Food For Thought

Last week was a highly social one.

 On Wednesday I was given a lift in the GTU van to Bundung Upper Basic School, which is situated on the far side of the huge and confusing Serrakunda market. The driver introduced me to the softly spoken headmaster and we entered his office which was most impressive; spacious, clean and well lit, despite there being no power at the time. His three large desks were piled high with folders on all aspects of running a double shift school with over 4,500 pupils on roll.  Almost immediately we were joined by the area Cluster Monitor; one of the regional team, who acts as a regular adviser/friendly inspector.

The table to one side of the room was where the drinks and food were laid after we had worked our way through the first half of the morning. We shared a food bowl of cous. Much to the amusement of my two colleagues I drank tea with milk but no sugar. This is alien to Gambians, most of whom take 5 or 6 spoonsful in every cup. Throughout the break they kept glancing at me and grinning in disbelief.

At the end of the morning I spent some time out in the school yard with pupils eating their rice and sauce lunch, traditionally seated on the ground in groups of four. Once again I marvelled at the task of preparing so much food every day. Many schools in The Gambia benefit from the World Food Programme which supplies the rice and other staples for the chldren’s meals, ensuring that they do at least have a daily hot meal for most of the week.

In vivid contrast, on Thursday I was invited by VSO to more sumptuous dining at the Ngala lodge, one of the more prestigious hotels in the Gambia.  Our host was the new assistant British Commissioner, an affable and alarmingly young Scot called George. With him was Richard, on a 72 hour whirlwind tour from the Foreign Office in London.  The five of us sat at a small table in a beautiful balconied room over looking the sea and the unanimous choice from the menu was the delicious local butterfish.

The evening brought a quiz night at the Fajara Club. I have to admit that I have not been a fan of such events before but here it pays to try out new things, especially in good company. Before the quiz Mary, Catherine, Daniel and I ate together. Having eaten so well earlier in the day I looked for something light and had the piri-piri shrimps. Hot and delicious!  Happily Sarah joined us but this gave us the problem of exceeding the quiz team maximum of four! Mary and I decided to form a splinter group along with a club regular, another Chris. After several hours and a lot of fun we actually won, but Chris and I can take little credit.

 Saturday lunch was with my work colleague, Matarr and his family at their home. We sat on sofas and watched television as we shared a dried fish meal, cooked by his wife’s mother and traditionally served as food bowl.

As you can see I was spoiled all week, rarely cooking for myself and eating such a range of foods in a great variety of settings and company.

There will be those who can maintain these standards despite the poor Sub Saharan harvests last year but there will be many more who will suffer in The Gambia and neighbouring countries, unless the application for international food aid is successful. Food for thought for all of us.

Back to Every Day Life

The temperatures are rising here in Kanifing and from midmorning onwards it is best to be indoors or keep to the shade. Walking the fifteen minutes to the office every morning is fine because at 8.15, the sun is far from full strength but later in the day it is wise to be more careful. The many lightweight scarves I brought out with me are proving useful to cover the back of my neck and shoulders on the walk home. It is not yet as humid as it was last October which is something to be grateful for. However I am sure that those volunteers up-country are decidedly more uncomfortable already.

The weather is also affecting the many street dogs living around Kombos. Medium sized, lean, sinewy and tan in colour, they pay scant attention to people and roam the streets at will, dodging in and out of the traffic. However the older and infirm few that I pass each day, stretched out at the roadside are beginning to suffer, panting in the increasing heat. It is a distressing sight.

The walk is always on sand, some of it quite deep and difficult to negotiate but I am motivated by the thought of the good it must be doing my thigh muscles. Some of the journey is along small back lanes but as I get nearer to work, the roads are tarmac covered and much wider and busier. I pass the large Serrakunda Hospital and MDI building, part of the University of Gambia with its pretty mosque in the front corner of the attractive grounds.

Just opposite is Ndow’s Comprehensive Lower Basic School. Sometimes, if I am running a few minutes late (not really possible in Gambia but being English I can’t help but clock watch) I see the young master dressed smartly in shirt and tie ring the morning bell at the school gates. The pupils still walking down the long road immediately break into a run. As they draw level with the master, a slim man with closely cropped hair, they smile and exchange a hurried greeting. It is an engaging sign of mutual respect and I am reminded of the village school back home.

