Vanessa going to work at a local school

The entrance to the hospital

The teamaking ceremony at Sulayman’s village compound

Work on the new staff accommodation block

Friday 7th Feb
Tried the internet again. It's better. I managed to dowload my email, but still no joy with the Kindle book I'm trying to get for Yaya. Ian rings from work with a problem. The phone conversation is difficult but we manage to communicate quite well using Facebook. I don't know if I've been much help and I lose the internet at noon.
I go fit another shelf unit.
We borrow a scooter and set off for Jangjan Bura It's about 18k and takes about 30 minutes. A young lad pounces on us as soon as we park up and introduces us as a tourist guide. He shows us round the buildings which were part of the slave trade and tells us history. I hadn't realised that some of the local tribes had sided with the traders to capture and sell rival tribe members as slaves. Neither did I know that the town formerly known as Georgetown was originally occupied by the British to help put an end to the slave trade. We see the site of the original Freedom Tree, which if reached by a slave signified his freedom. Still in the hands of our guide we ask him to recommend a bar where we can enjoy a drink. We eat there as well before returning to Bansang just before dark.
Soloman visits again and we have a long talk about poverty in Gambia and around here especially. A knock at the door and a young woman with a child begging. Her husband is dead and she has no food. Unfortunately her plight is typical of many here. Tonight her family will eat but it's no long term solution for her. Yaya has already made me feel guilty once today when he pointed out that the cost of my usb stick would feed a family for a year.

Sat 8th Feb
A lazy kind of day. There is no power and no internet so I bring the laptop back to the house to do a bit more work on the stock system until the battery goes flat. I go fit another shelf unit. The drill goes flat before I can finish. I help Vanessa extend the mosquito chains we fitted a couple of days ago. 1 length has already disappeared, presumably to make bracelets. I doubt if any of the chains that have been put up since last November will make it to the malaria season unless security can become more vigilant.
We walk around the site, speak to some of the locals and take more photos.
Still no power so we wander into Bansang and pause at Paradise, where we are welcomed by the owners as if we are old friends, enjoy a drink or 2 and enjoy the peace and tranquility of the river scene before making our way back via some of the shops and stalls. I buy a few apples, which are fairly rare here and relatively expensive compared to other fruit such as bananas.
When we get back there is power so I borrow the key to the Pharmacy and use the pc there to book an hotel for a couple of days near Banjul before we leave for home. I leave the Kindle book downloading. I'm not very hopeful it will be any different this time.
With the laptop back on power we watch a film, The Worlds End, before going to bed.

Sunday 9th Feb
A day of rest. Yaya rings to check we are up. He is going back to Banjul to visit his family for a few days and wants something from the laptop bag to take with him.
I go looking for a scoot to borrow and end up arranging two so Sulayman can come with us. We cross the river in a rather precarious ferry with our 2 bikes and a third balanced over the side. We set off up the dirt road on the far side. We really are riding in the African bush. Miles from anywhere we come across a rider with a broken down bike. The rear brake pedal has broken off. My first instinct is to cut it free so the bike can still be ridden, but I realise that's his only brake. We have limited tools with us but Vanessa produces a couple of zip ties. Apparently an essential part of a ladies survival kit when in the bush. They do the trick and we continue on our separate ways. A few miles further on Solomon picks up a hitchhiker and we take him a few miles towards his village. Jangjan Bura is a bit further on this route than it is on the south bank and it is dirt track all the way. We have 1 anxious moment when we unexpectedly hit soft sand but manage to stay upright. We reach tarmac and the quaint little ferry across to McCarthy Island. Being bikes we push into the front of the queue but are squashed in between 4 vehicles. One of the pickups roll free and I can only stop it crushing me by pushing it away with my leg.
On the Island we head for the bar we stopped at on Friday and down a few Fantas and cokes. It is very hot. There are several Americans also drinking in the bar. We are told they are Peace Corp's workers seconded to local communities to help with water and agriculture projects such as wells.
We head back on the south bank road and Sulayman takes us to meet his family. We are treated to the tea making ceremony and given some ground nuts as a gift. Vanessa spots a girl wearing a necklace made from the mosquito chains which have been disappearing from the hospital and shames her into giving it up.

