Monday July 27 2009 - Working and Touring

Last Thursday and Friday Justin spent most of our time at the workshop with Cham as he built the first prototype of our design. We went with him to get materials and then stayed at his workshop for most of the day describing our design as he began to construct the wheel. It was interesting to watch him bend this steel which at home we would have some special machine to make it into a perfect circle but here he just used a hammer and two supports until he arrived at the desired shape. By the end of the week the wheel had been completed and we just needed to visit the site to determine exactly how to construct the supports for the wheel.

On Sunday we all decided to be tourists and book a day long river boat tour to visit a village on the North Bank and James Island. It was pretty cool to be able to see another village and learn the history of that village and the role both the village and the island played in the slave trade. It was definitely a little weird to all of a sudden become a tourist in a country that we have been living in for 10 weeks though. It was also interesting because it was clear that some of the people of the village, especially the children, put on a bit of a show because they know that tourists will be coming through the area. There were so many kids singing and dancing in the streets as we walked by but after having lived in a compound in a village for 4 weeks I know that isn't typically how the kids act. It made me think that might be what some of the other people on the tour will think of the villages since that might be the only chance they get to visit a village in the country.

Today we were able to go visit the site where we will be installing our redesigned pump to get s few final mesasurements. We then went to the workshop and worked with Cham again for most of the day trying to finish up the axle and stand for the wheel. It started to rain so we will have to go back tomorrow to finish it up and then we will finally get to test it!

Wednesday July 22 2009 - Day of Celebrations

We met with Paul at Concern Universal on Monday of this week and he seems really excited about the designs we have come up with for the design of the rope pump. Our mission for this pump was to adjust the designs or come up with an entirely new design for a pump that would draw water from a well that is more than 20m deep. So on Monday Justin and I were able to meet with Cham who would be manufacturing our design for us. We described our design to him and arranged to meet again with him on Thursday of this week to begin construction.
Wednesday was July 22nd which is the Gambia's Independence Day. Since Jordan and Adam left that morning on a trip for work it was just Justin and I around so we decided to head to Banjul to see the parade and other events that would be going on. It was an incredibly hot day and the parade was a little different than what we are used to at home. It was basically just the various different divisions of the military in uniform on the street and then after waiting quite a while we got to see the president. It was pretty cool to actually be able to see him and all of his supporters and to be here for the day.

Friday July 17 2009 -

Once again this week was spent working with the garden and GamMol in Sanyang. We have been doing similar work to what we have been doing in past weeks and spent the end of the week wrapping up our work with both organizations.
On Wednesday night we went to Kora show in Sanyang with two of the Peacecorps volunteers that we have met here. A kora is an instrument with I think 21 strings and is fairly common throughout most of Western Africa. The person who plays the instrument is typically referred to as Jali Bah and apparently the performer we saw is supposed to be the best in the Gambia so it was pretty cool to be able to experience another part of the culture here. Unfortunatley I was only able to experience about an hour of his four hour show because as I have found all evening events start at around midnight and I typically go to bed around 11 so there was no way I was going to be able to make it until 4 am! Luckily I was able to hear it from my bedroom for most of the night which was a nice change to the donkeys, goats, roosters, cats and various other animals which usually "sleep" about three feet from my window.
We finally moved for the last time on this trip today! As much as I have enjoyed staying with the family in Sanyang and the unique experiences that I have been able to have there, I am always happy to return to Fajara where there is running water and slightly more reliable power!
Before we left the family invited us to come back for Aminata's 4th birthday celebration on August 2nd so I think we will have one more chance to see the family before we leave for home. It will be hard to actually have to say good-bye to them the next time we see them because every other time we have left we have always had plans to return for another stay or at least a visit.

Saturday July 11 2009 - Back in Sanyang

The three days we spent in Sanyang this past week were spent working with both the Sanyang Garden and the NGO GamMOl. The work we have been doing is pretty similar to what we were doing when we were here a month or so ago. We have been traveling to repair water pumps in local villages and also mixing more concrete at the garden, this time for a drive way for trucks to enter the garden. I noticed upon returning to the garden that the few rains that we have had seemed to have made a big impact on the crops.
Today we came back to Fajara for the weekend to discuss the research we have been doing regarding the rope pump redesign for our work with Concern Universal. We have come up with a few ideas now and many questions for Paul so I am looking forward to the meeting and moving forward with this project.

Tuesday July 7 2009 - Returning 'Home'

On Sunday morning Justin and I made the trip back to Fajara from the North Bank. We had to wake up and be ready for our bush taxi at 6am which allowed us to arrive at the ferry terminal at about 730 or 8 am in time to catch the second ferry across. As it turns out the ferry was late, which isn’t exactly uncommon here, so we ended up waiting for about an hour and a half before the ferry arrived. By this time there were a lot of people waiting to get on so it was pretty full for the trip across. Almost as soon as we were on the boat and ready to go it got really windy and cold and started to rain pretty hard. Needless to say I was very happy when we finally reached Sunbird lodge or ‘home’ as I have begun to refer to it, at about 11 am that morning.

