25th March, 2015. Wednesday. departure and arrival

The builders are still putting the finishing touches to

Nemasu, so after breakfast and loading the truck with some items for the new classroom we all set off for the school.  Linda wanted to say goodbye to the teachers and so she came with us.  The pupils had done exams last week and were just doing play this week.  Momodou organised some games in the playground for us to watch.  Soon it was time to make our way to the airport where Linda checked in and then joined us for a drink upstairs while we waited for our next arrival.  The flight was early surprisingly, as it had left the Uk half an hour late.  Also they had brought Linda's flight forward by half an hour.  Linda left us to check in and we waited for Martin to come through the security gates.  Martin, my nephew, is here for the first time for a weeks holiday in the sun.  He arrived with one small bag and we set off for home, via Neil's bar as he was hungry! (Permanent state of affairs).  We arrived home and made plans for the week ahead.  Martin wanted to taste the local food and so we went to GTS restaurant in the evening where the Gambian food is particularly good, He chose the Yassa and Steve the Domada, both of which went down well.  Power cut again when we returned home, so an earlier night than Martin is used to!

24th March, 2015. Tuesday. Travellers return.

Steve and Linda woke early in Jamwelly, stayed for assembly then after packing the truck up they went to Kaur for breakfast.  On the return journey they stopped off at Sambajang Besse to check out the village for a possible well. They then set off for the long journey back home.  I got up early and then spent the morning in the storeroom sorting more deliveries.  The travellers returned in the late afternoon.  We all got changed and went to Cabanas for dinner and to watch the sunset.  The air has been so full of sand with the wind lately that we have not had a red sunset since we arrived, just a hazy sky.  Back home late and time for bed.  No power again.

23rd March, 2015. Monday Day Off.

I woke with a headache this morning (too much wine) and decided to have the morning off! Steve and Linda meanwhile spent the morning at Kumbija and Loumen chatting with the teachers and looking round the schools and gardens. They went on to Jamwelly where Linda experienced the same kind of welcome that we had had two weeks ago, the pupils chanting welcome and the ladies of the village dancing and drumming for her.

After a long lie in and some black coffee I spent the afternoon in the storeroom sorting items for the lists given to me by our nursery schools.

Back home for some tea before an early night as yet another day with no power. We have had probably 4 hours electric in the last 2 days, so on a practical note we do not fill the freezer with anything other than ice cubes, so we are not wasting food.

22nd March, 2015 Sunday. Travelling and Storeroom

Omar arrived early for Steve and Linda, we all ate breakfast together and then they set off for the provinces whilst I cleared the breakfast things and then went to spend some time sorting things in the storeroom. There are still a large number of boxes to sort out, so Kebba arranged a couple of boys to help and we sorted piles of boxes for various types of school and plenty for Chris Brown for the clinic when she comes next month. After 3 hours hard work I returned home to relax for the afternoon. Shortly after making my tea, Musa, the mechanic, arrived to see how Steve was progressing with his leg and brought some ointment which he thought may help. Then the phone went and my neighbour and friend Sue invited me round for the evening.

A quick change and round to Sues' for the rest of the evening, lots of chat and white wine before returning home.

In the meantime Steve and Linda had arrived at Kumbija to meet with Mr Sowe and spend the night in the school. The solar bore hole has been started, the workmen are also sleeping in the school whilst the job is progressing.

21st March, 2015. Saturday What a success story!!

Bit better weather this morning, at least we have some sunshine and it doesn't look like rain. We have some chairs and tables left after fulfilling our nursery school needs and so Linda, Steve, Kebba and I sorted out 40 chairs and some tables for a small school in Brufut village. I rang the owner and he came straight away and got in the truck with us to show us where his school is located. Hamo nursery school is in one room of a block that he is renting. There are some tables and chairs donated by another school here, but which are in bad repair, a blackboard and nothing else. Unfortunately the school doesn't conform to any of the new regulations and will probably be closed down in the future. We helped him unload the furniture and then returned home. In the afternoon we went shopping for the trip to the provinces tomorrow, we always take salt biscuits and crisps and lots of bottled water. We also needed buckets, bowls, brushes and mops for the schools, along with blackboard paint and brushes. We returned home to find a young friend of ours waiting for us. A few years ago whilst I was in the bank a young man asked if I was one of the people who had provided Essau Lower Basic School with a library; when I confirmed I was he just wanted to shake my hand to thank me for introducing him to books. At that time his ambition was to be a lawyer, but he eventually settled on IT, originally on the hardware side, but he is now at the University of the Gambia, studying on a Gambia Port Authority scholarship, for software design. Additionally he has started a company with a friend (assutech) and has recently secured a contract with the Chamber of Commerce for the supply of custom designed software for importing and exporting documentation. A fantastic achievement on its own, but also he and a team of software designers recently entered a competition organised by the Police Force here and came first with a large cash prize. Well done Hassan!

