On Monday Paul went off up country to do teacher observations in Soma. Bradley was still unwell and didn’t seem to have picked up after his medication so after dropping Abigail off at school I took him back to Africmed. The doctor decided to keep him in for observation over night this was a bit of a problem due to Paul being up country. Eventually I managed to track Lucy down who was staying in the Kombo all week as VSO had a two day workshop which volunteers were attending. She agreed to pick Abigail up from school and stay with her overnight. Abigail enjoyed herself as Lucy took her to Safari Garden on the afternoon for a swim and then she went out for pizza with Sam and Elle on the evening. As for us we were shown into a room where the nurse gave Bradley a quinine injection in his leg and penicillin via an IV line. Most of the day Bradley slept, I managed to get him to eat a little bit of a banana but other than drinking water he didn’t want anything. Every four hours he was given either the penicillin or quinine injections which were very painful for him. I had a very tiring night either sat in a chair with a blanket wrapped around me trying to sleep or laid next to Bradley on the bed. On the Tuesday the doctor gave him the all clear to go home as his temperature had come down and he seemed much better. On arriving home I made Lucy a cup of tea and we chatted for a while before she left for the VSO office. By midday Bradley was again tired and his temperature was high again he spent most of the afternoon sleeping, I even managed to get a couple of hours sleep myself. Lynn offered to cook dinner for us which was a lovely chicken and vegetable stew however Bradley just picked at it he has definitely lost some weight. On the night Bradley slept with me again he had a very restless night with dreams and high temperature. I gave him his medication and he seemed to pick up so we managed to do some of his world jigsaw but just before midday he was tired and fell a sleep again for a couple of hours. I decided to make a soup to see if I could get him to eat he thoroughly enjoyed it as well as a yogurt. By Thursday he was back to normal although weak and a little tired. Paul arrived home from his up country trek at 5 o’clock just in time for a fish and chip dinner followed by donkey plonk (cherry roll).

BeeCause Charity Event

Over the course of the night Bradley had developed a bad cough and was feeling under the weather so a trip to Africmed was called for where he was given amoxicillin for a chest infection yet again. On Wednesday Lynn invited me out to dinner as she had a couple of friends over staying at the Sherraton Hotel. Alison had met up with a past Gambian boyfriend and had gone off to meet his family. Lynn, Sally and myself went off to The Blue Kitchen where we had a girly evening chatting over a nice meal whilst Paul and the children watched a DVD and ate pizza and popcorn which I had made them before leaving. Bradley having finished his course of amoxicillin seemed all fit and well however on the Friday I received a phone call from the school to say he was unwell. I left school early to pick him up and as soon as we arrived back home he started to be sick. Over the course of the afternoon he developed a headache and a temperature. On the Saturday morning he seemed okay so we thought it must have been a tummy bug, but by midday he was ill again so we decided another trip to Africmed was required this time he was given coartum for suspected malaria. Today was also the big charity event for Beecause at Mick and Jenny’s. We had planned to stay overnight in the tent and I had been busy baking a selection of cakes for them to sell at the event, carrot cake, lemon cake and flapjacks. Due to Bradley’s illness Paul stayed at home whilst Abigail and I made our way to Lamin. Mick was waiting with Mea to take us the rest of the way to their house. What a difference they have made since we were last there, they have now moved into the house on the top of the hill. They have also been busy all week erecting flags, hung from these were kerosene lamps for lighting. Everything was well organised down to a makeshift bar area, table and chairs, raffle tickets for drink and food purchases, guess how many bees in the jar and a tug of war game. Jenny was also selling her honey, peanut brittle and homemade soap and candles which were made from the bees wax. Abigail quickly went off to play with Teo following behind was Mia you can tell she loves having a big sister to play with. I sat chatting to Lucy, Max and Pete who were the only ones to have arrived. Over the next hour quite a lot of Peace Corp turned up, David who works with Mick and Jenny is a Peace Corp volunteer. Once all the volunteers and friends had arrived there were possibly sixty people in total so quite a good turn out. The beer, soft drinks and food were selling well including my cakes which I was pleased about. At around 8 o’clock we all made our way up to the bantabar area, Max, Jane and Dean were going to entertain us with some music and singing. Dean who is Gambian has lived in the UK for the last thirty years and was in the music industry but never really got that big break. He was singing along with Jane whilst Max played guitar and Brendon a Peace Corp volunteer helped with the drums, he is out here doing a Arts and Culture programme. Jane was an amazing jazz singer and Dean sang a couple of songs by Coldplay, David Bowie and a rap songs. Then we had a jamming session where we all joined in singing songs by the Eagles, Beatles, Animal’s etc. We were all enjoying singing along and it was announced a couple of times that we were to get into teams of four to have a game of tug of war. Reluctantly we made up teams of two boys and two girls. Myself, Lucy, Dean and Tom made up a team, we were the first to have a go with Dean as the back anchor man. We had a good rhythm going so won the first game however the rope was too thin so it was burning as we tried to pull and grip it. We then had to play against the winners from each group. Eventually we were in the final against Bernie’s team and although hard we did manage to come out as overall winners dragging Bernie across the floor which must of hurt Ow! It was getting very late but Abigail was still going strong, we were getting a lift home with Lynn so at 11 o’clock we left leaving the party still in full swing it didn’t end until 2 o’clock in the morning with a few volunteers staying over. Lynn had to drop Sally off first at the Sheraton which was in the wrong direction hence we didn’t arrive home until gone 12 o’clock, Abigail had already fallen a sleep in the car however she was soon settled down in bed. Bradley was settled in bed however Paul said he had been very restless all night.

Dean & Mark

Abigail Enjoying The Music

Jane On Jazz

Alex & Denech