Friday 20th February 2015

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Friday 20^th February 2015

Got up at 8. I started packing, then we went to breakfast. It was very transient- so between us and the teachers, we only used two tables- people were always coming and going!

Meant to see Morro at 9:30, but he was late, so there was lots of hanging around. Divided time between the lounge and packing. We also used the time to get a present for the teachers. We got another set of the three Wise Monkeys. AA got the 'See No Evil', because the sun dried her eyes out so she was often talking about her contacts; Sass got 'Hear No Evil' as an apology from all of us for not listening very well; and Maths got 'Speak No Evil' because he always makes bad jokes.

Finally Morro came! We had a picture with the whole Gambia2015 family in front of the van.

After Morro left, we sat by the pool awhile and played Mancala. Such a good buy!- present for Dad and entertainment for us! Then we packed up everything and left the rooms. 

Maths, AH, GS, JG and I went down to the beach, where we splashed about for a bit. Felt low- I really really don't want to go home!!

Lunch- I had a chicken pannini. Others did a quiz, and Maths almost won- but not quite!

Time to go :( Got on the coach. Had a big panic as MR lost his passport; thankfully, it was resolved in the end, though there were some very tense waits.

The plane we were meant to fly on had problems, so all the passengers were put on two smaller planes. We were told that that would mean a half hour stop in Tenerife; then we were told that it would be a 45 minute stop, then an hour.

Chilled outside. It had been a little nippy all day, but it finally got hot. Had ice cream, then an ice cream float. Yum! Played Mancala with Maths- we're doing a 'full game' tournament thing, which got very competitive and tense!

Got on plane to find out that we didn't have to stop in Tenerife at all- yay! Sat between AM and Maths. The flight was very turbulent; AM and I gripped hands for a lot of the time!! Aside from that, passed the time playing more Mancala with Maths (I won two tournaments!!), doing the games in the magazine and writing blog posts. 

Landed. Got luggage, and then got onto minibus home. Journey uneventful.

Goodbye Gambia2015; thank you, thank you, thank you.

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Thursday 19th February 2015

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Thursday 19^th February 2015

Got up for breakfast at 9. JG ill. Got wifi and waited for Morro, then walked to hire-bus. There was an argument over whether we could use it or not- in the end we had to change to two taxis.

Went to Banjul Market. The toilets smelt worse than yesterday!! Had a good time shopping, but I found it quite difficult and overwhelming- it was very pushy and hassly- I got hassled to read a 'no hassling' sign!! Bought lots of things, mostly presents.

Went to wood market- more hassling there, which I found difficult as I wasn't feeling well. Managed to get more presents though.

Home again home again. Had lunch and went in the pool for a bit, then just chilled. 

Played cards with AH, MG and Maths, then played Warri/Mancala with Maths then MW- I bought a set as a present for Dad, so we've decided we might as well use it!! After that was more cards- very fun!!

Changed for dinner- a lot of us went in Gambian dress. 

Then we got taxis to Kora, the restaurant they always go to on the last night. I had fajitas for dinner, and AH and I shared a crepe thing for dessert. Everyone's very low on money!!

Funny moment in the restaurant- during the afternoon, I mentioned to AH that I thought that two of the women in the hotel were a couple, though AH hadn't seen them. In the restaurant, a mother and her (fairly feminine looking) son walked in. Sass commented that they were from the hotel- and, as AH hadn't seen the earlier couple, I knew that she would somehow mistake them for the couple. Which she did. Much to my (copious and prolonged!) amusement.

Small speeches. Morro turned up, with the fixed van. We gave him his present- the three Wise Monkeys (See No Evil etc.) because he's wise; and each one has a baby, to represent his son. I am very proud of those monkeys- haggled them down from 2500D to 900D!

Home again and to bed.

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Wednesday 18th February 2015

Wednesday 18^th February 2015

Early start! We got up at 6, finished packing and had breakfast. Then loaded up the van and left! The journey was okay, aside from a very bumpy road, where a suitcase fell off the rood- thankfully we noticed in time!! On the way we picked up Yahya, the school principal.

