Sapu and the Wassu stone circles

The session at Sapu was over in record quick time – the group didn’t have all that much to say – and it was a fairly unremarkable review. The thing that interested me the most was the tea being served in a bucket – imagine that on a Sunday morning… an actual bucket of tea!

A bucket of tea! 

We drove back up to Janjangbureh and crossed the river on a little ferry, before driving through the north bank to Kaur.

Crossing the river

We passed by the site of the Wassu stone circles, so we decided to call in, and I am so glad we did. Ebou and Ba Sarjo had never been either, and so it felt like a school trip, or little holiday in the middle of work!  

The Unesco site had a small museum detailing the history of the circles, and the theories of why they are there – so we had a quick look around that and then went out into the circles.

Think Stonehenge but on a smaller scale, and with no perimeter fence or expensive entrance fee! It was interesting to see them, and we took some photos before heading back to the car. 

Ba Sarjo and Ebou showed me one of the instruments there, called a balophone, and Ba Sarjo gave a quick demonstration…

Once at Kaur we looked for a guest house. The one at the community centre was unlocked and cleaned for us, although comprised of basic rooms with pretty smelly outside pit latrines and an insect heavy cubicle for bucket baths. Going to the loo in the night would have been an ordeal, so Ebou protectively suggested I stay with Rob at his house instead, which I was more than happy to do.

Rob’s house was lovely, and whilst he also has a pit latrine and an area for bucket baths, it was a whole lot cleaner and out in the fresh air – so I really didn’t mind at all and thoroughly enjoyed my open air bath at dusk that evening. Rob is a great host so I felt very welcome and we had a lovely evening chatting, catching up on news from the Kombos / Kaur and eating lentils with potato leaves which we quickly cooked up in his pressure cooker (my luxury kitchen item was a hand blender – his a pressure cooker. Of course, I had to tell him the story about my mum shooting ground rice up onto the kitchen ceiling from her pressure cooker when we were kids!).  

Outside kitchen at Rob's house

Toilet and shower...

Rob kindly gave me his bed and slept on the veranda

The parlour

The next day we did the session with Godfrey and Rob at AVISU, and I knew right away that it would be a good one. Everyone was really open and friendly, and even breakfast was a lively and convivial affair. The session didn’t disappoint, and although challenging sometimes when we looked at areas where we have had teething problems, it felt like a very positive and proactive planning session. Godfrey and Rob both seemed to enjoy the session, and I was happy that it had gone so well.

Lunch under the mango tree

After a quick stop in to Rob’s for him to give me some wonjo, dried hibiscus flowers freshly harvested from the AVISU compound which you can soak to make a delicious drink, we were off and on our way to Njawara for the final session.  

Basse

On Sunday Ba Sarjo, Ebou and I left at 9am to drive up to Basse. The drive was smooth and uneventful, with just a quick lunch stop in Soma, and we reached our destination at about 4pm. I went and met fellow volunteers Eleanor, Edwin and Pompeyo – only to find that Pompeyo was feeling very unwell. A Riders for Health ambulance had been requested, but he needed to be collected from a health centre, so Ba Sarjo and Ebou drove him back to Bansang hospital (along with Edwin to keep him company). Malaria had already been ruled out, but he had pains in his chest and side, so after an x-ray he was diagnosed with pneumonia.

Eleanor and I went for a beer and a bite to eat and then I returned to our guest house, at the Dept. of Agriculture residence. Ba Sarjo and Ebou didn’t reach the guest house until after midnight so had a very long day of driving.

My room

The next morning we held a session at the Education office to evaluate Eleanor’s placement. The session went well, and all involved were sad to see Eleanor leave. Probably the most notable thing was the breakfast sandwich we ate – I have never had anything like it! Half a big tapalapa filled with egg, fish, luncheon meat, potato, pasta shapes, onion (all bound together in mayonnaise) with tomato and lettuce! Once of those could set you up for a week, let alone until lunchtime, and when the domoda and rice arrived at the end of the session I could only manage a few mouthfuls!

We packed up and drove to Bansang. We wanted to spend the night there and then drive to Sapu in the morning, and it gave us chance to call in at the hospital to check on Pompeyo and Edwin. They were still waiting for the ambulance, and Pompey’s diagnosis had now changed to a pleural effusion! It was decided that Ba Sarjo would drive him all the way back to the Kombos, stay overnight, and then come back to pick me and Ebou at the end of the session in Sapu. A lot of driving for Ba Sarjo, but he assured us he was up to it, and I think best for Pompeyo*.

