Thursday 23 January 2014

16.1.14 Thursday. Kumbija



We got up at a reasonable time and checked to see if Mell was up to the travelling, unfortunately not, her back is still painful. so we loaded the truck with supplies and tools and set off around 9.30am.  We stopped up the road from our house and bought tools to replace any damaged ones from the last project and then Kebba and I got out at the bank to get the building funds before getting a taxi into Banjul to catch the small boat across the river.  Steve, Jim and one of the builders set off in the truck on the south bank.  We arranged to all meet up in Farafenni.  Kebba and I arrived on the shore and were carried aboard one of the small boats, we had to sit for two hours whilst it filled up before setting off for Barra at the other side of the river.  The ferry situation has not improved and only one ferry is running at the moment with something like a 5 hour turn around time.  We finally arrived in Barra and contracted a taxi to take us to Farafenni, calling at Ndungu Kebbeh on the way.  In February we have a school party arriving to go to Ndungu Kebbeh and we were making final arrangements for the visit.  We arrived in Farafenni after Steve and Jim and met them half way through their shopping expedition. Jim is staying to help build the wall and so we purchased a sponge mattress for him to sleep on and food for the family to cook for him.  All purchases complete we had lunch at one of the cafes and made our way to Kumbija, arriving around 4pm for the night.  We arrived at the school and unloaded our provisions then the phone rang and Sanaba told us he had been waiting for us at the side of the road in Kaur, about 35 miles away with a pile of fire bricks since the morning and wanted us to fetch him. The three of us got back in the truck and managed to call at Jamwelly, do a delivery and collect half the fire bricks and Sanaba, deliver them to Loumen and make it back to Kumbija just as it was getting dark.  Pa Sallah had offered to house the workers and Kebba had got Jim’s bed in place and returned with our evening meal around 8pm.  We ate the delicious meal and then Jim went off to spend the night with the rest of the builders at Pa Sallah’s compound.  Steve and I slept in our usual classroom for the night.

No comments:

Post a Comment