4.4.14 Friday Storeroom again

We are determined to get to the bottom of the stuff in the store, lots of things which are unsuitable for schools are left now, so we are busy trying to find homes for individual items. We spent over 3 hours moving and packing things, and then went to Neils’ bar for a late lunch, taking with us several board games and lots of adult reading books, murder etc more suited to the ex-pat community than the pupils at school.  We have run out of pencils this year, so must try and bring more next time.  Lunch over we returned home to relax.  Another power cut tonight, just after 7pm.  This time we decided to put the generator on to watch the rest of the film, which had become more of a serial!

3.4.14 Thursday. Storeroom

The storeroom stills needs some things sorting and removing, so Steve and I went round first thing this morning.  We had a few boxes of books left so we packed them into the truck and Steve took them down to Brufut Lower Basic School for their library.  I stayed in the store until Steve came back and we sorted some furniture out for Sanaba as promised.  There are still a few boxes to sort, and lots to condense so we will be back tomorrow.  We returned home for the afternoon to relax, I think old age is creeping up as we need to relax more!  Ousman arrived around 3pm and took the rest of the boxes for the hospital and clinic which Chris and the others had left in our bantaba. He is going to Farato early in the morning and taking his prospective second wife to meet the rest of the family.  Tradition here, but still alien to us, Ousman tells us that everyone is happy about it, but we know different. 

My turn to cook tonight, and then the end of the film we started to watch last night.  After watching the news, especially about the progress of the Ebola virus that many of our family and friends are worried about, and would like us to return home early, we put the film on just as the power went again!  We are told that the Gambia is waiting for a shipment of oil to power the electricity, and so it is being rationed at the moment, it had been on all day today, I would prefer it on in the evening, so off to bed early again, we are getting a lot of sleep! Fortunately we have lots of torches!

2.4.14 Wednesday. Roscoe family last day.

Everyone was up and packing this morning for the flight home.  Omar arrived about 10am, Steve and I followed in the truck and we made our way to Naata for a visit on the way to the airport.  We all went into the school, except Steve who went to visit Ibraima to see how he was after his operation.  Mr Jallow had gone to visit one of the parents of a child who was ill, Abi was at the clinic, so we met with Abdoulie and Momodou who were teaching.  Just as we were leaving Mr Jallow returned and was able to meet everyone before we left for the airport.  Steve stayed behind to get the wheelbarrow mended and we all went with Omar to Yundum.  Omar parked up and helped with the luggage, before saying his goodbyes to the family. Just as we arrived at the door to check in, Steve caught us up, the Roscoes checked in and then we all went upstairs to the restaurant to have a last meal together before the flight arrived. Once they had all gone through to passport control, Steve and I went to do some shopping before returning home for the evening.  Kebba had gone out to watch some football and so we decided to watch a film for the evening, it had just started when the power went off, and so it was an early night for us.

1.4.14 Tuesday. April Fools Day

I noticed on the Internet this morning that according to reports a large hole had developed on the set of Coronation St outside the Rovers’ return.  It hadn’t occurred to me that this might be a joke, and hadn’t realised the date until Gordon was also caught out in a family joke.  He was relaxing by the pool when Alice ran out to tell him that Tess’s boyfriend had sent a photograph of an engagement ring and a proposal of marriage on her phone. Gordon was delighted and ran in to congratulate her only to be told it was an April fool.  Still, maybe next time?

As it is the Roscoes’ last day they have decided to go to the market in Serrekunda today and do some shopping to take back to the UK.  Omar called for them and they set off for the day.  Steve and I spent some time sorting things in the storeroom before returning home for the afternoon. Everyone came back late afternoon after completing their purchases and having lunch, albeit without Ousman who didn't turn up.

We all got showered and changed for the evening and went to the ‘village’ where we had cocktails at Reos’ and sat outside (despite the very cold wind that had sprung up) as football was on the TV inside the bar with lots of noisy viewers.  Drinks over, we made our way to the Morrocan restaurant for dinner where Ousman joined us for the evening.

