More fun photos

Here are photos we like and ones that make us laugh when we look at them. Kelly in particular had us in stitches, but overall everyone played their part in maintaining a fun atmosphere.

Todays thought:-

"Friendship is a single soul, dwelling in two bodies".

Aristotle, philosopher.

Visiting the compounds

We were made very welcome at the compounds we visited. At first the children at Kalifas compound were very nervous. They came running but when they saw we were white strangers they backed away. The compound is away from the tourist area, once they felt they could trust us they took sweets from us and sat on our knees making friends......Above is a photo of their kitchen.

Fishing trip

The first week the lads went fishing while we stayed on the beach. The second week we joined them...which was a bit upsetting for me. I could feel the fish nibbleing so i let them feed from my rod, i couldn't face pulling them in and watch them tring to escape.

Very special friends

I haven't photos of all the special people we met in Gambia. My sister has ones that i need to enable me to post them.

Ones i am particularly looking forawrd to posting are from our visit to the compounds where Kalifa and Beres live. They show the differences in the compunds as well as the children we are collecting clothes, toys, pens and pencils for.

I think these photos above show how important these people are to all of us.


Thought for today:-

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty".

Winston Churchill, former uk prime minister.

Football

The Gambians love football. [Chiefs brother plays for an American team]. We watched Manchester united play Portsmouth while we were in Gambia, the atmosphere was electric and very devided. A Gambian plays for Portsmouth....watching and listening to the locals took football to a whole new level.

Scott, Lee and Chief joined in a friendly game the second sunday we were there. The footwear left a lot to be desired, one with no shoes others in plastic sandals and so on. The whistle was two crushed tin cans rubbed together. We are collecting used football boots to take over with us and buying them a football whistle.

Bad news

As a group we had a great time together no one fell out and we can't wait to go back again....we are already booked....the only upsetting part was when Kaye recieved a phone call to say her father had suddenly died. That was on the second wednesday, the only flight back to England was on Friday with no room for their two children Sophie and Rio. The news was devastating but Kaye and her husband Shaun held up really well managing to continue the holiday for everyone else. The children travelled home on Tuesday with the rest of us and were cared for by their grandparents Wayne and Lynne who couldn't have done a better job. Sophies birthday was on the monday and prior to the news a party was planned... but being only three we managed to give her a special day without her remembering it was her birthday, which was celebrated with her parents on their return.

Above is Kaye and Shaun their children Sophie and Rio, grandparents Wayne and Lynne with their other son Lee. The cake which had been orderd was cut up so Sophie didn't realise it was for her. Wayne is my brother in laws brother.

Barbeque/tribal evening

The main bar we used was Baileys bar, it is part owned by an English man and a local man called Justice. On Tuesday evenings they have a barbeque where food is plentyful and we are entertained with tribal music and dancing, whilst wearing their native clothing and encouraging us to participate. The second Tuesday the males in our group bought and wore Gambian style shirts. We will certainly not miss this evening when we retun next year.

Sunday dinner

Chiefs sister invited us all to their compound for dinner. They made us very welcome and fed us really well. It is their tradition to eat with their fingers from one big dish. We were given spoons to eat with. The sister prepared three large portions as they are also responsible for other people around the compound.

Here you can see the food being prepared, served and then eaten. The meal was very tasty and filling. There was plenty of fruit before and after as they grow there own in their compound.

Female circumcision

Before i ever thought of going to Gambia one area of concerni had .... which upset me an awful lot to read about was female circumcision. When i visited Gambia it never entered my mind that it is a part of their culture and that the ritual is still performed. We were handing sweets out on one of the compounds when a very small pretty girl stood quietly in the background. She had small sweets fastened into her hair along with her pretty bobbles. As i approached her i was told that the sweets signified that she had recently undergone circumcision. I struggled at the orphanage and at the poorer compounds and villages over run with shoe less children grateful for one small sweet. I also struggle with the knowledge that out of the tourist season they are lucky if they have food to live on and hoe grateful they are for one rice meal in a day....but the site of this child has left me numb, at the time i managed to supress my tears as the girl would not have understood. The boys are also circumcised with nothing for the pain. At the orphanage the boys are circumcised in the hospital and the girls are not circumcised. It is something that is now against the law but of course very difficult to educate about....beliefs are very hard to change.

Above is a photo of what is worn as part of the ceremony to drive away evil spirits.

Crocodiles

We visited the crocodiles who were friendly enough to stroke, apart from one. I didn't take any chances but as you can see Vin didn't mind.

In the same village was one of the local schools. The schools vary and not all children are lucky enough to attend. Here you can see the outside and some of the children inside. They were really pleased to see us especially as we had taken sweets for their teacher to hand out later. A few of them shared a can of pop, they are not greedy and make sure no one is left out.