Unusually at 8a.m., the office is completely deserted this morning. It is Friday, 4th November and the official last working day before Tabaski. The American tradition of Thanksgiving comes to mind. As there, here in The Gambia, the country is criss-crossed by generations of people travelling to get back to their hometown for the family gathering. Everyone has suddenly uprooted and gone: by push bike, motor cycle, car, gelly or donkey cart. The actual timing of the festival varies across the country. In some areas it will be Sunday, in others Monday and will almost certainly extend beyond just one day. Looking around at the virtual ghost town that Mansa Konko has suddenly become, I would not be surprised if normal life were not regained for at least a full week.
All this apart, I do expect The Senior Education Officer, Musa, and the multi-talented secretary Sohna, to arrive within the hour, perhaps when the power is restored for the day; so I wait under the tree by the driveway. Musa works tirelessly; usually late into the night making good use of the electricity that powers his computer. Sohna, turns her hand to anything: typing, various computer programs, cooking, supplying the office staff daily with her home made soft drink called Wonja which is deliciously rich in vitamin C. Despite its fruity taste it is actually made from red leaves.
Sohna and Musa are fairly untypical of the Gambian education work force, because they live locally with their families. Once qualified, education personnel can be posted anywhere in the country to meet the need. They are billeted in extraordinarily basic digs. Many young women teachers also bring their very young children with them too. But Sohna and Musa live in Soma, in houses of their own choosing.
I am reflecting on a very busy time here at work. The office ran two, two-day workshops, with only one day between, starting last Saturday at 8a.m. This first meeting was for the 60 head teachers in the Lower River Region. As part of the schedule, I gave my first presentation and was relieved to have “broken the ice” (a very inappropriate metaphor for the Gambia!). I have come to the conclusion that Head teachers share the same characteristics, no matter where they come from. They are enthusiastic, passionate, argumentative and exhausted! My main work task here will be with them and on their behalf. So it was a pleasure to get to know each other well by the end of the second workshop.
During another presentation on Saturday, a very large and beautifully marked cricket jumped onto the table in front of me, alongside the speaker, the Assistant Director. As the deep male voice rang out, the cricket stood at the front edge of the table, bobbing up and down, bending its long graceful legs. He seemed to peer at the audience, glancing this way and that and, to all the world,appeared to be giving the address. Often books from the past come to mind. On this occasion it was “James and the Giant Peach”
I was right, just before 9a.m. and even after such an exhausting fortnight my two colleagues, Sohna and Musa arrive. Time to start work………