Monday 10th Feb
A busy start to the day. Abdoulie had cut his foot a few days ago. The perils of using a machete in flip flops. It was quite a deep cut, down to the bone, and the hospital had done a good job of cleaning, stitching and bandaging it. He turns up this morning to sweep the steps and terrace, as he normally does every 2 or 3 days, with no bandage, an open wound and filthy feet. Vanessa washes his feet, cleans the wound and puts a bandage on. He is given instructions to return tomorrow for more of the same. While this is happening the headmaster of a local school turns up to give Vanessa a lift to his school for teaching duties. They are all gone now and I get a few minutes on my own for a coffee and to update the diary.
I manage to retrieve my email but attempts to update AVG or anything else fail as usual. I decide to try again after 6 when the power is back on and perhaps there is less traffic on the connection.
M. Fatti from Paradise visits me at the hospital and brings us a present of rice pudding and groundnuts. Very kind of him.
I fit the last 2 shelf units in Marina's block.
After 6 I try the internet again and have the most promising session so far but it still ends in failure.

Tuesday 11th Feb
The day starts with dressing Abdoulie's foot. I discover Soloman is actually Sulayman. I've probably got most of the other names wrong as well. Yesterday's rice pudding goes down well for breakfast with Sulayman and Abdoulie.
I email an update to Anita.
I have some name plates to put up for the sponsors of Mareno's block. Another name I've been spelling incorrectly apparently.
The young girl, Mariama, with the heart condition died today. Very sad. I don't know if she would have fared any better in a western hospital.
In the evening I arrange the cabling so I have exclusive use of the internet connection and finally succeed in updating AVG on the laptop. Still failure with the Access manual though.

Wednesday 12th February
Sulayman visits for breakfast after his nightshift in the children's ward. I have a forlorn attempt at downloading the kindle book again and I'm asked to put virus protection on another pc. After the problems I've had with AVG I'm not overly enthusiastic but say I'll give it a go in the evening.
Vanessa is in the hospital library helping the librarian organize the books into some resemblance of order. The library does have a reasonable selection of fiction, non-fiction and text books but sadly seems underused by the staff it is meant for.
I give Moro a hand to fit the last window in Mareno's accommodation block and then borrow a scooter so Vanessa and I can visit a local school where some work is being done which is sponsored by Gambia Experience. Our job is to take some photos and report on progress. The building work is underway and will produce 2 more classrooms for the school, although the funds don't run to financing windows,just window holes, which is fine in the dry season....
The headmaster tells us his life story, which started as a pupil in this school in the days of inkwells and blotting paper when Gambia was a British Colony. He is justifiably proud of his own education and subsequent teaching career and his commitment to helping his students rise out of poverty through education.
Back at the hospital I check out my next task which will be fitting shower curtains across the shower and wc cubicles of the maternity ward. The work can wait until tomorrow or even the day after.
The power comes on early tonight and back in the pharmacy I re-arrange the network cables again to give myself exclusive access and after downloading my email I make a start on Dembo's laptop. He already has an anti-virus program but it's a paid for version with a free period which is about to expire. I can either attempt a complete download of AVG free or pay £25 to licence the current software. I choose the latter and then I'm pleasantly surprised to find I can have multiple copies for the same subscription, so putting it on my own laptop back home will justify the expense. Of course after licensing the software it now decides it needs to update, so 30 minutes later when it has only reached 6% I lock the door and hope it finishes before the power goes off at midnight.

Thursday 13th February
I collect Dembo's laptop and check it. No the updates didn't complete but I'm not too worried about it. It's not too far out of date and it will carry on trying all the time Dembo has it on the network. He's quite please with the films I copied onto it for him.
I fit the shower curtains in the maternity ward. It doesn't seem to phase the women that I'm working in the middle of them while they carry on with their ablutions, but I'm quite pleased to finish the job and move onto the next task.
Which is fitting more shower curtains. This time at the staff accommodation within the Mitie House. I manage to reuse some of the old equipment for curtains across a couple of other WC and shower blocks.
Vanessa spent the morning at a local school again. In the afternoon we bought a case of drinks for the children's ward. When I suggested it I hadn't realised nearly all the current encumbants are babies so I think the mothers probably had most of them. As the playnurse Kumba suggested though, the babies would get it eventually.