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Message from Sallie Scott:
"I have a two seater Landrover and another vehicle as well that I would like to invite companies/travel partners to go on a driving safari to The Gambia. The proposed time will be 18/19 May 2009. Interested? For more details, feel free to contact me at wyce_houk@hotmail.co.uk or (0121) 5560666."
In the car park of a country pub near Stourbridge, a few lone cars were parked. Jane and I eagerly awaited the arrival of the first car to set off on our organised charity rally. The weather was mild, the traffic minimal and turnout was good. We were both excited and apprehensive.
“Where do we go” the first driver questioned? “That is for you to find out” we replied. “Here are your route and rally questions. Good luck and don’t worry about how fast you are, just get as many questions right as possible to win!”
The first driver went off at 2pm and at 5 minute intervals the others followed. We then leisurely drove to the destination point and settled in for a fairly long wait.
Rachel and friends arrived back in the fastest time at 1hr 50 minutes. We did wonder at this stage whether we had made the questions hard enough. With 38 out of 47 they had done well, but had they sacrificed the score for the fast pace? We waited with baited breath for the next car. We had a long time to wait. Were the first group just too good?
Phil, Wendy and their friends obviously had the best car. What a great Morris Minor Phil. They don’t make them like this any more. They won as well, can you believe it? They got 41 out of 47 and did it in 2 hrs 20 minutes. Eat your heart out BMWs!!!
Jackie’s team came second with a good score of 40 in 2hrs 25 minutes. I think they look too happy don’t you and they didn’t even know they had won a prize at this stage!
Third prize went to Jilly’s jokers, well done you lot.
The booby prize went to the motley crew pictured. Oops sorry everyone, those are my own children and their partners, Jane and I are on the right. This was before they knew they had lost but I think they enjoyed it anyway.
Thanks everyone who took part and Jane for helping to organise it, we make a great team. Also thanks to Vicki for contributing some of the prizes, sorry you didn’t win but I bet you did that deliberately as it might have looked a bit funny if you had come first.
Karen and Peter Shaw organised a Gambian Evening one Saturday in July. It was probably just like the rainy season in the Gambia when eight of us sat under the Gazebo in their garden eating a lovely Gambian meal prepared by Karen. Our Gambian dress was very authentic but the raincoats over them did make us look a bit like “damp squids”.
We eventually succumbed and moved indoors because after all we had to keep the drums dry and warm didn’t we? There was no way we could miss out on that part of the evening. Karen’s friend had kindly bought us some instruments and everyone had a turn. I can honestly say we were mostly useless but it didn’t matter a bit. The company was genial and the wine flowed freely. Sorry, I know we should have stewed the tea but red and white wine tastes so much better on a rainy night in England.
Thank you Karen, we had a super night and the food was excellent. I didn’t know that peanut butter tasted so good mixed with vegetables. Where on earth did you find the recipe? Perhaps we can add it to the new WYCE Recipe book!!
Yesterday we held our second Mother and Toddler's group. At first many of the teen girls arrived with their baby brothers and sisters, but Yusupha (the clinic manager) told them to go home and send their mothers.
Finally, we had about 17 mum's and their babies. Maureen (volunteer for 7 weeks) held the first talk on breast care and signs and symptoms of breast cancer. The women were very receptive, interested and asked questions at the end. Next I (Sarah, volunteer for 4 weeks) gave a talk on dehydration in infants, children and adults and spoke about the dangers of dehydration, ways to detect of a child or infant is dehydrated and what to do about it. I also showed them how to make an oral rehydration solution and handed out picture cards with a recipes. Amadou (village doctor) also gave a talk about how important it is to keep the children hydrated when they are ill. We finished with Jess (volunteer for 4 weeks) giving a talk about nutrition and the importance of eating a balanced diet, she talked about how different kinds of food are important for different. We ended the talks by playing a game where everyone was a different kind of food and they had to find a group to make a 'colourful meal'. The women loved the game and there was lots of laughing and dancing.
