3.12.13 Tuesday. Container at Last!

We were all up early today as the shipping company had advised that there was a chance of getting the container from the port this morning.  We arrived in Banjul at the shipping company office, and sat down prepared for a long wait.  We had only been there about 10 minutes when the agent told us that we could go to the port as the container was ready for inspection.  A new employee, Abdoulie, walked with us to the customs office and introduced us to Mr Morrow who would be inspecting the contents.  We made our way into the loading area and then waited while our container was lifted down from a stack of 4 and placed on the floor.  We then walked over and stood around waiting until the duty police arrived to watch us break the seal which had been fitted back in October in Armley, Leeds.  The seal was broken, the door opened and the stack of equipment, which had been painstakingly put into the container by a band of around 30 volunteers this year, became visible.  Some settling of the contents had happened, so there was a small space above the furniture on display.  The port boys then emptied about 3-4 feet of goods onto the oily port floor and we waited for the customs and National Intelligence Agency to come and inspect what we had.  Surprisingly they were there within minutes and the whole process including putting back all the items was over by 11.30am.  A record!  Sue said she and Jeremy should come every year as they were clearly a lucky charm!  The agent said that all that remained was the final customs paperwork and we should have the container within an hour and a half.  We left Steve with the shipping company and we went back towards home, having rung Kebba to assemble a team of 15 boys to unload.  On the way back as we had a little time, we stopped at Independence Arch to climb to the top to see the island that is Banjul, and a short visit to the cultural museum.  We picked up some bread for sandwiches at the bakers as we were not sure what time we would eat again,  and arrived home to wait for the call that the container was on the way.  Several of the boys on standby had gathered outside our gate and were brewing their local Ataya, or tea whilst they waited.  We were hoping that it would be out of the port gates before prayer time at 2pm as everything is then delayed for an hour.  Unfortunately there was a hitch in paperwork, not ours, but one of several containers which the shippers were handling and poor Steve had to wait in Banjul until just before 6pm when he rang to say they were definitely coming today.  Those of you who have been to Gambia will realise that it gets very dark at around 7pm at this time of year, so I went around the house gathering up all the torches before going to the petrol station to fill the tank so we could run the truck with the lights shining into the container for the boys to be able to see.  We borrowed a ladder and hung two torches from the ceiling in the storeroom to act as lights (no electricity in the store) and waited for the truck to arrive.  This year all our unloading boys were dressed in orange golf shirts, so easy to spot in the gloom.  The container arrived, the doors opened, the boys had been briefed on where to put everything, and the unloading started. Jeremy was helping unload, Sue and I were shining torches, Steve was directing. The advantage of a night unload of course is that the container is not as hot inside, but still plenty of water was drunk as the boys got tired and thirsty. With lots of effort, (thankfully these boys are strong!) they had everything unloaded in just over an hour and locked into the storeroom.  The boys were paid, everyone disappeared home and we returned home for a quick shower before making our way to Neil’s bar for a welcome beer and dinner.