This year Tina and Sam are accompanying Shelby on her trip to the Gambia.  Tina is a long time volunteer for GambiaHELP and they have both been very excited about their journey.  Here are daily notes from their trip.  Tina is providing the text and Sam the pictures.

2/16/2012

Three plane rides for a total of 19 hours in the air and two days later we make it to Banjul, Gambia.  We have to wait to exit the plane because the Vice President, Isatou Njie Saidy, who was on our plane exited first.  We are greeted by Essa Camara, In-Country GambiaHELP Coordinator at the airport and life is good.  The heat is not overwhelming and it is about 4:30 in the afternoon.  We wait in line to show our passports and then encounter a chaotic push to scan our luggage to leave the airport.  

We left the airport and Essa took us to his family compound.  We met his lovely family (mother, two sisters (another one lives in CA), and three brothers).  They showed us the rabbit hutch that was recently built and we had a nice visit with one of the women’s group members.  There is much to do and see, however, we are very tired after a long journey.  Essa takes us to our compound that will be our base camp.  It is freshly painted and new beds.  Fatou, (Essa’s sister) cooked a wonderful meal of fish benechine.  We end the evening sitting outside enjoying the breeze and gazing at the stars.

2/17/2012

So much to get used to in the morning, I am not prepared.  First, I need to figure out how to take a bucket shower. It has been awhile since India…only to find out there is no water.  When I finally get some water, I realize just how difficult it is to get the soap off.  One bucket later, I am dressing for the day and looking forward to seeing where Essa works. 

We arrive at the Gambia Printing and Publishing Corporation (GPPC) and we have breakfast with Essa.  Our electricity went out in the morning so there was no hot water for coffee and I can’t wait to enjoy a hot cup of Joe.  We were served an amazing breakfast sandwich with egg, hot dog, pickles, ketchup, onion, tomato, and lettuce.  It was on white leavened bread which is not common and served as a special treat.  I have found the food portions being served are extremely large.   

The bananas are amazing here.  I can’t believe how good it tastes and wonder why the bananas are so terrible in the States. 

We go to the Embassy to register and they sent us around to the back door.  Once back there they hand us a card and tell us to register on the internet.  Even in Gambia, you are redirected to the do it online. 

A naming ceremony is planned for tomorrow to give us Gambian names.  Campo who will be a part of the ceremony tomorrow is coming in from Senegal today and we must welcome him to the village. We meet him at the beginning of the street and he dances and sings, with everyone following him in the street, to speak with the village Akalo (or Head).  The young children run from him and scream. 

After meeting the village Akalo, we return to Essa’s compound and meet with the elders to discuss the ceremony for tomorrow. We all met the person we will be named after and we feel fortunate to be a part of such a wonderful affair that has taken so much time and energy to prepare. 

We accompany the elders to a livestock farm and they select a cow for the ceremony to feed the village.  We ask what kind of cow it is and the farmer stated “white” which is the color of the cow.  There is much excitement about the ceremony tomorrow and when we arrive with the cow the village is gathered at the square dancing and singing the night away.

2/18/2012

We awake to a slower starting day, since there will be lots of festivities for the ceremony in the afternoon and into the evening.  Sam likes to sit out on the front porch in the breeze in the compound children enjoy spending time with Toubab (the white person).

We are adjusted now and the jet lag is under control and it is much easier to get ready.  We go to Essa’s for breakfast of oatmeal and peanut sauce.  It is very filling.  We meet all the women who have been cooking for hours preparing for the festivities.  

Sam wanted to know where all the men are and Essa shows us a compound across the street where the men are gathered.  We tried on the outfits that they made for us to wear at the naming ceremony.  They are just beautiful.  They have gone to great lengths to make this a special event and one we will never forget.  The excitement builds as the women cook and we wait for Campo to make an appearance and accept our Gambian names.

We walked with Campo to the village park grounds and took a seat next to the village Akalo. They called us up to sit on the prayer mat and covered our heads; they cut a piece of our hair, and announced our Gambian names.  Then, we went up to pray and learn of our great responsibilities to the community.  The whole village began to celebrate and we danced the night away.  It will be hard to top this day!

2/19/2012

We went to the Bijulo Monkey Park today and walked around the park.  It was good exercise and fun to see the monkeys following us on the path. 

