Passengers

It's going to be a sad sad day when I have to hand over the keys to my trusty bike!

You won’t get far when riding a motorbike in The Gambia without having to take a passenger. That’s just a fact of life. For me it is at least. As I approach someone who is flagging me down my head is usually saying don’t stop don’t stop! but my heart is saying its hot, that person is going to have to wait an age to get a vehicle, they’re old, I have a space on my bike, I’m going there anyway etc. So today was one of the many occasions when I ended up with an unexpected passenger. This time it wasn't really a choice though. We had just come from our workshop in Kaiaf. I had passed the checkpoint but Ellie had been stopped by the policeman and was taking ages. So I just pulled over and was looking behind me to see where she was when an old lady, must have been about eighty came running up, plonked herself on the back and said “Toniataba” (which is a village near Soma) . She took me by surprise so I just drove, chuckling to myself. She clung on to my back pack for dear life as we went bumping over pothole after pothole. When we reached the turning for the village it was obvious that she was expecting door to door service. So into the village we rode, slipping and sliding our way through the sand. She didn’t seem fazed. When she got off the bike we exchanged names and she pointed me on my way on the back road to Soma. I just smiled to myself all the way home it was one of those priceless Gambian moments!

Some Soma Creatures

Lizard swimming pool. Not sure he really liked it though. I fished him out with a tin and his little lungs were pumping like mad!

Posing goats

(not many mountains to climb in The Gambia so they have to make use of the walls instead)

This delightful chap was on my mosquito net.

big millipede

I saw a snake in our compound this week but it didn't hang around long enough for me to photograph it and neither did I!

Return to Medina Sancha

The well ( the echo is great)

ECD children drawing pictures of their mums and dads in the sand

The school farm, the corn you can se is all owned by the school which they can sell to raise funds

Bright new shiny building!

New pit latrines

The grade 2 class

Return to Medina Sancha

It was exciting to return to my favourite school and see the shiny new buildings that were now surrounded by fields of tall corn. Newly whitewashed walls, bright shiny corrugate, recently planted trees in the yard and a proper office for Mr Boye. Only the ECD class were still housed in the old style woven classroom. It is also good news that the Fresh start foundation were coming to do a feasibility study to provide a borehole for a water supply for the school. That would mean that they can then start a school garden. Also the letter asking for funding for building a kitchen was written and that would mean the school can become part of the world feeding programme. I took some books scrounged from my niece and nephew for the beginnings of a library and also took a big mat for the younger children to sit on for story time. The community are apparently very supportive of the school so everything is coming together quite nicely for Medina Sancha.