Saturday, February 23, 2008

THANKYOU FOR MY FAREWELL GIFTS

Hi all,
Just to say thankyou for the gifts for my farewell and birthday. I bought the eee computer, only 900g in weight and also bought at 250 harddrive. It is perfect. I am able to play music through my computer and it sounds ok. I also downloaded a stack of photos before i left, over 3000. I can watch these in a slide show, so I am thrilled with my computer, so thankyou very much. I have also worn all the shirts already! Thanks all who bought these.. they are perfect, light cotton and long around the arms. Also wearing my birthday watch every day.. thanks Leah, Kate and Cherie. I have typed up the previous blog entries at home on my computer the last few nights and used my flash drive, I am thrilled this actually worked successfully.

Sport

Sport
The Gambians are football mad (soccer) at nd children play on the beach in the evenings, half in and out of the water. Many Gambians train hard to make the local football team and to maintain their spot if they are good enough to be part of a team. There is always Gambian men running on the beach, on the local sandy roads and on the main bitumen road. There is an organised football competition played at the international stadium not too far from where im livig at the moment. Wrestling is also a national sport, but I have yet to see evidence of this.

Language

Language
Due to English colonial rule from, English is spoken in business locations, but locally, Wolof and Mandinka are the languages used. Mandinka is spoken more in the upcountry regions and in Bakau, whilst Wolof is spoken more in the kombos regions. I am having Mandinka lessons now and I’m finding it difficult. There are so many formal greetings to learn, these greetings are essential when talking to a person and are used continually throughout the day in your work and social environment. In the greeting you ask whether the person and their family are in peace, then ask whether they are in no trouble, how and where their family are, etc.. a long process and it is spoken really fast. You would think I would fit in straight away with the speed of my words.. but I am talking mandinka ‘doman doman’ (meaning slowly, slowly).

Kartong

Kartong
As mentioned earlier, I went on an overnight camping trip to Kartong. Kartong is located south, near the Senegalise border. It is a quiet beach spot, with a waves and very few people. I brought with me from Australia a tent, thermarest (self inflating thin foam mattress) and a sleeping bag. I camped on the beach with a few other vso volunteers at a camping spot called BoBoi. BoBoi has tree houses and small huts for rent. We pay 150 dalasi ($7.50) to camp on the beach and use their toilet and showering facilities. (showering consists of a bucket and cup).It was lovely to walk on the beach without being hassled by bumsters. There is always something magical about sleeping on the beach, hearing the sound of waves close by and breathingin the salty air. A place I look forward to returning to.

Transport

Transport
Yellow taxis
Not many people have cars, they are way too expensive on a local Gambian wage. Transport is in the form of shared taxis driving set routes along one road. The cab drivers basically drive up and down the same road and pick up/drop off passengers along the way. These are shared taxis and cost 5 dalasi for one way along the same road. When you get in you say 5 for 5, which means 5 people can fit in the cab and each pays 5 dalasi. If you need to then go another road, you get off and go through the process again. Alternatively, you can negotiate a fare to the exact location you wish to go in the Kombos region, but this costs more.
Gelis
These are bush taxis, same size as a van, they transport thousands of people all over The Gambia. They are in a state of disrepair due to the bad road conditions and hold around 20 people, all packed in snuggly. They usually begin in a town at a location called The Garage, which isnt really a garage, just a meeting point for Gelis or taxis. They can also begin at a particular spot at an intersection, so you need to ask around. I travelled to a coastal town last weekend called Kartong, as I was meeting people there to camp on the beach. I travelled alone and required 3 bush gelis to reach my destination. The first geli leaves a destination in the Kombos area and a young boy calls out the destination out of the window and you hop on. This process continues along the street until the geli is almost full. People hop on and off along the way. The cost of a geli is around 10 dalasi. The next location I arrived at, Brikama, was crazy, bush gelis everywhere, literally a hundred, I asked where the Gungar geli was and hopped on. Gelis at garages do not leave until they are almost full, this can take hours, luckily i only needed to wait for half an hour. This whole process began again once i reached Gungar and walked 2km to the Gungar garage, finally my final destination, Kartong appeared. It took me nearly 4 hours to arrive to Kartong, by car it would have taken just over an hour. Travelling in The Gambia requires patience, time and the ability to withstand heat in a packed van, but depsite this, the system works and you can move around the country cheaply.

Money

Money
Money is callled dalasi, one australian dollar is around 20 dalasi (D20). Many gambians are poor and only have 20 dalasi a day to live on. My local wage equates to around $10 Australian dollars per day. I need to pay for food, transport, electricity, gas (from a gas bottle in my home), mobile phone for local calls (a two year wait to have a landline connection, consequently, mobile phones are cheap to sms locally), household utensils, products and equipment and have clothes locally made to dress appropriately for work. There are small supermarkets here but the prices are the same as Australia, if not more expensive. I have spent two months of my Gambian wage in a matter of two weeks!! This has gone on phone calls to home about 4 minutes costs 200 dalasi , going out for a meal is about 200 dalasi, a can of diet coke or a small soft drink is 20 dalasi, 6 eggs 30 dalasi, milk is 45 dalasi, one towel 235 dalasi, 135 dalasi for one pot, 1 kg of carrots at the market 40 dalasi, 1.5L of water is 40 dalasi etc To eat fresh fruit and vegetables is expensive, even from the markets, to buy things from a supermarket is a luxury. In my first two days here I bought an icecream from the supermarket at Bakau, something I will never do again. I had about 20 children surrounding me asking for some, I felt like the Pied Piper. Consequently, I ate the icecream quickly and vowed never to buy icecream out on the street again. Having an icecream is like walking around Adelaide draped in diamonds. I suppose what Im trying to highlight here, is it is very poor and my local wage is quite reasonable and I still can not manage to survive off of it. My aim is to try and live off of my wage at least 5 days a week.. will see how I go. (and then ill blow it out of the water on the weekend with a glass of wine at 75 dalasi and a phone call home!)

