Njawara Agricultural Training Centre

Well, Patrick was right when he said the NATC campus at Njawara is like a retreat – it’s like an eco-lodge out in the middle of nowhere, almost in Senegal. We arrived at about 7.30pm and were shown our rooms and given a food bowl. Afterwards we sat under the mango trees and rested for a bit, watching the bats swooping in and out beneath the trees, before getting an early night.

My room

The next day was really challenging – similar in content to the session we had held at AVISU the day before, but very different in feel. It was a lot less positive, and the participants gave me quite a hard time as the facilitator. After doing about 18 of these sessions and never having a problem I suddenly experienced what it was like to be given a rough ride. I confess there were times when I felt like throwing down my flip chart pen and letting them get on with it, but I breathed in, counted to ten, smiled, and tried to get it over with as quick as I could! I kept telling myself that it was character building, and that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but I was really glad to get out of there by the end of the day. The sessions take quite a lot of energy anyway, and doing four back to back, as well as travelling long distances is quite tiring, but I felt more drained than usual after that session!

Patrick in the vegetable garden

Working under the mango trees

We headed back to Barra and kept our fingers crossed that the vehicle would get on a ferry that evening. Unfortunately as we approached we saw the queue of cars snaking back for about a quarter of a mile, and I think we all knew at that point that a ferry crossing for all of us was unlikely. A ferry was in, so me and the director from NATC (who had cadged a lift with us) jumped on as foot passengers and left Ebou and Ba Sarjo on the dock. The ferry was rammed with people, trucks, cars, and cows – and perhaps because of the tide / flow of water, took two hours to get across the river. The last crossing I did was 45 minutes, so it was quite a difference! Once in Banjul I walked through to the garage and took a van home – very happy to be back in the Kombos.