Got to Juffre. There were lots of cute goats. 

We went in the boat to Kunteh Kinteh island, which is where they used to keep slaves. 

It was interesting, but very difficult. The conditions were awful- so cramped and inhumane. Anyone who rebelled was placed into a small underground building which had very little light and air, where they were fed very little- and if they were shackled up, then they couldn't reach the food. It's so horrible to think that anyone ever thought it was okay to treat people like that. In addition, when the slave trade was abolished, there were around 400 slaves on the island. The staff couldn't take them on to other countries- but they decided it was too much work to take them back. So the people were told that, if they could swim back to the mainland, then they could be free. The journey back to the mainland took us a good 15 minutes in a motorboat, and there were strong currents- so, obviously, none of the slaves made it back. So difficult.

Back on the boat, where myself, MG, Maths and JG all got very splashed! 

Lunch- I had really lovely egg sandwiches. On the island we got to try baobab, and Maths made it into a really nice drink.

Museum. Again, interesting, but very difficult.

Back on the van, and we drove to the ferry port. Thought we would have a super long wait, but Morro 'bribed' them so we wouldn't have to wait as long. We all took that as a good sign. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Went to ferry port queue. The ferry had set off 20 minutes prior, so we settled in for a long wait! Spent part of the time on the bus, then got off and sat outside. BA and I walked up to the shop, where we fell in love with a goat. The owners tried to sell it to us, and we genuinely almost bought it. However, in the end BA wimped out.

Spent more time chatting outside the van. Then AH, SL, JG and I all needed the loo- except it was disgusting and, as AM said, 'literally a sh*thole'. So... We made SheWees out of bottles cut with pens. Creativity right here! (Kudos to GS for the creativity though). The loos were disgusting- but we made it work.

Back to bus. Got on- and, after a good 3+ hours waiting, it was finally time to go!! We then spent ages actually getting on the ferry.

The crossing was pretty rough, and it took us aaages to get off the ferry on the other side too. Just after we drove off, when all the vehicles were really close together, the lorry behind us didn't stop and crashed into us- making us crash into the lorry in front. It was pretty scary. Thankfully, everyone was physically fine, though AH had some back pains. It also caused the van to break down.

Thank goodness for Morro!! He got everything sorted; all we had to do was wait. I had a bit of a panic which wasn't great, but GS was really good at calming me down.

Eventually we got a new van- we transferred the stuff then got I and headed back to the resort. Small panic when the driver didn't know where we were going, but it got sorted in the end.

Got to hotel. Our parents had been told about what happened, so I rang Mum and spoke to her briefly. Had dinner, then used wifi briefly. Then to bed, after a long and difficult day!!

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Tuesday 17th February 2015

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Tuesday 17^th February 2015

Got up at normal time and had breakfast, then ran through our song for the assembly. We're singing Count on Me (Bruno Mars), but we've changed the lyrics to make it relevant to Gambia and our time in Farafenni. Then we went to the school, where we spent the first part of the morning sat in lessons. First, GS, MW and I went to what we thought was English, but turned out to be Maths. So instead, MW and I went to IRK (Islamic Studies), where there was English after.

The IRK teacher was great- very openminded, and told us lots about his views- for example, that Islam and Christianity can easily coexist and that the understanding of all religions is needed for friendship. He also told us that, though he is Muslim, he owns a Bible and has read some of it- his only complaint is that the font's too small!!

Afterwards, the English teacher didn't turn up, so MW and I went back to the office. We joined BA and AA to go to Art, which we sat in for a while. Then we bumped into Maths, and all of us sat to chat for a while. MW and BA went off, but I stayed to chat to AA and Maths, which was nice.

After break was the leaving assembly. We sang our song, and the Gambians sang to us. 