So Ebou and I spent the night at Bintou’s paradise lodge, where we stayed last time, and went for afra in the evening which was delicious. We arranged a taxi to drive us to Sapu in the morning, and then grabbed an early night.

*Latest update from Pompeyo: on reaching Africmed in the Kombos he was diagnosed with malaria! 

Catch up

January has been a busy month for social activities, with lots of farewell drinks (or beers and tears as they are known) for outgoing friends and volunteers. While it has been sad to see people go, it has been a great opportunity to visit some new places, try some new bars and restaurants, and see more than the square mile of the Kombos that I usually inhabit.

Farewell drinks for David and Ivo took us to Kotu beach for cocktails, and a Senegalese restaurant tucked away fairly close to my place – a great find with good food (perfect for saying goodbye to David) and a great opportunity to catch up with Graeme and Jasmine who’d been up country for a week or so. We’ve also been to a pub quiz at Gaya, and tried out a new beach out past Bijilo which was lovely.

Last week was a particularly bust week. On Tuesday we had dinner at Aso Rock with Jane and Dodou as a farewell to Jane before she flew back to the UK to have her and Dodou’s baby. The evening was hijacked slightly (in a nice way) by the arrival of 13 or so medical students from Swansea who had heard from the last group how good Aso Rock was, and wanted to see for themselves. We were also able to welcome back Nathalie, who’d been away for a few weeks, and meet some new additions to the MRC crowd. There ended up being about 20 or more people, so we extended the tables as best we could, and everyone had a fun night.

The next night was Ellie’s leaving drinks and dinner at Solomon’s – a place where you can get fish in foil… a delicious treat! It was a huge portion, but it was so good that I ate until I was stuffed and the food had gone – something I haven’t done for a while!

Ellie's last Gambian supper

Before...

... and stuffed! 

And then the following day was a public holiday which happened to fall on a Thursday. Nicola, Helen and I met at mine and took a taxi out to Coco Ocean, using it as a starting point to walk back down the beach to Leybato – about 8km in total apparently. It was a great walk, and we met a lot of people along the way – some we were happy to talk to (such as the kids selling peanuts and star fruit who then tried to sell us their football – very odd when usually the children are asking you to buy them a football!) and some that were a bit too persistent (i.e. flippin’ annoying). The walk took two and a quarter hours – perhaps it would have taken less if we hadn’t had so many conversations along the way, but then that’s all part of the experience I guess.

The start of the walk

Friday was cold, grey, and a little bit rainy – in fact the night before it had thundered and rained quite a lot, which was very unexpected for this time of year. Because of the bank holiday the day before work was especially busy. We did the APR for Nicola at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education in the morning. It felt like a positive session as it was one of the first I have done where the partnership is continuing, and so involved more of a planning element. Afterwards, despite the fact that it was ‘half day Friday’, I ended up back at the office working through until 6pm in preparation for going on trek at the weekend. The evening, however, was lovely as I went for dinner at Al Basha – a Lebanese restaurant in Senegambia. The dinner was gratis due to winning a meal for two as a raffle prize at the GFD gala dinner back in December.

Saturday was cold and grey as well, and I was pretty shattered from a busy week, so I spent the day relaxing and packing. In fact I only left my house once all day for a gentle jog up to the market. I couldn’t jog back as I had eggs and milk powder in my shopping bag and was worried about returning home with a pancake!

The running needs to step up a level over the next few weeks and months as Helen, Nicola and I have signed up for a 13.5k run from Westfield to Banjul in June. This is part of an organised charity run from Basse to Banjul – a whopping 420km! I won’t be doing that – that pleasure is usually just for one person, supported by a team of runners… one of whom is Dodou. I think this is the third or fourth year the run will take place, and the final leg is opened up to as many people who want to participate. As the temperature will be seriously uncomfortable by then (probably about 40 degrees and very humid) I think I need to start preparing for it right away! 

Packing list

I haven’t had much time for blogging over the last few weeks as I have been so busy with the Annual Partnership Reviews and compiling the first quarterly report for the World Bank Growth and Competitiveness project. I’ve been working long days, evenings and weekends trying to get everything done, and I am looking forward to when the APR process is over and the quarterly report is submitted!

Last night I was thinking about the little things that I am glad I brought out to The Gambia. Seeing as we have new volunteers coming in March I figured it might be useful to list a few of the more random items that found their way on to my packing list, and some of the things I wish I had packed!