The truck was loaded for the trip, the material we bought yesterday, boxes from the storeroom, the buckets etc. Steve and Linda are travelling with Omar in the morning, unfortunately I have sciatica today and cannot sit in the truck for that length of journey. An early night for all of us.

20th March, 2015. Friday Naata and Banjul

Steve and Linda went to Naata this morning, Kebba went to Nemasu and so I was at home alone, so caught up with some jobs around the house. At Naata,  Mr Jallow was at a promotion interview and Momodou was off sick with toothache again, so Abdoulie and Abi divided the children between them. Steve delivered some items required and chatted to the caretaker’s wife, whilst Linda sat in on each class and watched the teachers. Nemasu classroom is almost finished and so Kebba was able to get home shortly after Steve and Linda so we could go to Banjul. Linda has started with a bad cough and we stopped at Malaks chemist on the way to get some medication for her. Our three rural schools are all in need of extra uniforms and the best choice and availability for the material is Ashobee in Banjul, so that is where we headed to buy the 6 rolls of material, different colours for each school. Another trip to the bank was required, this time the Banjul branch to pay for it all. We loaded it into the car and then went for a walk around the city so Linda could see some of the many changes here. The old city with its’ crumbling buildings and many corrugate shacks is gradually being replaced with new smart buildings, including a first shopping arcade! Not all the units have been taken yet, but there is a very smart café where we stopped for lunch, part of the King Baker chain which has 3 or 4 outlets around the commercial centres. Lunch was very pleasant, we then left for home, stopping on the return journey to buy buckets, brushes and mops for the schools. When we reached home I noticed that my friend and neighbour, Sue, had arrived and so I went to spend some time with her, whilst Steve unloaded the truck and Linda, who is not feeling too good had a sleep. Ousman and Agie arrived and saw Steve, I was with Sue for a couple of hours and then the power went again! I was escorted round home by a small boy with a torch!

8th March, 2015. Sunday. Travel to Kumbija

Omar arrived early this morning and joined us for breakfast before we set off with him as the driver on the south bank highway to Soma.  Omar is a very good and safe driver and we arrived at the ferry crossing in 3 hours.  The queues of both trucks and private cars was extensive, but fortunately we had the priority crossing and were able to jump to the front of the queue, in fact we were the first car on the next available ferry.   The Senegalese and Gambian Governments have joined in beginning to build a bridge across this crossing point which is much narrower than the river mouth at Banjul.  The foundation stone was laid three weeks ago and there is evidence of work happening on both sides of the river.  We arrived in Farafenni and bought some food items for our hosts to cook for us.  I also had a special delivery for Alagie the man who sells cement here in Farafenni and often gives us credit when we are building in the area.  He had asked us for Jean Paul Gaultier after shave when we came this time, I delivered the precious item to him, he was delighted that we had remembered and said he would sleep with it under his pillow!!  We drove on to Kumbija and were met at the school by Baatchi the caretaker, who unlocked the gates and then when we had parked up gave us both big hugs as he had missed us.  It would seem that most of Gambia have been praying for Steve to recover, and many of the villagers came to inspect his foot, offering advice and directions to various medicine men or ‘maribous’ who would be able to speed his recovery.  Alieu, Mr Sowe and Deja all came to meet us and sit with us under the mango tree for a while.  Then Steve and I went in the truck to Farato to meet with Ousman’s family and take lots of photographs for George who had stayed with them 2/3 years ago and wanted to see how the children had grown.  We delivered the food items for cooking, were taken to inspect the new garden project that Alagie is over seeing, met the neighbours and then returned to the school to meet Omar who wanted to take us to a nearby wood for some bird watching.  We stayed watching the birds until nearly dark and then returned to the school for the evening, more people came to visit and eventually Alagie arrived with our dinner.  Omar shared our meal and then we retired for the night to sleep in the classroom under a mosquito net on an airbed, whilst Omar went to share the accommodation at Baatchis’ house and no doubt drink Atayer.