31.3.14 Monday. Oh what a circus!

Gordon and family were spending the morning in the school, meeting the pupils and teachers, some of whom were not there on their last visit.  We had promised to take Sambas wife to the hospital in Farafenni this morning.  When we visited Ousman’s family yesterday Fatou also needed to go to the hospital and so we set off with Omar driving to Farato to collect Fatou.  On arrival she was almost ready changing into her best outfit, and I asked her sister in law to come with us to translate, but she explained that the other sister in law and the baby were coming with us as she was not feeling well.  We set off for Loumen and then collected another lady waiting for us on the road who was also going to the hospital in Farafenni.  By the time we reached Loumen to collect Mrs Samba, we had 3 ladies and a baby in the back of the minibus.  Mrs Samba was ready, also in her best outfit, Samba came along to translate and so it was with a full minibus that we made our way to the large hospital in Farafenni.  On arrival at the hospital Mr Cham, a friend of ours, was waiting for us and escorted Fatou, Samba and Mrs Samba to the correct area for their examinations.  We didn’t have long to wait for the doctor who was completing his ward rounds.  There are several doctors here from Cuba who have come to offer technical assistance and training at the hospital.  The rooms were very clean and both Fatou and Mrs Samba were examined by a Cuban gentleman.  Fatou was sent for tests, whilst Samba’s wife was sent back out to us with a letter and instructions to return after she has had her baby, not the outcome we wanted as she really could do with an operation. We made our way to the pharmacy for the prescriptions to be filled and then waited for Fatou and her sister in law so we could return to Kumbija.  Everything takes time here and so it was later in the morning when they returned, in the meantime we had gathered 3 more ladies and 2 more babies to travel back to the village.  This meant that there was no room in the minibus for Steve and I and so we decided to wait in Farafenni and get some breakfast whilst we waited for Omar to deliver all the ladies to their respective villages and then collect Sharon, Gordon and the family for our journey back to the Kombos.  We waited with Samba who had also decided he had business in Farafenni, and had breakfast together at one of the roadside stalls.  We had arranged to meet Omar at Eddie’s hotel and so we took our leave from Samba and made our way to the hotel for a cold drink and to use the facilities before Omar arrived.  We didn’t have long to wait before everyone arrived and we could join them in the minibus for our journey home.  The ferry was very very busy and we had to find someone we knew to help us board one of the earlier boats, to enable us to cross.  We had decided to stop at Kalagie for a cold drink and something to eat.  Last time we stopped here they took ages to cook chips, and so I rang ahead as instructed and ordered omelettes and chips.  There must be a happy medium somewhere as despite telling them how long we would be the meal was ready for us when we arrived, but totally cold!  Still it was tasty and we managed to eat and drink before setting off on the rest of the journey.  By the time we got back it was late in the afternoon, we were all tired and very dusty, so after a shower we had a take-away pizza and spent the evening playing the dice game.

30.3.14 Sunday. Kumbija

Breakfast at 7am, and on the road for 8am.  The journey to Soma took just over an hour and then we had to wait at the ferry for nearly 2 hours.  The Senegalese traffic has started to build up again and there was quite a queue.  We arrived in Farafenni and bought buckets for the school, and then Tess, Alice, Jack and I went shopping in the market for vegetables for dinner tonight.  Steve and the others went along to the supermarket to buy rice.  All purchases made, we met with Mr Sowe who followed us back to Kumbija to the school.  This is Gordon and Sharon’s first visit since we put the wall around the rest of the playground, so it was a different view for them today. The wall is good for security, but it means that we can no longer see the villagers about their daily business of fetching water and leading the animals out to graze.  The weather is getting hotter now and so after a meeting with Mr Sowe about the progress of the school we all relaxed in the shade for the afternoon until it cooled down about 4.30pm.  Into the minibus with Steve driving we went  round to Farato to visit Ousman’s family.  We had taken bubbles and balls and so all the children played for an hour or so before we went outside to look at the new machine. Sharon had raised money last year for a milling machine which has been installed in a shed outside Ousman’s compound and is used every afternoon for milling millet, maize and cous.  Alagie from Kumbija operates the machine and ladies from the surrounding villages bring their cereals to be ground into flour.  The ladies from Farato are running this as a business and are hoping to save enough money to pay for some of the children to go on to further education.  Alagie arrived and started the machine, which was very noisy, ladies and young adults started to arrive with bags and bowls of cereal and the work began.  Lots of photographs were taken as the flour was produced and the customers made their way home.  We then said our goodbyes to the family and made our way back to the school for the evening where we all had a shower before Alagie arrived with the dinner.  The ladies of Farato had donated chicken for our evening meal and two bowls of food arrived as Tess is vegetarian and she got her own dinner.  Dinner over, we sat and chatted before retiring for the night.

29.3.14 Saturday. Set Settal

Change of plan again today.  We were going to set off early but then discovered it was ‘clean up day’ which means of course that we cannot drive until after 1pm.  The time of the journey to Kumbija depends entirely on the queue at the ferry and so we decided to break the journey and stop at Tendaba Bird camp tonight for a change.  We all spent the morning relaxing after packing for the trip.  Omar arrived just after 1pm and we loaded the minibus and then set off, with a quick stop at the builders’ merchants for 5 padlocks for Loumen as requested.  The journey was quite uneventful apart from the usual animals wandering across the road.  We arrived at Tendaba about 4pm and just had time to check in, a quick dip in the pool, and then met at the jetty for a boat trip through the mangroves on the far side of the river.  The river was lower than normal and so we had to walk through the village to the other jetty which is further out in the river.  We all climbed down a ladder and into one of the large dug out canoes and got settled for the trip, the motor started and we crossed the wide river with our guide and captain.  The mangroves here are 100 feet tall, the tallest in the world and are full of birdlife.  We saw pelicans, herons of all kinds, kingfishers and the elusive osprey along with a myriad of smaller birds.  The trip lasted over an hour and a half before we returned to the camp for our evening meal.  As there were several other guests tonight, including a party of  American peace corps workers, the evening meal was a buffet.  We plan to leave just after the 7am breakfast tomorrow so retired before half past 10, leaving the peace corps in the bar, some of them are returning to America and so a party was called for.