul's Anglican Church for a 2 hour service lead by Bishop Dr. Solomon Tilewa Johnson. The church was located just above the beach and the air-conditioning was ice cold. They're currently raising 2 million dalasi for their new church hall that according to the notices will be 100 square kilometres! (this was then corrected to square metres as the hall would have entered Senegal - great amusement for the congregation).

As Monday was a bank holiday in-country training was suspended - a group of us joined a 7 a-side football game on the beach. The game finished 5-0 with a comfortable win for the off-duty Deputy President's Security Guards despite my wearing of a Stoke City FC top!

We have also started our Mandinka language training which is proving to be a little tricky. The majority of Gambians speak English and two other languages (Mandinkan, Wolof or Fula)! I'll sign off with the following:

dookuwo be naadi?
dookuwo be jaŋ doroŋ (domaŋ domaŋ!)

The trip from the airport

We had a great introduction to Africa after we cleared customs and passport control. Even though I had my own baggage trolley I made the mistake of stopping for a fraction of a second. The local bumsters (tourist pests) immediately descended upon me and before I knew it my bags were whisked off to the awaiting VSO vehicles.

Several euros lighter our convoy of pickups and landcruisers started the journey to the VSO offices in Fajara. We were at the back of the group to check that no bags fell off the vehicles ahead (and with the pot-holes that was quite possible). We soon came across a road-block manned by soldiers carrying machine guns and AK47s. Looking across the road we saw a pickup truck with rocket launchers attached to the roof! Our VSO hosts told us that the President was visiting his local abattoir to set the national meat prices for Ramadan (which started today). After half an hour his entourage of hum-vees (US military 4x4 vehicles) shot out of the main gates followed by a shower of biscuit packets as a reward to the local people. Welcome to The Gambia!

Counting Down

Ten days before the flight out to Banjul.

Getting ready for the greatest adventure...