Mangoes and Minutes

We're now well into the mango season, something I missed out on when I arrived last August. They are literally everywhere - it doesn't seem to make sense that such a juicy fruit is now available when it hasn't rained for six months! We can get mangoes in Soma market, in the office and from friends who bring us plastic bags that are stuffed full. We've had so many mangoes that Ellie has even managed to make mango chutney (see Ellie's blog ellieshepherd.blogspot.com). We also managed to make mango sorbet in our fridges (it helps clean our palettes between courses!) The mangoes taste amazing too - an aromatic treat, definitely worth the mess you make. Apparently if you eat more than two a day you'll be using your pit latrine a lit bit more than planned!

Enjoying a mango cake at the solar bakery.

As mentioned in my last update Region Four of Gambia's Educational Directorates had the honour of holding the national CCM (Coordinating Committee Meeting). It has been a long standing tradition that the region's VSOs take the meeting's minute (great!). The format of the CCM covered five days with OFSTED style school visits made on the middle Wednesday (a breather for us). The Minister for Education and Permanent Secretary would be joining the one hundred strong committee. Our offices received new drapes and a lick of paint – which actually included the trees outside! We were kicked out of our very own office; it would become the dinning room for the VIPs (not us). On the plus side we got a brand new “remote controlled” a/c unit installed. It goes down to 16C but nobody keeps the flipping door closed long enough for us to achieve this! I also had issues with queue jumping at CCM lunch time but I put this down to a combination of heat and my Mefloquine anti-malarial medication (also known as Loopy Larium!)

Guess who's not taking the minutes properly - wrong - it's me as I kept getting support calls.

During CCM we also had the pleasure of Lynn's company (see Lynn's blog lynngambia.blogspot.com), she's a VSO working in Banjul for SQAD (School Quality Assurance Directorate - Gambians’ love acronyms). It sounds a bit like a SWAT team though! As Lynn is a city-mouse we thought it best if she had her own latrine, so she moved into country-mouse Ellie's quarters (Ellie used Lucy's bamboo bed). Ellie did provide basic latrine training though. Lynn also brought a very welcome supply of hard-to-come-by provisions from Kombo (including Skittles for everyone!)

As the FA Cup final (if I can bring myself to mention it again) would be kicking off on the Saturday following CCM week, I managed to acquire a lift from Lynn's team back to Kombo. Soma's premier video club unfortunately doesn't serve cool draught beer - it doesn't serve any refreshments for that matter. I also didn't want to get on board a big green bus anytime soon. Cup final breakfast consisted of a full English at Big Ben's - they have real sausages and bacon! The game would be watched at my usual hangout of Francisco’s with a healthy number of other VSOs all pretending to be Stoke fans (apart from Paul who's uncle supports Man City!). Fair enough the better team won (there you go Jerry) but we didn't have £300,000,000 to spend on players (thanks stato Keith)!

Apart from the football result I really enjoyed the weekend. I also managed to catch a lift back to Soma from a Swedish NGO called "Future in Our Hands". Lucy quite often helps them out with visits to schools in our region. As I had recently run out of gas for my cooker (yes all that cooking done from August on one tank) I seized the opportunity to acquire a 12kg canister in Kombo. The guys at FIOH were really helpful and I also managed to fill one of Lynn's cool boxes with extra chilled food. The highlights being frozen chicken and real mature cheddar cheese!

I also managed to purchase a frozen Goodfellas pepperoni pizza for cinema night in Soma (see Lucy's blog lucyrpowell.blogspot.com). We were going to watch the gangster movie Goodfellas so the pizza seemed a good idea - I know it's a bit cheesy! Thanks to Ellie's mum for "pointing out the obvious" - I was considering doing a "Ray Mears" and digging a pit oven in our compound before filling it with charcoal. The fact that we lived next door to a bakery with a 24-hour oven seemed to have escaped us. Before the pizza we'd already managed a few baked potatoes and a stuffed butternut squash.

Quick take the photo, that's a hot saucepan lid I'm holding!

The CCM minutes have finally been completed - all 54 pages plus 31 appendices! Our office is back to normal and pretty much all of the British High Commission PCs have now found a home throughout The Gambia. I've had notice from the High Commission that more PCs are available so it looks like my work will be cut out for a while. In the next few weeks we're also planning a road trip to Janjangbureh (Georgetown) and we have another VSO Educational Conference in Kombo! The rains will also be due so things will be changing…

Easter in The Gambia

One of Stoke's 5 goals against Bolton - I didn't take the photo.


