The new oven in use

Health and Safety in The Gambia!

31st Jan Friday
Went straight to see progress on the ovens. Just a few more rows of bricks on the chimney stack and it will be ready for its first fire.
My next job is to try make sure the board is cut for the shelving. After a little effort we manage to get the boards, the saw and the operator in the same place as a working power supply. After they are sawn another man with a van helps me move them to where I'm going to be assembling them. Half for the new accommodation block and half for the quarters in the Mytie house.
Back to the Stock System in the afternoon. I'm still working on the reporting requirements for the government. It's soon 6:30 and I've had enough for the day.
We have a meal at Anita's before riding back to Paradise.

1st Feb Sat

I fit the first set of shelves in Marina's block. Moro arrives with the new windows. I sort some screws out for him from the ones Dennis left on his last trip. I finally get round to fitting the shelf unit for Mariama, the SRN living in the Mytie house.
We finish early and make our way to a school about 3k away to watch the school sports day. We had been invited by Soloman.
Stewart and Anita join us for a meal at Paradise. It's their last night in Bansang and our last night at Paradise.

2nd Feb Sunday.
We move out of Paradise and take our belongings to Anita's house in a taxi. I manage to fit the last curtain in the labour ward and 2 shelf units in the children's play room. Anita and Stewart leave about 4pm. Their driver, Sootay, has a shopping list for us from the supermarket on the coast.
We settle down in the house. Solomon visits us and offers to wash our socks. Later we watch the film Captain Phillips on the Hudl.
The water supply is even more eratic than we expected and we make a note to collect it in anything we can when it is on.

3rd Feb. Monday
Another shelf unit fitted in Marina's block and then the rest of the day on the stock system. Finally cracked the problem I've been struggling with.
Soloman came round in the evening and ate with us. Yaya came round later and we watched 12 Years a Slave together.

4th Feb Tuesday
I spent the whole day on the stock system. I now have the stock sheet finished and all the closing balances in the system. I've started on the monthly report. I tried unsuccessfully several times to download a copy of my kindle access book on to the laptop. The internet has been particularly slow today. Attempts to update AVG also failed. The power goes so I go back to the house to work as it is more comfortable. Vanessa has been ill today and didn't leave the house much. Yaya came calling and we put Blue Jasmine on the laptop but we weren't really watching it. Interesting discussions on family life and culture in the Gambia.

5th Feb Wed
Started with a shelf unit in Marina's block. I've now done 5 of the 8. The building contractor, Moro, sees the wallet of drills I have been using and gets upset I have access to better tools than him. I sympathise and say he can borrow them whilst I am here but I can't leave them with him. It's so different here. The joiners have to manage without tape measures and pencils. A drill has to be scrounged before holes can be made. Then you have to find a working socket so it can be charged. Power is only available at certain times of the day and then it's unreliable. Most indoor areas are very short of light. It's not surprising corners are not square and doors do not fit. It's amazing the builders can produce work to the standards they do as everything seems to be done by eye. I think I have posession of the only spirit level on site and that's only because of someone's foresight to bring tools out from the UK and keep them in Anita's house. I am also responsible for supplying screws to Moro. I carefully count them out for him when he asks for some. I daren't let him see the huge Screwfix case I am getting them from.
With the shelf in place it's back to thhe Pharmacy and the stock system. Again the internet connnection is not working. I fail to download either the Access manual or the AVG updates.
Once the power goes I take the laptop back to the house and carry on for a while.
Vanessa and I walk over to see the finished ovens. There is a fire in one and a goat stew being cooked. It's good to see it in use. There is no smoke in the building and the whole thing now looks very neat and efficient. The kitchen staff are thrilled with it.
I cook egg fried rice for our dinner back at the house and Yaya visits to watch the first half of the Captain Phillips film. It is more appealing than the previous night's Blue Jasmine.

Thursday 6th Feb
Another shelf unit and then back to the Pharmacy to try downloading again. Failure as usual so I move onto another job. Fitting a door handle on one of the toilet doors in the children's ward. I fit it but it's a waste of time really. The doors are poorly made, poorly fitted and have been weakened when cut down to fit the openings. There is nothing for the screws to bite into and that also explains why most of the hinges have pulled away. Shower curtains would be better.
Vanessa helps me fit mosquito curtains on both entrances to the men's ward. The chain links are too short at the front so we decide to canabalize an unused one for the extra links.
Yaya has left for the day taking his lap top with him, so no computing this evening and no film either if he doesn't come to see us later.
But the good news is that I've had a crate of Julbrew delivered!
We have a short visit from Soloman who gets intrigued with Vanessa's Kindle. We go to bed early tonight.