We woke as usual to the sound of the women in the village
pounding the cous for breakfast and the pump on the well starting its days
work. After packing the car for the
journey back we spent some time with Alieu sorting his classroom to make space
for the new items delivered yesterday.
Lamin, one of the new teachers arrived for his lift to Brikama where
college starts on Monday. We set off to
Loumen to collect Deja, another teacher trainee, with her sister, and then on
to Pallen to visit Mr Sowe at home. He
wanted us to pass by to see his new daughter who is being named next month
after me, an honour here, the Gambian people always name their children after
someone, usually in the family, so that the name does not die out. There are no ‘old fashioned’ or trendy names
here, just repeats down the ages. I had
taken a new blanket for the baby, kindly knitted by my friend Sue Bartley, and
so the new baby has a pink and white blanket to keep her warm in the cold
nights. Sue had knitted many blankets,
the balance of which are going to the maternity clinics in Batakonko and Sara
Kunda. Mr Sowe offered to drive in front of us to Yallalba our next stop, as
the road is apparently difficult to spot from this direction. We followed his motorbike on the sandy roads
until we reached the school where we were able to deliver some boxes donated by
Glenaire Primary
School.
The head teacher was delighted as many exercise books were among the
items supplied. Back on the road, we
stopped in Farafenni for breakfast and then continued down to the ferry to
cross to Soma. On the road down is a
military check point, and we were asked if we could take a soldier with us,
back to the coastal area. We usually
take passengers on the rear of the truck when we are travelling back as the
public transport system here is erratic.
This time it was fortunate we did as the queue at the ferry was worse
than yesterday and we would have been there several hours had it not been for
the soldier in uniform who helped us to the front of the queue in less than one
hour. Apparently it is a religious
festival this weekend in Senegal
and many people were travelling across the border to join it. The road on the south bank is now almost
finished and we had to divert a short way round the road works, but this means
that when we return after the holidays the whole road will be tarmac, which has
taken 5 years to complete. Less stress
on our new vehicle!
We dropped off the soldier, followed by Lamin and lastly
Deja with her sister, before returning home.
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