Meeting The New Volunteers

This evening we are meeting the new volunteers at the Senegambia Hotel for drinks and a buffet style meal. I can’t believe six months have passed so quickly since it was ourselves who were the new volunteers. We arrived at the hotel and made our way to the same area we ate in last time, we were the first to arrive or so we thought. Paul quickly found a seat with some other UK guys after checking that they were waiting to watch the six nations rugby match England v Wales. I decided to take a look around the ground of the hotel with Abigail and Bradley. We took one of the paths and headed towards the beach passing one of the hotel pools. I was surprised at how big the hotel is, there are different blocks of rooms set within the grounds, a small children’s play area with slide, bird watching bantabar with guide available. There were little bridges here and there within the grounds as well as lots of trees for birdlife. Eventually we reached the path towards the beach and another beach side pool. We decided to return to the hotel to meet Paul via a different route as we did so we were shouted it was some of the other volunteers sat at tables with the new volunteers. I quickly introduced myself and the children and was told this was where we would be spending the evening. I quickly made my way back to let Paul know where we were he was still trying to find the correct channel for the match with no success. We headed back to the group meeting Amy, Emma, Emily and a few others on route. Paul followed behind giving up with the TV and managed to spot a couple of monkey’s in the trees of the hotel grounds.

Yok Hair Salon

A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TERRY!

This week has been a busy week for Paul on Monday he stayed overnight at Sanyang beach resort as he was at an education workshop with the other volunteers. He took along his swimming trunks however the workshops started around 10 o’clock and didn’t finish until 6 o’clock on the evening so they didn’t get any time for a dip in the sea. He arrived home on Tuesday evening ate his dinner and fell a sleep.

I have had another enjoyable week at school with no fights erupting from the children. On Monday the children were all set to go swimming at a local pool, 11 o’clock came and went and we were then told it had been cancelled until Tuesday due to transport issues. On Tuesday morning we still had no time set for the swimming trip I had visions of the children being herded out of the classroom and onto a bus in the middle of a lesson. When I left at 1 o’clock they were still waiting however I was told they did go later on afternoon. This week the children have been practising drama and songs as a local TV channel is coming in on Thursday afternoon to film them performing. Apparently it is to do with the rights of children’s act so they are going around a number of schools filming.

On Thursday Bradley went on his school trip, this didn’t go down very well as he complained of being bored. The children had been taken to the Calypso restaurant (this is where we booked our Jinack Island excursion) and given drinks and cake whilst the teachers sat and ate a meal. I asked him if he was taught anything by the teachers whilst they were there his answer was no they just sat about. The restaurant is situated on the beach however they were not even taken onto the beach to look for shells or sea life. This left me most annoyed as the trips form part of the term payments.

Friday was spent getting pampered at the only European hair salon in The Gambia. Suelle runs the Yok Art Centre and Café as well as the salon downstairs. He is a Lebanese guy who trained with Vidal Sassoon in London and New York back in the sixties before returning home to The Gambia. He was a very interesting guy who when he is not hairdressing or running the Art Centre Café he spends time doing interior design for business people including the president. He also likes to paint and dye fabric many of these are displayed in the Art Centre upstairs. We had an interesting conversation about his life whilst he set about highlighting my hair. Before my hair was cut it was washed and then I had the most amazing head and neck massage by a Gambian lady. I was very pleased with the end results even if it did cost me two weeks wages about the same price I would pay back in the UK.

Yok Art Centre & Cafe

Kotu Stream

We did our usual Sunday morning walk to Kotu Stream Abigail with bird book in hand keen to see some different birds so she could log them down. We weren’t disappointed the first bird we saw was a Squacco Egret just in the fields at the side of the Senegambia highway. We crossed over the rice fields heading towards the stream stopping to chat to some bird spotters from UK on route. Abigail was very excited when we saw a Little Bee-eater these are lovely little green birds with a yellow stripe across the eyes and when against a green background it offers an excellent camouflage, see if you can find it in the photo I have posted. We arrived at Koto stream where we had a good view of a Whimbrel and then we spotted a Blue-breasted Kingfisher on the far bank. We headed towards the tourist area and whilst Paul checked on the exchange rates my self and Abigail took a look around the craft market at the pretty dresses and jewellery on display. Within the craft market there was an area which had been draped in material to imitate vines and flowers which to me had a very Indian feel. With a quick stop off to see Adam we headed back home.

