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.
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