As a follower of Stoke City FC the last few years have seen a momentous rise in the club's fortunes. Premier League football has now been confirmed for a fourth consecutive season. While back in the UK the Mighty Potters also earned their fourth appearance in an FA Cup semi-final. Not since the heady days of the early 1970s have Stoke had such a strong team. Our opponents at Wembley would be Bolton Wanderers. I managed to make it again to Soma's premier video club for the game. In their infinite wisdom the Premier League had managed to also schedule Arsenal v Liverpool at the same time - hardly the same as a semi-final game between founding members of the football league! After a small chat with the video club owner another satellite tuner was acquired and we managed to watch both games. As say we - I think I was the only one to watch Stoke trash Bolton 5-0! We've now booked our place in our first FA Cup final - Man City v Stoke City, May 14th!

Stereo TV - Stoke's game is on the left.

I've started to make trips further a field than our local area in Mansa Konko. Not quite the region wide treks we have planned but an opportunity to get out of the office anyway. IT assistance was required at Soma's community radio so together with my IT officer we headed over to their studios to fix their network/internet issues. If you have an antenna similar to our 3G one you can possibly tune in on 93.8FM!

A blog update wouldn't be the same without a trip to Kombo - or an opportunity to visit the British High Commission for another free do! The Gambia observes Easter, together with all other Christian and Muslim holidays, so with the schools closed for a couple of weeks we headed back to Kombo on the big green bus. For people of a nervous disposition they may want to skip forward to the next paragraph. As Tobaski (Eid) isn't until November (when The Gambia is overrun with rams) I wasn't too concerned with the animals loaded onto the bus's roof. About half way into the journey I began to nod off thinking of life back in Blighty - the springtime, the mild weather and the April showers! Hang on - it was still the dry season in The Gambia but rain was coming in through the bus's windows. It wasn't rain - it was ram's urine!! I was getting soaked - the chap in front of me too, who was trying in vain to close the window. I had the dilemma of either avoiding a direct hit in the face by ducking or assisting with the closure of the stuck window! Both Lucy and Ellie found the whole situation highly amusing - together with quite a few other people on the bus. To be fair I had witnessed this situation before on previous journeys and had shared a few chuckles. Lucy's smile didn't last long as she too "got sprinkled" thirty minutes later!

We stayed the first night in Kombo - at our regular destination, Mamas. Originally from Switzerland, Mama has run a hotel in The Gambia for seventeen years and provides a very good bed & breakfast for £9! I also didn’t hesitate to use her £1 laundry services! For Good Friday and Easter Saturday we would join other VSO volunteers in the coastal town of Sanyang - about thirty minutes drive down the coast from the tourist area of Senegambia. We would stay at the Rainbow Lodge on a quite stretch of beach - the highlight of the evening would be a local fish & chips and a bonfire on the beach.

Sanyang FC

Paradise Beach bonfire

On Easter Sunday I attended Mass with Vicky & Lucy in Bakau (very close to the VSO offices). It was interesting to observe the mixture or incense burning, humorous sermon from the Irish bishop and gospel music from the choir. At one point a member of the congregation actually began dancing in the aisle - not quite what I was expecting from Gambian Catholicism.

For my remaining time in Kombo I would stay with fellow volunteer Tom in Kanifing. I helped Tom last time with the computers at Albion School in Banjul. As we didn't have power on my last trip we couldn't do much - this time we managed to network all the PCs in their lab and finish things off. As Tom is returning to the UK soon I'll be helping out at Albion where I can.

We had all received invitations from the British High Commission to attend a function at the Commissioner's residence to say goodbye to Phil, the current commissioner who will shortly be retiring. Who wouldn't want real gin, decent red wine and an abundant supply of canapés at the British tax payer's expense! I had purchased a special African shirt for the occasion but believe it or not the weather was too cool! The current difference between the coast (a chilly 20C) and up-country (a crazy 45C) meant I'd be wearing the shirt back in Soma on pray day! I think I've adjusted to the climate a bit too much as 20C is still 68F in old money.

The day after a group of us headed over to Francisco's to watch the Royal Wedding. We were joined by quite a few American Peace Corps volunteers all wearing fancy hats (the girls that is). Paul, the owner of Francisco's laid on a cooked English breakfast for us so all felt quite at home. All good things have to come to an end so at the weekend we headed back to Soma. On the plus side it was announced that Monday would be a public holiday - national workers day!

Another new African shirt - courtesy of Mr Jawneh our local baker.

While I was back in the UK it was announced that Region Four would be holding May's CCM (Coordinating Committee Meeting) - this is a country wide seminar focusing on education - in UK terms OFSTED would be visiting Mansa Konko! Traditionally VSOs in that region are in charge of collecting/producing the meeting's minutes - we'll see if that tradition continues in my next update...