24.2.14 Monday Wages Day

Steve and I set off to the bank this morning, and then Steve went on to Naata to deliver the wages whilst I went and queued and queued in Trust Bank to transfer the Kumbija wages to Mr Sowe.  Monday morning, a huge queue, I was 15^th in line,  and only one counter open, obviously a worldwide problem in banks.  After spending a long time in the bank Steve collected me and we drove home for lunch, stopping on the way to collect newly baked bread for our sandwiches.  Fiona arrived back from Nemasu and we had lunch before going to the storeroom to load the delivery for the nursery school in Serrekunda.  The head teacher here had found us on the internet and asked for help with school resources and furniture.  We loaded chairs and boxes onto the truck and set off for London corner to find the school.  We found the nursery here in a huge compound which is owned by a former ambassador to  the USA, and has a very large playground, the school itself is in a house and they are using the rooms as classrooms.  Resources are scarce and so she was very grateful for all the goods we delivered, books, paper, crayons and toys for the children to play with.  After looking round the school and chatting for a while we went onto Banjul to meet Ousman and try to collect our residents’ permits, no such luck as the plastic they are produced on is still out of stock.  Steve then went on with Ousman to police headquarters to get the clearance letter for the truck, but no luck there either as the power was off and they could not type the letter.  We gave up at that point and went for a cold drink before leaving Banjul for the day.  We called at Yashmina on the way home for dinner, I went down to the taxi park to finalise arrangements with the minibus for Thursday when our students are crossing the river.  I couldn't find our taxi anywhere and finally another taxi driver said he would ring him and find out where he was.  Apparently his taxi has broken down and is in the garage being fixed!  he promises me it will be ready for Thursday, lets hope so!  We had dinner and then returned home, arriving back at the house after dark, which here is around 7.15pm.