We also had to 'Name our Friends', who came up to hug us and say goodbye. I named Haddy, Fatou and Mustafa (not Morro's nephew- a different Mustafa!). I also said 'and everyone'- for everyone is a friend in Farafenni. It was really emotional, and there were lots of tears. 

Maths named Morro, and they hugged, and for some reason that set me off crying- so AM and MR hugged me, and that just made me cry even more as I realised how much of a (albeit dysfunctional!!) family we've become.

Other highlights of 'Name Your Friends' were GS calling up his librarian (um, totally of his own volition and not due our pressures at all whatsoever!!); BP and BA not calling up DeMarco (their friend- BP was in love with him but he wrote BA a love letter); everyone deciding that Sass should call us up so we all got up and hugged her; us making AM call us all up; and MR naming Morro and Yahya because he forgot names.

After, there was a presentation. Some people got presents, and we all got necklaces. Mine has an elephant on it- currently unnamed! There were also some speeches, which were sad, and we gave out medals for the Sports Day.

We went back to the AMRC, stopping at the shop on the way. I bought coconut, which I've been craving for a few days. Also got milk, which has become a bit of a personal staple! Once we got back, I did some clothes washing, then had lunch. After that I had a shower, and spent ages packing up and tidying. We've been very messy! Would probably explain why AH and I are always losing things!!

On the way back to the school we went past the hospital to drop off more donation stuff- we all made our luggage a lot lighter by donating anything and everything possible. Then we went to the school for the Culture Show. 

I sat in-between WS and Maths, which was good. Chatted to Maths about music, and WS about life.

Then Maths swapped with MR, so got to chat to him too :)

Culture Show was cool- we saw the marriage rituals for the Mandinka/Fula/Wolof tribes. 

There was also the circumcision man, which was pretty scary. At one point, he was behind loads of people, so they all ran towards us but we couldn't see why they were running- that was scary enough! Then we had to dance with circumcision man, which was terrifying. There were also plenty of cute kids- I taught one how to take pictures on my phone, which she loved. She had the cutest smile!! 

And more hugs from baby Binta, who we saw at the evening visit last night.

After the Culture Show (which had a play featuring MG, G and GS!), we got pretty much mobbed by students wanting to say goodbye. We had a last shop stop to stock up on stuff for tomorrow's journey, and things to take home. I am taking lots of powdered squash!

Home and dinner. Then, to celebrate Shrove Tuesday, we made pancakes- lots of fun!!

Bed.

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Monday 16th February 2015

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Monday 16^th February 2015

Got up around 7:45. Got ready very quickly and went out to breakfast. Feeling better after yesterday's stressful evening, but still wobbly. Lots of confusion over breakfast! It was meant to be at 8; then it got delayed to 8:30; then it ended up being just after 8!

School. We did our sports event- AH and I were in charge of the limbo. It was really fun and they seemed to really enjoy it!! Team A won overall :)

After break, we played parachute games with the Grade 8 students, which went down really well. The teachers watched, so now they have a parachute and ideas of lots of games to play as well :)

Had a shop stop. We all got bread, then I got peanut chocolate spread as well. It was interesting... But the bread was amazing!

During the daily afternoon break, we all got bored, so decided to play Who Am I?. We played two round, which took ages and filled up the time very well!! It was so so funny!!

Off to Sports Day, which wasn't great- it was too hot and claustrophobic. However, it was nice to see Fatou. 

We started off in our teams (Green Team Dream Team!- myself, MW and AH) but our group didn't have a teacher and things got quite overwhelming, so we joined Blue Team (GS and SL, again no teacher). GS was finding things difficult as someone in his team has taken quite a shine to him- we're calling the woman 'GS's librarian', but GS would like me to say that it's not his librarian, she's 'the creepy weirdo smile lady, weird woman with hair like Medusa'. Anyway, as a result of that we all decided to move to Red Team. I sat with WS and MW, which was lovely.

Played Musical Chairs- AH and I represented Green Team! We didn't win though :( MG won, with JG second and GS third. It got very very violent towards the end and both MG and JG ended up on the floor!