We stopped at the tourist beach hotels and had a coke by the ocean. 

I was happy to return to Banjulinding and not spend very much time in the tourist area.  We had dinner with Essa’s family and returned to our compound for a good night’s sleep.

2/21/2012

There was work to do at the compound this morning.  The door knobs and locks have broken and the bathroom floor does not have a slope and now the toilet handle is broken.  We awoke to the landlord fixing the bathroom door and locks.  They worked on the bathroom floor yesterday by creating a slope for the drain.  They have also fixed the other door knob. 

We had pastries from the local market and did the dishes.  Then, we went to Banjul to tour the museum as well as the arch.  It was a nice day to visit the exhibits and learn more about Gambia.  We rode the elevator to the top of the arch and the view was spectacular.  We had a nice lunch at Ali Baba and returned home.

Arch 22

View from Arch

The other family in our compound is very nice.  When we sit outside on our porch the children, hang out with us and chat.  There is Awa 17 who goes to high school, Haddy 11, Fatou 4, YaYa 3 (visiting) and Binta 3…they are funny and sweet.  We looked through a magazine together and read a book on malaria.  When we go to the store, they walk with us.  I am glad they are our neighbors.  Their grandmother spends most of the time outside and does not speak English but she always greets us and smiles.  Her name is Maria.

2/22/2012

Busy day, we began with a visit to the Banjulinding Women’s Garden.  My namesake Kaddysa Sambou is the President of this women’s group.  We met with the women and toured their gardens.  The garden is more like a huge farm, so many acres of land being managed by these women.  It is an incredible amount of work.  They work at the garden three times a day.  In the morning, they will come…break for lunch to go make it for their families…then come back work some more in the afternoon and evening time.  They grow watermelon, tomatoes, pineapples, bananas, and casava.  After the tour, we sat with the women and received a project request to assist with purchasing solar panels and material to build a fence.

2/23/2012

We met a fortune teller who lives in the woods and is 90 years old.  We ended the forest walk with a demonstration of climbing the Palm trees with only a rope around your waist. 

2/24/2012

Today the Akalo’s son was married.  We all dressed in our finest outfits to attend the ceremony. Everyone came to the celebration.  The bride, whose family is originally from Trinidad, was from New York and many were excited to meet her.  The women were all dressed beautifully. 

There were several entertainers: the Kora player, a Fula Dance Troupe and the Kanyeleng.  The Kora player strummed and sang to the bride and women gathered in the house prior to the ceremony.  He would sing a beautiful song and insert your name into the poem and you showed appreciation by stuffing $5 and $10 Dalasi notes into the Kora at a special hole on the calabash made for donations. 

After the actual wedding ceremony, the reception took place and the Kanyeleng began their performance of dancing and singing.  The Kanyeleng are a group of women that are barren and have formed a society and provide comedic performances at events.  The Fula Dance Troupe danced, ate fire, and performed magic tricks. 

2/25/2012

We took a morning walk around the neighborhood since it was Set Sittale.  On the last Friday of the month, everyone cleans the streets and businesses.  So from 9am to 1pm, no cars are on the road and shops are closed.  It was a peaceful walk with no traffic on the streets.  In the afternoon, we headed to the Abuko Nature Reserve and walked half the loop listening to the guide discuss the trees and birds.  They had hyenas in a cage and there was a baby hyena so cute but very dirty.  They were like small ponies.  I couldn’t believe their size. 

2/26/2012

Today we went to the market and purchased cloth for dresses.  I selected a beautiful batik that was turquoise and brown.  It takes months to make these designs.  They apply wax and dye the fabric and then pull the wax off and then reapply the wax to create unique patterns and designs. 

We went to the Essa Camara’s family compound (house) for lunch and watched the “football” game Liverpool versus Cardiff.  Before we returned home, we went to Tanjay to see the fishermen and watch the boats come to shore and unload.  It was a flurry of activity and the air rich with smoke from the smoke houses preserving the catch of the day.

2/27/2012

We toured SBEC today.  This high school is international and attached to the British education system.  There are 189 students and 30 instructors.  They are building an auditorium/gymnasium.  It is a beautiful school for those with money and it just celebrated 10 years in Gambia.  It is a dramatic difference from the school we visited in Banjunlinding.