The group was a great success and the women loved the lessons and games. They asked us to keep coming back and to have a cooking day with them to show them the kinds of meals we eat in America and them to show us local meals cooked in their homes.
We have recently completed the Madina Salaam village census for 2008, which has been conducted every two years since 2004. The aim of the census is to gather data on village growth, as well as to explore the rates of births and deaths in the village and to monitor things like school attendance and the occupations of the compound owners. In addition, other volunteers have previously been able to create a map of Madina Salaam, showing the locations and names of the owners of each of the compounds in the village. This was a big accomplishment and has given the residents of Madina Salaam a sense of pride in their village, as only a few villages in the Gambia have maps and most do not know the number of people living in them. WYCE staff hope to display the map in the Information Centre so all residents can see it and understand why the census is conducted here. In addition, we are hoping to take pictures of the residents of each compound, so that these can also be displayed in the village.
I was told that when the census began many people in the village where resistant to the idea of giving out information of the people living in their compounds, as they did not understand why they were being asked to report the names, ages and educational backgrounds of the residents. In my time working on the census I did not encounter any resistance from the local people, which suggests to me that the VDC and WYCE staff have done a good job explaining the census process to Madina residents, and is another sign that they have begun to feel a sense of pride in having maps and other statistical information about their village.
Gathering the census data was a long and involved process, but one that I really enjoyed. It took almost a month, with myself and three other volunteers working on it. We would head out in the mornings with Malang Camara, WYCE Lodge Manager, as translator and walk from compound to compound around all of Madina Salaam. In each compound we would sit down with the compound owner and get the names, ages, educational backgrounds and familial relationships of all of the people living in the compound. This is made easier for us because we take the 2006 census report with us, so for most of the compounds we only have to compare who is living there now with those that were living there two years ago. In some cases this would take only a few minutes, but at other compounds in which upwards of 40 people were living, we could be there for an hour.
After finally getting the information we needed from all the compounds, I set about to enter all the data into a spreadsheet so that we could draw conclusions from the raw data. Although I still have a lot of figures and tables to put together, the census itself is complete and we now have a final count of the people currently living in Madina Salaam, as follows:
Mandinka |
874 residents |
Fula |
188 residents |
Wolof |
171 residents |
Balanta |
124 residents |
Serre & Jola |
22 residents |
Total |
1,379 residents in Madina Salaam |
This total number of residents shows just how quickly the village is growing; it is about a 20% increase from the 2006 population of 1,113 residents, although white people living here have not been included in the census (I have been told it is because they are generally unresponsive to being questioned for the census). It is also clear that school attendance is up and infant mortality rates are down, although these numbers I have yet to calculate fully.
It was a fascinating process to learn how this information is gathered and to gain insight into how people in Madina Salaam, and the Gambia, live. I found it especially interesting that, similar to Western cultures, many of the women here do not want to report their actual ages; we would have women clearly in their 40s telling us that they were 25. Learning about all the complicated family relationships and how the people take in less fortunate relatives was very enlightening for me and I feel that it really added to my experience here and my understanding of the Gambian people. I would love to return in 2010 to help with census again at that time and see how much things have changed in two years.
Sharon Richter - (WYCE Volunteer)
On Wednesday the 7th of May there was a football match between the WYCE staff and the Madina Salaam Village team, organized by two of the volunteers, Rob and Iain. Yusapha Fatty is the WYCE team coach, with the team comprised of Iain, Malang Camara, Malang Touray, Julio, Alieu, Albert, Sarjo, Talibo, and Palna as goalie, with Samba and Sunto as substitutes. In addition, our team stole two players and a substitute from the village to try and give them an edge in the match. The other staff members and all the volunteers cheered along from the sidelines, providing drinks and biscuits at half time.