After Musical Chairs, the students formed a circle with us in the centre and we danced. AH and I pulled Haddy and Fatou to join. It was so, so much fun!!

After, we went into our groups. As MR was ill, Maths had to stay at the AMRC with him, so we were down by one teacher, and had to re-organise the groups. Ours was the same as last time, bu with AM as well. We went to Mustafa's house- Mustafa is Morro's nephew!! Was so weird- we got to the house and Kubara- who does our cooking- was there! Turns out she's Morro's sister-in-law, though we didn't know. We breathed a sigh of relief when we saw her, knowing the food would be good!! Also got to see Musa and Landin (Morro's son and nephew; both adorable!!).

Evening was amazing!! The food was delicious, and then we played games and danced. I acquired a small child, and spent a large part of the evening with her in my arms. For the first time in my life, I kind of want a small child. Very weird!!

Walked home, then to bed.

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Sunday 15th February 2015

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Sunday 15^th February 2015

Super early start- 6:30 breakfast! Expected stars to be amazing but they weren't unfortunately- the moon was too bright. After breakfast (still no beans in Farafenni!!) we set off for the hippos. We got there around 9:30. We were in our ball teams for the boat, so I was with SL, JG, AM, BP and WS. We also had Morro, Sass and the FUB SES teacher.

On the boat, we played a bit of Guess the Animal and Word Associations. We also ate and chatted and I asked lots of random questions. It was very informative!

During our time, we saw birds, monkeys, 2 monitor lizards, a bird that looked a bit like a snake and a python (well... it was actually a python skin, but we told the other boat that it was a python!). However, the absolute highlight was- of course!- the hippos. There were 2 or 3, and we think one was a baby. We saw the heads really clearly, and they stuck near our boat for quite a while too! Amazing.

After that we went to Jamjamboree (or Georgetown). We saw where the slaves were kept and heard about it all. It was so cramped and awful! Very difficult and thought-provoking.

Toilet stop. Toilet was much better than I remember- thank goodness! Last time, it was filled with big spiders. Then we got fizzy drinks and headed back over the river.

On the way back to the AMRC, we stopped at the stone circles. Apparently, the positioning of some of the bodies under some of the stones implies they were buried alive... But aside from that the stone circles were cool!!

Everyone very hot, tired and grouchy- not ideal, and definitely not nice for a van journey!! Quiet afternoon to begin with; then a fair bit of drama one way or another, resulting in lots of stress and a very late night. Thankfully, all's well that ends well. However, a funnier highlight- at one point in the evening, MG hid behind a curtain- and a lizard popped out! We pointed, MG screamed and there was absolute uproar for a good few minutes!!

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Saturday 14th February 2015

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Saturday 14^th February 2015

Lie-in today! Breakfast at 8, so got up at 7:45, then got ready etc. As it was cleaning day, we couldn't drive from 10-1, so we had to walk to St John's nursery (the one we visited on Wednesday; where Morro's son goes). They painted 2 panels of the wall last year, but there are loads left blank, so we chose to paint six more. 

We divided it up into one per pair- AH and I were together, working on the shapes wall, and Maths helped us as well.

It was very messy and hot, but enjoyable- we played music and got stuck into it, and it was really nice to see immediate effects of what we were doing as the pictures took shape.

The painting took around 3-4 hours, and the finished result looked amazing- so much better! It's created a nicer courtyard atmosphere for the children I think :) My highlight was when AA spilt paint on her wall (a garden) and smudged it trying to get it off. She then painted what was going to be a flower next to it, but it accidentally made the smudge look like a butterfly, so she made it into one.

Walked home with a shop stop, where some of us (including me) were left behind. Oh dear!! Thankfully we found the right way in the end.

Home. All very painty, and was difficult to get off in the shower. GS decided to smack my bum with his blue painty hands, and it went through my leggings- I now have a blue paint marks on my bum, and there's no mirror in the shower so I can't get it off!

