Commonwealth Day

On Monday we celebrated Commonwealth day at Diana Mariam. The children brought a selection of party food and were dressed in their national costume. When I arrived the children were all excited and were wearing some lovely dresses with lots of colour and sparkly braiding. Mansoora and her brother who are from Pakistan wore traditional Indian costumes, and one of the reception children Fattima wore traditional Wolof clothes including chewing stick, used as a toothbrush. Madame Senghore then arrived dressed as a Fula Lady. She had the traditional costume, her hair was braded and she had coloured her chin and forehead with paint to resemble the tattooing off the Fula women. She also carried a calabash and ladle as the Fula people were cattle herders so they used to carry their milk around in the calabash. Zainab one of the children from the grande section was in tears as she was scared of Madame Senghore’s appearance. I had forgotten my camera so I quickly rushed home to collect it so I was able to take some photographs. I was just in time for assembly, Madame Senghore and a group of children sat on a mat on the stage. She then told an old tale about the Fula people we were all engrossed with her storytelling. African music was then played and Madame Senghore performed a traditional Fula dance for us with some of the children following behind. The children danced until first break and then sat and ate their party food. There was a variety of Gambian dishes such as yassa and plases and western dishes such as chicken and chips. The teachers tried various dishes which the children had brought, one which I tried was like a large dumpling but it was actually boiled and mashed cassava which you then broke off and dipped into a fishy spinach based sauce of plases, not really my taste. It was a most enjoyable day for me it was great to see the children dressed in their traditional costumes however I have to say Madame Senghore stole the show with her all out face tattooing and costume. For the rest of the day lessons went on as normal until I left to pick up Bradley.

Fula Story

Fula Dance

Fattima – Wolof Lady

Madame Senghore & Ramatoulie

Mansoora & Brother

Saihou Senghore & Amadou

Ramatoulie, Fatcilla & Mariama

Shasco – Mauritanian Man

Bradley's Birthday

We held a birthday party for Bradley on Friday a day early as Paul wanted to watch the rugby grand slam England v Ireland on the Saturday afternoon. Bradley decided he would like a barbeque so as soon as I arrived home from school I set about preparing macaroni cheese, rice, coleslaw and salad. I then marinated the prawns and meat. We had picked a selection of prawns, sausages, chicken, beef steaks and beef chawarma which is strips of beef which are cooked with garlic, pepper and lots of onions and then usually wrapped in Lebanese flat bread which is very much like a tortilla wrap, yummy. As guests arrived Paul started to cook the meat so at 6 o’clock everything was prepared and on the table. After eating we sang happy birthday to Bradley whilst he cut his chocolate smartie cake. Along with Teo and Mia we had invited a couple of Nigerian children called Stephanie and Rodney to the party they live a couple of compounds away and also go to the same school as Abigail and Bradley, they all seemed to play well together. As the sun went down we had a quick game of pass the parcel. Paul had wrapped the parcel with newspaper which seemed to go on and on forever with the occasional sweet between the layers. Finally we arrived at the birthday wrap Stephanie won the prize which was a ladybird book which she was pleased with. We then played musical chairs Abigail was the overall winner however there was lots of competition going on between Mick and Pete even to the extent of shoving the children out of the way. As the night drew to a close we sat around a bonfire which Paul had built in the compound chatting and drinking, Abigail and Bradley were still full of life playing with Mia and Teo however I had taken Rodney and Stephanie back home after Stephanie had thrown up all over her trousers I think she had eaten too much. The last guests left just before 11 o’clock so it was midnight before we were cleared away and ready for bed.

A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRADLEY!

Saturday and Bradley’s 6th birthday, he opened his presents excited as usual to see what he had got. He was pleased with his selection of books, creepy crawlies, Ben 10, DVD and Nintendo games which he received. The rest of the day was spent chilling I was so tired and playing with Bradley’s toys. We then made our way to Francisco’s to watch the rugby we had arranged to meet Mick and Jenny up there with some of the other volunteers. Abigail and Bradley played with Mia and Teo and then one of the expats who Paul has got to know bought them all an ice-cream for Bradley’s birthday. No sooner had they sat down a group of drummers appeared from nowhere and started to sing and play happy birthday to him obviously for a fee. We left just after 7 o’clock as Abigail and Bradley were tired after such a late night last night .

Rugby Tournament

During the past week Paul and Biyo one of the Rhino’s rugby players have been interviewed on the local radio station to promote the game and the rugby tournament which is happening on Saturday. Margaret has organised the tournament she is an English lady who has a house here in The Gambia which she visits a few times each year. She is very much involved in charity work and also runs a scout group and rugby team here in The Gambia. Paul was acting as referee during the tournament which was a mix of boy and girl teams off different age groups. He also had a supply of goodies to give away some of which had been donated by Middlesbrough Rugby Club for the winners. There was a good turn out from teams and spectators who had come along to watch the game. Overall the day went very well and seemed to be enjoyed by all.