Outside the school some women, possibly the mothers’ club,
 run stalls selling drinks, (some home made and frozen) , tapalapa bread and other snacks. They always return at the close of each school day too.  Certainly a tuck shop with a difference!

Such snacks are also available in several bitiks on the way. Most people take breakfast this way rather than try to make it themselves before leaving home. It is possible to buy acra or nebbe (beans) or omelette in your tapalapa morning sandwich. Onions, mayonnaise and pepper are optional extras. If you choose to eat more healthily, but expensively, there are a few fruit stalls at the busy junction by the hospital.

Jainaba's stall at Traffic Light

I sometimes buy bananas here but for my weekly shop I travel up to Traffic Lights to stock up on Jenaibah’s wonderfully fresh produce. But this local stall near the office is very welcome in emergencies. Another emergency was recently dealt with by the stall holder on the opposite side of the junction.

My extremely comfortable Reiker shoes, ideal for this harsh terrain and climate were beginning to unravel at the toe. For a few Dalasis the shoe/watch repair man stitched them back for me seated under his large “pub” style umbrella.. Rather than leave me standing on the baking hot road sand barefoot, he loaned me a large pair of men’s sandals. I don’t think I presented much of a fashion icon!

The small office “compound” where I work is just a little further on from the repair man’s stall, on the far side of the chaotic MDI junction. Crossing is perilous and can take quite a while. Cars, taxis, vans, gely- gelies and lorries whizz round left and right, often finding a short cut across the sand, alarmingly behind the pedestrians.

It is not uncommon to strike up a temporary nodding acquaintance with someone on the opposite side also trying to cross.  It is such chaos that in its own way it is quite marvellous. Eventually we make it with a real sense of achievement and I enter through the gates to the compound, exchanging morning greetings with the watchmen in the small building at the front. The compound accommodates three organisations: Education For All is to the right of the central quad; straight ahead from the entrance are two separate buildings: the one on the left is the Gambian Teachers’ Union and to the right, FAWEGAM the union’s female wing.

Before entering I tip the sand out of each shoe and pop my head round the door to the meeting room to greet Adelaide, grandmother and founder member of EFA. Alahjie makes me a cup of tea and brings it into my small office opposite the main entrance.

I switch on my computer and the air conditioning with fingers crossed that the electricity will last at least most of the working day………. and sometimes it does! 

A Time of Contrasts

A month has passed since I caught the plane home. The time has just sped by and I can’t quite believe I have already been back here in Kanifing for a week and a half. The UK holiday was much needed, as despite all my Gambian adventures I achingly miss friends and family while I am here. Meeting up with so many of them in February was wonderful, especially being there for the birth of my grandson, Alexander, on Valentine’s Day as well as big sister Lucy’s second birthday.  As she grows I can tell the story of how I flew home from Africa to play with her so that Mummy and Daddy could go to the hospital for Alexander’s arrival!

I cannot recall how I have spent the bonus day, other leap years have brought but I know I will never forget February 29th 2012. It was the last day of my holiday and I was staying with Mum. The day began with tea in bed and during the morning Ted and I walked across the soft soil of the fields down to the beautiful old village church and the pretty churchyard and cemetery. We spent the afternoon chatting before a favourite dinner: salmon, salad and jacket potatoes. Then I enjoyed a soak in a deep warm bath. 

These things are no longer “ordinary”!

Neither is the bakery section in Tesco’s. Out shopping one day, I caught Mum and Ted laughing at me as I stood transfixed by the incredible range of breads on offer.

Well, now I have returned to the Pink Palace, tapalapa bread, much higher temperatures and intermittent electricity. I have also rejoined the team at EFA, Education For All , working alongside GTU (Gambian Teachers’ Union) and FAWEGAM, a wonderful group campaigning for women’s rights. Last Friday night I was invited to join their party for a fund raising dinner at one of the Senegambia hotels. It was a very successful event with the president’s wife alone donating D100,000 towards a building project. I enjoyed the company, delicious food and range of music but have to admit to an inability to appreciate the Wolof comedian.

All the Gambian women looked spectacular, dressed in a myriad of colours; fabrics and impossibly high heeled shoes, shimmering with sequins and glass.

I wore brown – an English pheasant amongst birds of paradise!