Scenery and Weather

Scenery and Weather
In the Kombos area it is dusty, sandy and flat, as is most of the Gambia. Many people walk along the sandy ground and there are numerous yellow taxis which drive along the few bitumen or sandy roads. It is not too crowded on the side of the road and walking is not a problem. The beach sand is dark in places and water is a dull blue. The beach is quite clean and many young locals use it as a gathering point at the end of the day. Palm trees, baobobs, acacias and gum trees are scattered around. At the moment the weather is about 30 – 35 degrees during the day with a dry heat. It will soon become humid in the oncoming months. The wet season is July – September. The sky is generally blue, but a dusty haze at times. At the moment the sun is quite hot, much like a warm day in Adelaide

Location

Dear family, friends and schooIs,
I have been in The Gambia for 2 weeks now , it feels a lot longer as so much has happened in such a short space of time. I will try and catergorise my journey and what I have learnt so far....
Location
The Gambia is on the Western coast of Africa, a small country bordered by Senegal and the Atlantic ocean. The Gambia has a river which runs most of its 300km and is its width varies from 20km to 40km. I have been staying in the Kombos area of the past 2 weeks. This area runs along the coast, not too far from the capital, Banjul. The Kombos is around 10km in length and contains the towns of Bakau, Fajara, Kotu and Kololi. The Kombos has tourist hotels scattered along the beach, particularly in the area of Kololi. The hotels are not high rise and are pretty low key. Unfortunately, the tourist area attracts teenage boys and young men on the beach. locally called Bumsters. They basically hang around and try and hastle you, but they are not dangerous or threatening, just a pain when you want to hang out on the beach. I was staying in Fajara for the first week, an area a bit quieter in a place called 'Safari Garden' which contained about 16 small white cottages and a pool, all very nice. I explored this area on arrival, the beach only a 10minute walk and I made the most of being by the coast with a run each morning. Runs along the beach were accompanied by Gambians running alongside having a conversation about where i was from, what are my plans and of course the story of being in their dreams, when i can see you again and here is my phone number.. all of this by breakfast!! Only a few streets have names and two in Fajara are bitumised, the rest are sandy or dirt trackss
I am now living with another volunteer while i have in county training, this is further away from the coast and 5km inland, running along the sandy streets in the morning isnt as nice as the beach.
Bakau is a town which retains an old town feel. It is the fishing area for the region and the small beach is swamped with a display of faded and weather exposed bright green and red wooden fishing boats, Set further back from the beach is the drying and smoking of the fish. The fish are catergorised, Lady Fish, Captains Fish, Snapper etc and a heap of stingrays which are exported. The array of fish are left on rows of open drying racks, covered in flies. Women use an open fire to smoke the fish. Around 5 pm the area infront of the jetty begins to come alive. Make shift areas on the ground are set up with plastic floor coverings and fish are beginning to be arranged in groups. Women are setting up their pots with curry sauce and a popular staple of pancakes, which are made in doughy, round balls. Women and men get out their prayer mats and pray seperately as part of their Muslim faith. The fisherman begin to arrive and the fresh catch of the day is ready for sale. Bakau has also local craft and food markets, these are made out of corrugated tin and contain a mixture of batiks, jewellery and wood carvings.
I will be living up country in a place called Soma. It will be about a 5 hour journey due to the bad state of the roads, more info about this after I arrive.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Arrival in The Gambia

hello everyone,
my flight to The Gambia was a long journey. adelaide to sydney - 2 hours. sydney to joh'burg 14 hours, joh'burg to senegal- 9 hours with a 12 hour stop over inside a little dingy room at the airport for 12 hours with the guards holding onto my passport during this time. final flight dakar - banjul (capital of The Gambia) in a little plane. When i arrived i had to wait another two hours to be picked up. all up a 42 hour journey!! i arrived at my hotel, the safari garden, which is a small little place with white cottages and lovely gardens. i immediately went out to explore my surroundings and found the coastline. lots of gambians on the beach after work or school, went for a walk and met a man who sells textiles, so will have a shirt made in the next few days. i also forgot to mention that my luggage got lost, so hopefully it will appear in the next week or so.. i have walked around the the main st this mrning and have now met the other 8 volunteers. my impressions so far... very friendly place.. lots of greetings, smiles.. quite dry and sandy but palm trees and gumtress growing all over the place. I feel very safe and welcomed by the gambians.. temperature is about 30 degrees and sunny.. not humid yet.. ciao for now.. julie

Saturday, February 2, 2008

3 days to go

Hello everyone,
Welcome to my blog about my experiences in The Gambia. I am using this as way of communicating with family, friends and schools across South Australia through text and photos. I am departing Adelaide on Wed Feb 6th at 6am am feeling very excited at the moment about the journey I'm about to embark. Cheers, Julie