My four weeks are nearly over, so this is one last update before my husband arrives and we go on holiday! I’ve had an amazing time and seen and done so many things. I’m sure I’ll be processing it all for a while yet.
Yesterday the Gambian under-17 football team (the Baby Scorpions) won the African championships (beating Algeria 3-1 in the final), so the president declared today a national holiday. Just like that! So the kids started their school holiday a day early and people in general haven’t gone to work. Quite how everyone finds these things out is a mystery to me –they announce it on the radio and local TV, but I’ve not noticed many people listening to the local radio. Still, no kids arriving for school meant a quiet morning for us!
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I’m not sure when I said I’d be interested in doing an overseas placement I ever imagined I’d end up watching people have their teeth pulled out! I spent a morning last week at the dental clinic the church runs in Brikama, and they mostly pull people’s teeth out. As the dentist says, it’s not really what he trained for, but people only come to the dentist once they’re in pain and by that point there tends to be not a lot else he can do. People are being freed from pain though, which is a good thing. A little less sugar in people’s diets might help their teeth! – the amount of sugar that goes in tea is disturbing, and you should see the sweet stalls piled high with E numbers outside all the schools.
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Well, this week has flown by. I’ve been on various visits and had the opportunity to be involved in different things the churches are involved in.
Going to a funeral was in some ways a familiar experience and in some ways quite different (not least the presence of video cameras – they pop up everywhere here but I wasn’t expecting them at a funeral). The Christian cemetery here is on the beach which is a beautiful setting, and following the hearse (well, council van containing coffin and pall bearers) you get to go under the ceremonial arch that usually only the president’s allowed to drive under.
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Hello again, from the Gambia which is warm by my standards but everyone here thinks it’s cold at the moment!
I’ve had a busy week. I’ve been to visit several of the schools run by the Methodist church. Some of them are fee paying, others have the teachers paid for by the government but no other real income so getting resources is a challenge. They value hugely the help they get from outside – we were at a celebration in one of the village schools of the contributions of one Swedish gentleman over 30 years. Most recently his fundraising efforts have provided them with solar panels to allow power in the school, as well as kitchens and a feeding programme, teachers’ accommodation and much else.
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