Janjanbureh- March 1st – March 4th

Hello everyone,
Im back from travelling to the East side of Gambia. Started the trip squashed in a mini van with other volunteers. Used the South bank road, it was extremely hot, dry and dusty. The road was a blend of dirt, bitumen, sand and river bank. Everything and everyone covered in brown dust. Landscape is grey, sandy and brown with a few trees and bushes. We stopped at my town of Soma and I saw my humble abode, which was not finished yet. They were digging out my own brand new pit latrine and still needed to put in doors, frames, mosquito proof windows and paint cement floor.. more about my house next blog with some photos.
We arrived in Janjanbureh after 10 hours of drivin and police check points. Janjanbureh is a small island, about 10km by 4km. Here we met the Governor of the Central River Region, whilst there had a really AFRICAN moment.. two chiefs arrived in the Governors office all dressed in their customary attire from their villlage. One wore white robes, white and red checkered material ov er the shoulders, a white and gold head piece made of a beautiful fabric, like a round hat together with a beautifully crafted wooden staff. The other wore blue robes and elaborate shawl and head piece......Even though I know im in Africa, it blew me away when they walked into the room, part of my brain thought they were dressing up (this is meant with no disrespect) whilst the other side of my brain thought.. wow!! Im in Africa.. this is real.
We then met the religious Islamic leader of the whole region at his house, this person is called an Iman. He has 4 wives and the town people consult him regarding Islamic issues. He presides over religious ceremonies like weddings, babynaming ceremonies, funerals and marriage disputes. He also teaches the koran to students on carved wooden plate with charcoal for students to write memorised text from the koran. He was a calm and gentle man.
Also met the Maribu of the town..the spiritual leader... what we commonly know as the witch doctor. His role is use herbs for medicine, give advice about the present and future.. a bit like a clairovoyant. Two vsos had their future read. This involved them blowing into 5 cowrie shells and thinking of questions they want to have answered. They then threw the shellls on the ground, the maribu then scattered another 10 shellls, all various colours. The position of the shells determined their future in regard to the questions asked. I did not feel comfortable having this done, clairovoyants freak me out, i dont wont to dabbble in the unknown.
The town was extremely dusty but the river surrounding it was beautiful. A lot like the murray river with green trees on the banks and about 100m in width. I went for a run/walk each morning and it was so tempting to go for a swim but the threat of crocodiles kept me firmly on the bank.
The birds here are amazing.. Im not much into birds but the brilliant colours and variety has definitely sparked my interest.