Glad I have….	Wish I’d packed…
A pedegg / pumice stone. This has been my most essential item lately. Not glamorous I know, but walking around in flip flops on sand all day has left my feet in desperate need of regular attention.	Some really good foot cream.
Nail polish – nice to add a bit of colour and cover up sandy toes.	A few more nail polish colours as I am starting to get bored with the ones I have!
A hand blender (which has been useful for soups and juices) and a really good sharp knife.	More kitchen equipment – little things like wooden spoons, potato peelers etc. You can buy them here, but it’s not really what you want to spend your allowance on!
Marmite – good for pepping up stews, soups, crackers etc and as a source of vitamins (I know I might divide the audience here).	More herbs and spices – again… you can buy them here but they are more expensive / English prices.
Lots of comfy clothes for relaxing in the evenings, and leggings for modesty under long skirts made with thin material.	More plain black/white/grey vest tops – all you really need to go with bright African print skirts you can have made here.
Body moisturiser – essential for the dry season when you suddenly realise how dry your skin is.	Bedsheets. I have some now but I had to get them sent to me, which cost a lot of money.
Surge protector, laptop and hard drive, head torch and camera. Not unusual items but so glad I have all of them.	More DVDs / films / West Wing seasons. I only got the hard drive very recently as a Christmas present from my wonderful parents, but it would have been good to have been able to fill it before I came.
Running gear, exercise DVDs and a skipping rope – great to be able to exercise, especially in the comfort of your own home with the DVDs.	Some of those plastic bags you make ice cubes with.
My kindle – although the VSO library in the office is well stocked.	More Tupperware.

I will keep thinking about this and add any more random things that I can come up with!

New Year, new work

Or I should say a continuation of the work that I began at the end of last year – but with new partners. The Annual Partnership Review visits have started up again, and so far this year I have run two sessions.

On Tuesday I did a session at GADHOH – the Gambian Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The volunteer who works there seems to have done some great work, and is going on to become an Executive Director at the Gambian Federation of the Disabled now that his placement has come to an end, which is a great career step for him post volunteering.

All fifteen participants at the session were deaf or hard of hearing, and so I facilitated the session through two sign language interpreters – which was a new experience for me but went really well. Everyone had a lot to say for themselves, and it was really interesting to hear about what they have been doing over the last 12 months.

And then today I did a session at the National Training Authority. The volunteer’s placement was IT related, but the discussions about website design, education standards, regulation and enforcement, and Higher Education Institutions transported me back to my old life, and I really enjoyed the workshop.

In between conducting APRs, preparing for APRs, and writing up APRs, I have also been writing case studies for the VSO office, and proof reading / editing those that my colleagues are writing, as part of a quarterly report back to head office. I also need to arrange a quarterly meeting for those working on the World Bank project that I am providing Monitoring and Evaluation support for, and actually do some of my official M&E work! And finally, a new cohort of volunteers come in February, and I hope to do an M&E session as part of their in-country training. Strange to think that there will be new people here soon, and we will no longer be the newbies!  

So I have a tight schedule for the rest of the month, with an APR workshop nearly every day throughout the rest of January – including another trip up country for a few days – and I can see that I will be working hard over the next few weeks. But I am not complaining… I’m happy to busy and feeling useful, and of course I can always find time for beach trips!

New Year

On New Year’s Eve I went for dinner with all the VSO vols, plus a few extra, for John’s birthday. After that we all headed in different directions, as everyone had different plans for the New Year celebrations. Helen and I had heard that Senegambia would be busy and bolshy, and would take forever to travel to and from as everyone flocked there, and so we were happy to spend the evening in Fajara. We ended up going to the same Leybato apartment that we had pre-Christmas drinks in with Vicki, Nicola, Alex and Ellie last week, as the usual resident – Susanna – was holding a party. We drank, danced, ate Bea’s vodka watermelon, and watched the fireworks along the coast, and then at about 1.30 I headed up to Aso Rock to spend the rest of the night dancing there.

On New Year’s Day Rob held a dinner party at Helen’s – where he conjured up a full roast dinner! We had roast leg of goat, roast potatoes, roast butternut squash, green beans, African greens, gravy and mince sauce, washed down with good red wine! It was amazing – my first roast in months, and it felt like a great way to see in the New Year!

Our chef for the day

Me enjoying the roast!