The next day Justin and I had a meeting with Paul at the NGO Concern Universal in Fajara. When we were at NATC on the North Bank we met Jessica who is working on her masters thesis here in The Gambia and she got us in contact with him and mentioned we might be interested in the work he is doing here. At the meeting we learned that one of his projects is to redesign the basic rope and wheel pump so that it will be able to draw water from wells which reach depths of about 40m rather than what they are capable of now which is only about 25m. The project sounds very interesting and more directed towards what Justin and I are interested in doing so we have decided to cut our time with the garden and GamMol short and work on this project for the last three weeks that we are in the country.

Today we are moving back to Sanyang to stay with the Bojang family for about a week and a half while we wrap up our projects in the community.

Saturday July 4 2009 – Canoe and ‘Fishing’ Trip

So we decided that we will only be staying on North Bank until tomorrow since we are eager to get back to our projects and away from the heat here! For most of the week we have been helping Mo in the garden and exploring the areas around the centre. On Wednesday we were given the opportunity to go to the market with a few of the women from Njawara including Mariaema our cook. It was pretty cool to be able to shop in the market with a local woman rather than just us touring through on our own. As we were leaving the driver pointed out that we could see Senegal from where we were and we also drove past the Gambian customs building which was actually just a small shack with a sign outside that said “Gambian Customs Please Stop” and there were about three or four men sleeping outside.

On Friday we went to a small river with Kebba and a few of his friends from the village since we had arranged to go out for a small boat tour of the river. It was so much fun but I was a little scared at first. The boat we went out on was a canoe which was carved from a really big tree and the seats we were given was basically a piece a wood which we rested on the sides of the canoe. I think the thing I was most concerned about at the beginning was the ‘patch’ on the bottom of the boat which was right in front of me which consisted mostly of mud and the water was still coming in, not to worry though because the boy in the boat made sure to fix it up when we came close enough to the shore throughout the trip to grab a little more mud.

We stopped at a place in the river which I guess is supposed to be a good fishing location, even though I had no idea we were going to be fishing, and they handed me a piece of Styrofoam with a line, hook and some shrimp and then I was fishing. Not too long into it I was the first one to feel something on my line and from the guidance of the locals I pulled it in and it was a crab!! We continued fishing for a while, moving to new locations until we got to one place where we were instructed to get out of the canoe and we were then taken on a tour to see some birds and possibly some animals. Now this sounds far easier than it actually was. The shore consisted of at least half a meter of mud which I was expected to be able to walk on without a problem, this was not the case. I was continuously sinking like up to my knees in the mud and shouting for Kebba to come help me. Eventually I had it figured out for the most part and I was able to explore the area.

After returning to the shore with our catch, about 6 crabs in total - none of which Kebba or Justin caught, the men on the shore threw one onto the coal and cooked it for us right there. It was the most amazing thing I have ever tasted in my life!! Later than night, one of the guys we had met cooked up the rest of the crab and brought it over to our place for dinner.

Tuesday June 30 2009 – Move to North Bank

So on Sunday morning Alpha came by to pick Justin and I up at Sunbird lodge and we began to make our way to the North Bank. He dropped us off at the ferry terminal in Banjul with Kebba who was then going to take us across on the ferry and help us get to Njawara. Getting onto the ferry was a little different than what you would expect to see in Canada, basically everyone – people as well as vehicles – board the ferry at the same time and from the same place so everyone is just running to get on. Once we were on the ferry it was fine and the ride took about an hour since the boat didn’t really move too fast. Once we were on the other side we decided to hire a taxi to take us to the NATC since it would be much faster than a bush taxi and we were really tired. As it turns out our driver didn’t have a valid license or insurance and he ended up getting caught at one of the checkpoints so it ended up taking quite a while to deal with all of that.

Once we finally arrived at the centre and we were introduced to many of the people around the area we were shown to where we would be staying for the time we were there. Justin and I shared a small hut each with our own rooms. We were given a short tour of the centre and part of the community which consisted of many gardens. At the centre students come for agricultural training and then are given a plot in the garden to grow crops. Right now there aren’t any students at the centre since it is between classes but there were still a few people who were working in the garden. At the end of their project, the students are given a loan of D 23000 to start their own garden or farming business. The centre was set up as a way to keep residents of the community from leaving the area to look for jobs in the more urban cities. Since we have been here we have been working in the garden with one of the students, Mo who has quite a few vegetables in the garden including tomatoes and cucumbers.

We were given another tour through the community where we were able to see some more gardens that were being run by individuals. One garden that we saw that was really impressive was run by one man and he had very successful crops since he used drip irrigation which mean that very little work has to be done to water the plants which is very time consuming during the dry season. We were also introduced to the Alchalo of the community who was one of only five female Alchalos in the entire country.

Before coming to the North Bank we asked many of the local people who we had met what to expect once we got there and the only response we were getting is that it is very hot. As it turns out they were right. I thought it was difficult to sleep without a fan in Sanyang but being without a fan up here is pretty much unbearable!