Intermediate Egret

Squacco Egret

Little Bee-eater

Whimbrel

Blue-breasted Kingfisher

Kotu Craft Market

School Sports Event

This afternoon we have been invited by one of Paul’s students to a sports day event at Yundum Upper Basic School. We were told to arrive at around 2 o’clock however we decided to leave a bit later knowing what the rule is for things not starting on time. We eventually found the school with some help from a couple of local lads and parked the car in the shade. We found Momadou who was very pleased that we had all come to the event. He ushered us upstairs to the head teachers office and we were given a drink of pop. We decided to take a look in one of the classrooms it was as if we had gone back in time sixty years to how our parents would have been taught. There were rows of tables and benches facing a large blackboard the dust and rubbish on the floor did nothing for the overall picture, very grim. Whilst we were busy looking around Momadou and some others set about moving chairs into the corridor which overlooked the sports field for spectators to sit in. When he had finished he asked us to accompany him to his home to meet his family as he wanted to change his clothes. We set off walking through the streets of Yundum attracting quite a lot of attention being the only toubabs with two young children. We came to the busy highway which connects to Senegambia and Brikama this is the route Paul normally takes to avoid having to drive through Serrekunda. Once we had crossed over the road it was a short walk to reach his house. We received a warm welcome from his mother and brothers. His nieces and nephew were inquisitive peeking at us through the doorway. Bradley broke the ice as usual and took himself outside to chase the chickens and sit with the children. We were offered Atya tea and given a gift of a pawpaw not my favourite fruit I just don’t like the smell of it. Momadou showed us some photos of his sporting career he used to do quite a lot of running until he had problems with his shins. We set of back to the school and were blasted out by the DJ’s sound system. Quite a large crowd had gathered of youths waiting for the races to begin. We were shown back upstairs and seated with the head and other official looking people whilst Momadou went to help with the events. No sooner had we taken a seat we were asked to eat and shown into the head teacher’s office where there was a bowl of Domada but no spoons. After washing our hands we started to share the bowl with five other men. Bradley was quick to get stuck in with his hands all be it both when he should have only used his right hand As for myself I just couldn’t get used to squashing the rice in between my fingers and palm to try to bind it together before trying to get it all into my mouth. Hence more was on the floor and my self all I can say is what a messy way of eating hopefully this will be our first and last attempt of a communal bowl. Whilst we were eating Abigail decided to sit outside as she was not feeling well so was spared the ordeal of having greasy sticky fingers. After a drink and rinse of our hands we made our way back to our seats to watch the events which were just starting at wait for it 4 o’clock. Most of the events were running races ranging from 100 to 5,000 metres, a baton race and an unusual game of musical chairs. The events all seemed to be very dramatic as nearly every race ended with an athlete getting taken off by stretcher having collapsed from heat exhaustion or muscle sprain. In between the events being called the music was blasting out toe tapping music this resulted n a crowd of young boys gathering in front of the DJ and just below where we were sitting. Suddenly one would start dancing and body popping then others would join in. They had such a good rhythm and I just couldn’t help glancing down to watch them instead of the races. The crowd got bigger and bigger and after taking a couple of photos of them they danced even more. Even Bradley was bopping along to the music which resulted in the children pointing and laughing at him. He then asked to go downstairs as he wanted to join them. On walking down the stairs we were greeted halfway by lots of happy children. Bradley decided he didn’t want to dance however the children danced away impressing us with their moves. We were really enjoying the races and music however we decided to leave as it was nearly 7 o’clock thanking Momadou and the head teacher for their hospitality before we left.