Sat in the second lounge; we played music and sang/danced- it was so much fun! GS, AH and I did an impromptu dance to Hey Mickey. Definitely a highlight! I also wrote a lot- I'm really enjoying having time to do some creative writing :)

Went back to the market for people to get their clothes back from the tailors, then home for dinner. People tried on their clothes- with varying success!! AH's dress, MW's top and GS's shirt are definitely the most successful.

After dinner we did a quiz in our room pairs. AH felt ill and went to bed, so our team was just me for around half of it. However- somehow!- we won :) Got kettles (or watering cans?! Who knows!)- I am very pleased. MW/SL and JG/GS tied for second place.

Bed!

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Friday 13th February 2015

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Friday 13^th February 2015

Friday the 13^th... Hmm...

Up normal time and met for breakfast then highlights. Left to visit the clinic; a small mobile building on the roadside. There, they check for and treat HIV/AIDS. It was an interesting visit, and I was good to know that we gave them a donation, but it was difficult too... Found out some really awful things. Don't feel that it's appropriate to share them here as they're potentially triggering and pretty disgusting (not that I think we should ignore/be blind to disgusting things, just don't think that this is the right place to share!)- just know that it was awful.

After the clinic we went to the hospital. There, we went straight to the acute paediatric unit. There were two babies there with tubes, a woman who'd lost her baby, and a 14 year old girl. We gave clothes to the two babies, but had nothing for the girl, which made me feel awful. She was so slight, she looked about 8; hard to believe that she's the same age as one of the people on the trip! No idea what was wrong with her, and I don't know her name. But she had no parent and nothing to do- she was just sat there. She didn't speak any English either, meaning she's likely never been to school. I felt so helpless.

Moved on to the newborn babies ward. There were several newborns, who we gave clothes to; there was also another woman who's baby had died. After that ward, we were all crying. I was crying less for the mothers, as sad and awful as it was- more for the 14 year old.

BP found some big tops in one of the bags, so we decided to take those to the girl. I gave her one of my bracelets and a huge hug. Obviously not the most useful of things- but I wanted so much for her to know that she's loved. I also have several pictures of her, as a reminder to me. 

Was so so difficult leaving her.

After the hospital everyone was a mess- the van has never been so quiet. I was sat next to GS, so got to cuddle him which helped. When we got to the school we went to Yahya's office; much more crying. GS and Maths were the only ones not in tears, so they were working overtime trying to comfort everyone.

It took us a while, but eventually we did get to cooking. We were divided into groups, but that didn't last long and we were soon mixed up. We made beef benechin, sweet breads and fish pi. It took a long time, but eventually we were able to eat- it was great!!

Ooh, whilst it was cooking, some of the students- including Fatou- taught me some Mandinka/Fula/Wolof. It was great fun, and I'm super pleased with it!!

Went back to the guest house. I washed my clothes, but the water cut off so couldn't rinse them. Had a half hour nap as I was feeling wobbly- then took ages to wake up! Rnised clothes and hung on the line. AH and MR were feeling ill.

Left to go to the FGM talk. No AH/MR (so no Maths either). Talk was very difficult, especially as there were some incredibly graphic pictures and videos. Cried a lot. However, it was good to hear from those who do it, and to hear their side of the story- they do it for money, which of course is awful and inexcusable, but I can see that, if you've spent your whole life making money one way, then it's difficult to suddenly have to stop. Which of course does not excuse it, not remotely, but to understand issues you have to see the bigger picture and the opinions of those with differing views; otherwise no progress can be made. The hardest thing about the talk was that everyone else was really angry towards the women- but I can't be. They're not bad people. They do bad things, but they're not bad people, and I can't hate them.

Shop. Put some money on the phone as I felt that I needed to ring people at home; it's been a pretty wobbly day. Had dinner, then sorted out painting/sport. I rang my cousin and a friend- felt much better after that. Played cards, then went to bed.

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