Abdoulie with his new Aunt

A local hut house being built

Abdoulie with his new Uncle

Riding in the bush

Friday 14th February
Not a lot done in the morning. I was waiting in the pharmacy for one of the consultants to bring me his laptop for me to look at. He hadn't come by midday and the power went off so I left.
In the afternoon we went up to the Mitie house and I fitted a shelf unit for the playnurse Sunkaroo. Vanessa made friendship bracelets for the two children Sunkaroo was looking after.
We went looking for some of the families we had photographed last week as I had some prints to give them. Abdoulie found us and asked us to help find the man he was buying his land from. Apparently everything was nearly all in order but one last signature was needed to complete the paperwork. I borrowed a scooter and we set off for the man's village, which wasn't too far away, but well away from the main road and down dirt tracks. Amazingly the person we were looking for was at home and quite amenable to signing after what seemed like a prolonged conversation in Mandinka. I was asked to check everything was correct and as far as I could tell it was. My only concern was that there was no plan on the paperwork to show the actual plot of land changing hands. No-one else seemed bothered though. It's not every day though that you see about an acre of real estate changing hands for the equivalent of £400.
We had been thinking of attending the disco in the nurse's school in the evening but as the music flooded the hospital and reached the house we decided we could "enjoy" it quite well without leaving home. It went on until nearly 2am.

Saturday 15th February
Today we went on a route march led by Abdoulie. First we visited the land he has bought. He has already done a tremendous amount of work in clearing the land and starting his boundary fence in the 2 weeks since we first saw it and that was with an injured foot for much of it. He has plans to make a market garden and eventually at least 3 huts on the land. Given his determination and having seen his progress so far I think he will succeed.
We continued our walk back the way we came and carried on past Bansang to see a quarry where fine sand is quarried and then on to a big hill overlooking Bansang and the river. There is a radio/tv station based there and the towns water supply tanks. I wish I hadn't looked in them. I shall think twice before drinking the tap water again.
I am mistaken for Dennis again so now I just say he is my brother. I don't see the similarity though, I'm much younger and better looking than him.
We descend into the town, past the now unused telephone exchange and arrive into the centre of Bansang. A rest and a quiet drink at Paradise seemed called for. Again we are greeted like old friends.
Before we leave Bansang I visit a barber and have my hair cut African style with a cut throat razor. The barber, Modou, tells us of his attempt to reach the UK, but how he was kept in a holding camp near Barcelona and sent back.
Sulayman updates us on the latest news. A local man had taken a dislike to his wife and slit her throat before turning the knife on himself. She lies in the hospital morgue and he is handcuffed to a hospital bed with a police guard. They still have capital punishment here and speculation is that will probably be his eventual fate.
Crime like this is very rare in The Gambia.
This is the first day we've not ventured through the hospital gates since we arrived in Bansang.

Sunday 17th February
I start the day by putting up a mozzie curtain across the house doorway. At least this one shouldn't get pilfered. I also put a shelf unit up in the house.
We walk over to the hospital to make a few adjustments to the mozzie net by the men's ward. It's about 1 link longer than it need be so we remove a link from each length and replace some of the lengths that have already gone missing.
We walk around the site and look at the new building work going on in the SEN school before going back home to wait for Abdoulie with our dinner. Yesterday Abdoulie had very generously but quite firmly insisted his wife would cook our dinner and he would bring it to us at 2pm. We had already arranged to go out at 4:30 so we were quite concerned that this would happen on time and tried our best to make him aware of this. He had already rung us once this morning to confirm he would be with us at 2. 2pm came and went. At 2:45 Vanessa rang him. I'll be there at 2:30 was the response "trust me ma'am". Africa time follows no clocks. 4pm dinner arrives and very nice it is too, but we do feel a bit guilty as we are still trying to get away by half past to visit another sports event. This time it is an inter school event and selections will be made for representatives for the area championships. We are lucky and manage to secure a lift there and back with Sutay in a company vehicle.
Yaya is back from visiting his family near Banjul and returns with presents for us. A necklace and a bracelet each as well as a bag of oranges. Totally unexpected and very generous of him. We have another long and deep discussion with him before he leaves to catch up on his prayers.

