Saturday is the VSO Christmas party – to be held at Helen’s
house – and is the day that my friend Vicki arrives from the UK! So over the
last few days we have all been busy preparing – yesterday I shopped for
supplies for Vicki and I, and also for the party. We are all to bring a dish,
and I will be taking beans cooked with carrot, pepper, onions and tomato –
Ugandan style. The plan is to hold the party at Helen’s and then go somewhere
afterwards, probably Senegambia.
I think Sunday will involve chilling on the beach, and
Monday I am planning to take Vicki for a pool day at one of the nice hotels – a
treat for Christmas Eve. Christmas day will be spent down at the beach, and we
are planning to barbecue, body board and have a bonfire in the evening – so an
unusual Christmas day but a fun one I hope!
It’s strange not having the usual build up to Christmas; no Christmas
music, no last minute shopping rushes, no endless cycle of Christmas parties /
Christmas drinks, and we haven’t grown tired of mince pies yet! In fact this is probably one of the few run
ups to Christmas where I have lost rather than gained weight (I realised
yesterday that I have lost at least a stone since I have been here – the wonders
of a naturally low fat diet and lots of walking!).
Work has been busy – last week I did another Annual
Partnership Review in Brikama – the last for this year. The session was at GAPD
– the Gambian Association for the Physically Disabled – and it went well. There
was no VSO volunteer present, as their placement ended back in June, but GAPD had
invited a lot of service users to help us assess what activities have been carried
out this year. Ebou and I were tired, and it was difficult to keep the energy
going sometimes, but we got through it and are looking forward to having a
break before we begin again next year. Now I am busy writing up the reports
from all the review meetings we have held, but I hope to get everything
finished by lunchtime so that I can leave for Christmas break with all the work
done.
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| The final workshop to facilitate before Christmas break |
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