My First Week Back

After a few weeks in the UK seeing friends and family (which I very much enjoyed) it was good to be back in The Gambia. I managed to acquire quite a few spare parts for Mansa Konko - mainly hard disks & memory but also a 3G antenna for the office. This would improve our Internet connection and remove the need for the dongle to sit outside on an A/C unit. I hadn't read the product description properly when ordering it - I briefly wondered why it stated that "the antenna cannot be split into two parts". When the 5 FOOT "mast" arrived later in the post I soon realised why - this thing was going to pick up 3G signals from Senegal! I haven't installed it in the office yet - we're going to carry out tests in our compound first. At the moment you can only get a 3G signal when you're sat in the latrine area at the back of our houses! I also managed to bring back humanitarian aid from The Early Learning Centre - a Jolly Phonics CD and alphabet & small word picture cards. Volunteer aid in the form of Starbucks coffee, M&Ms, macaroni cheese, cup-a-soups were also air-freighted in.

The day after my return to Kombo VSO had arranged a two day workshop to re-launch their brand in The Gambia. This meant the majority of volunteers would be attending so I could catch-up with everyone. I would also have company on my return up-country to Soma - Lucy and new volunteer Ellie (who hasn't experienced a bad gelleh trip so far) would join me. Sure enough we got to Soma within 3 hours with no issues (and we sat at the front!) so Ellie is officially our travel mascot! As it was hovering around 45 degrees and my suitcase weighed +25 kilos I decided upon a donkey cart for my final 1 kilometre of travelling!

Donkey carts are very common up-country - mainly operated by teenagers, they are the "hot hatches" of Soma.

Before I left for the UK I had assisted fellow volunteer Tom setup a wireless Internet connection at a Methodist school in Banjul. Further work was required so we arranged to make an early exit from the VSO workshop and head over to Albion School in central Banjul. Alas Tom's motorbike suffered a puncture as we left Senegambia so we re-scheduled for Saturday morning. When we arrived early on Saturday we discovered the whole of the city was experiencing a power cut (which had began the previous evening). These frustrating situations are common place - we did manage to purchase 40 metres of network cable so the visit wasn't a complete waste. The Easter holidays are only a few weeks away so power and tyres permitting I should be able finish things off.

Albion School's mission statement & prayers

There are not many tourist destinations in our region - one of the few stops is the small village of Tendaba ("big wharf" in Mandinka) which is located on the Gambia river near to a one of the few hills in the country. The location is quite special with a tourist lodge located right on the river's edge. One of the Kombo based volunteer's Pete had arranged to met us here with a couple of friends from the UK. It's an hour's bike ride west from Soma - Lucy and Ellie would be working in the nearby village of Kwinella so we would all meet up in the evening and stop the night in the lodge. I would travel back with Ellie in the morning allowing Lucy to stay in the local area. Tendaba Camp also boasts a swimming pool, restaurant and well stocked bar!

Tendaba village from the lodge

The following morning we made the short journey to Tendaba Lower Basic School - located right on top of the hill. Lucy and Ellie would observe a few lessons and we agreed to a return journey over Easter to re-organise their library. The school was very colourful with paper "spelling" flags hanging above the classrooms and outside walls decorated with hand painted informative pictures.

We headed back home in mid-morning, I would be accompanying Ellie in case of an emergency. After 5km of jungle track we hit the main road, after another 10km of bone shattering bumps my steering became very wobbly and on closer inspection I could see I had a flat front tyre. So much for me providing assistance - I was the one needing help! I slowed down and pulled in off the dusty highway - I didn't think Ellie was going to stop as she whizzed passed. I had lent my mobile phone to Lucy earlier (so if she broke down she could make a call) so had no way of contacting Riders to arrange delivery of a spare wheel! I did see the reassuring sign of Ellie's brake lights as she stopped. An hour later (after delivery and fitting of a whole new wheel) we were back on our way. The fun was not yet finished - as I approached the next village of Kaiaf a man jumped out from under a tree and waved me down - his motorbike was "finished!" Could I take him to Soma? As the red hornet has a back box the passenger seat area is very limited - I would be sitting on a red hot fuel tank for the remainder of the journey!