Monday 17th February
Vanessa is collected by the headmaster for another morning of schooling. I head off to the Mitie house to fit another shelf unit for one of the nurse attendants.
We meet back up at lunchtime and I reheat the remains of yesterday's meal which eventually feeds Vanessa, Abdoulie, Yaya, Sulayman and myself.
I cycle into Bansang with Abdoulie to try procure a crate of Julbrew. The shop has sold out but says there is some on the way from Basse. Come back in an hour.
Abdoulie offers to come backon his own for me and I give him the money for it. A couple of hours later he's on the phone. It still hasn't arrived and I think he's telling me he's waiting at the shop until it does. I wonder if I'm going to see either the Julbrew or my money again.
In the meantime I start downloading an Access tutorial for Yaya. This seems quite successful. The PDFs are in bite size chunks but the power goes before I've got it all.
I've put some notices up by the mozzie curtains threatening dire consequences to anyone caught taking the chains but since most of the perpetrators probably can't read or write it's a futile gesture. Vanessa suggests we would be better off taking them down until nearer the malaria season. Wandifa agrees.
My next job is painting some racking and making shelves for it. I will start that tomorrow.
I finish downloading the Access tutorial. It's quite a good one, but unfortunately it's for an older version of Access than we have installed. I start to go through it with Yaya but we decide it is probably better that I go through the worked examples on my own first, then at least I will look as though I know what I'm doing when we go through it together.
I leave Yaya reading up on his own and return to the house to greet my Julbrew which just arrived. Poor Abdoulie has been waiting over 4 hours for the delivery to arrive from Basse.
Sulayman settles down for an evening of Kindle reading and Yaya visits for another debate on putting the world or rather The Gambia to rights.

Tuesday 18th February
It's a public holiday. Independence Day. So I won't be doing the shelves. There is no-one working to help me move them or give me access to the materials I need. I spent some time brushing down and cleaning 1 of the frames, but that's all I can do today with them.
I go through the first 2 chapters of the Access manual on my own in preparation for an evening session with Yaya.
Vanessa and Sulayman are occupied with taking down the mozzie curtains, after making them up complete from the spare. They are wrapped up and labelled with their location ready for use later in the year. It's a shame. As well as their practical purpose they add a bit of colour to the buildings.
As I feel guilty after Abdoulie's vigil over the Julbrew yesterday I cycle down to where he his working on his land to give him a hand with tree felling. I don't feel as though I'm doing a lot but apparently my prescence spurs his other 2 helpers into renewed activity to show they can work harder than me. For that Abdoulie is grateful.
We are no sooner back at the house when Abdoulie calls again. This time to take us off to be measured for a local costume. We just go with the flow. After being measured we visit his wife's family in their compound and Vanessa ends up with an appointment to have her feet patterned as the local women often do. I don't get involved in this one.
I spend an hour or so with Yaya on Access training and leave him to try repeat what we've done on his own.

Wednesday 19th February
Today I paint the shelving. I ask for paint.
What colour do you want?
What colours do you have?
We only have white.
I'll have white then please.
Off we go to the storeman.
What colour do you want?
What colours do you have?
We have blue or white.
I'll have white please.
We unlock the store.
There is no white, you will have to take blue.
I carefully arrange the shelving units in a quiet spot out of the sun and brush them down. Abdoulie helps me wash them. In the abscence of any soap he scrubs with sand from the floor. It's effective when rinsed off. I leave them to dry for an hour while I prepare for this evenings lesson in Access.
When I return I find someone has set up the sawbench next to my workspace and is busy sawing up hefty lumps of timber. Sawdust everywhere. Tip of the day. If you want a matt finish mix sawdust with your gloss paint.
Two hours later the shelves are painted and so am I. I'm given some diesel to wash my hands and the brush in. I'm now covered in paint and smelling of diesel. I manage to get clean enough to return home for a shower. The water is on, thank goodness.
Vanessa is away getting her feet painted. Sulayman takes the opportunity to catch up on his reading. At this rate there will be no need for me to leave my Kindle with him as he will have read everything I have on it. He's currently reading about a young lad, Nathan Millward, riding a postie bike from Australia to the UK and I wonder if he's getting ideas about taking off on one of the C90s to see how far he can get.
Vanessa rings to say the foot painting will take longer than estimated and she doesn't expect to be home until after 7. Abdoulie delivers our latest meal. Bad planning really, he should stick to organizing only 1 mission per day.
I go off for another training session with Yaya and get back about 7:30 to find Vanessa is still not home. She eventually arrives about 9:30 complete with decorated feet and 1 hand, having already eaten. I reheat the dinner Abdoulie brought for Sulayman and myself.