After a tough match, the WYCE staff ended up losing 2-0, which was not a surprise as the Madina team trains everyday and the WYCE team is comprised of guys who used to train regularly. Everyone had a great time at the match, despite the disappointment of losing. The WYCE staff fought hard and played tough, but were out matched in the end. It was fun to see what the staff could do on the pitch, and several of them are very good players. The endurance of them all to run on the sand and play so hard impressed me; football is certainly a vital part of life here in the Gambia.
Sharon Richter (WYCE Volunteer)
Having gone through the list of tasks that were available whilst we were out there, we both liked the idea of designing and building a new gate. (At this point I should say that 'we' are Iain and Robbi, 2 volunteers who are spending a month out in Madina Salaam). Admittedly we're not experts in the area of carpentry, or general gate design, but we 
decided to have a crack at it anyway. Firstly, we spoke to Malang – the lodge manager – about security, dimensions and general requirements, and then used the wood around the back of the bore hole to start. The current gates were 3m apiece, so 6m wide in total, which was more than enough. Due to the wood we had, we went with a large gate – just shy of 3m, and a smaller one that was 2m, and extend the rhum palm fencing. After a lot of sawing, and nailing with the most outrageously rusty and bent nails, we finished both. It had taken us a few days to get them both done, as with the temperature soaring close to 40C at times, we were getting up early to work on it before and after breakfast, then working on other things. The next step was to saw the panels that would cover the front and back of the gate, giving it extra protection from the elements, and for us to paint the logo and lettering on. I worked on 3 designs, and got the final approval from EK on which one should be used.
Somewhat short of nails, we went with Ebrima to the container in search of more, and came across a tin of some tacks/nails that were perfect! Woohoo. So later that day, we got the panels nailed onto the gate frame. The plan then was to paint the gates, and then get them put up, as it would be so much easier to do it that way, than painting them once they were up. Alas, it was not to be. On the Thursday night, one of the women in the village had gone into labour, so the ambulance was on standby at the clinic should there be any complications and she needed to go to hospital. No problem there, but as Gemma and I were sitting in the restaurant playing cards with Julio, there was an almighty grinding noise followed by a crash as Malang drove the ambulance back through the gate into the lodge. I have to admit that my first thought was thank god that wasn’t the new gate. As it was midnight, I decided I would just look at the damage when I got up in the morning. The next day before breakfast, I walked down with Robbi to have a look… Oh dear, it was almost flat on the ground. So the decision was made there and then that the main gate would have to go up first, and get painted later.
So with some help from Balmoral, we put up the gate, and made sure it sat level. Then, we set about digging the hole to place the support post in, which to be fair Alhajie did, using this homemade tool that was awesome, and went through the rock hard ground in no time. Once ready, we simply put in the support post, filled the whole back up with the soil and watered it, and in a few minutes it was set like a rock. At times the winds can be pretty fierce here, and the old gate when opened was close to collapse under its own weight, hence the reason we decided to put in a support post so that when it was open – like it is all through the day – the gate would be supported by something, and would prevent it collapsing.
Over the next couple of days we painted the smaller gate, and painted the large gate white, ahead of putting the WYCE logo on it. To start off we had 2 paintbrushes, so I gave Sarjo money to get us a couple of smaller ones – ½ inch, so still not ideal. Apparently, there was once a small brush, called Mr Small Brush, and he was something of a legend by all accounts but has been MIA for a few months now. So Sharon had the 
brilliant idea of using Q-Tips (there was some initial confusion as I thought she meant cue tips as in a snooker cue), but its what Americans call cotton buds. Those worked like a charm, and we finished both gates using those, and got them both up, with this being the end result… Before we left, it should be pointed out that all drivers and staff have been warned of the consequences should it get damaged or knocked down, and so far it is still completely intact.
Iain King (WYCE Volunteer)
Dear all,
The time has come again for me to give you a ‘quick’ update of the huge amount of progress that has been carried out in The Gambia and in the UK over the last month.
HEALTH: - The Clinic: Thanks to the help of our volunteers, the veranda’s floor outside the clinic has been completed with broken tiles of various colours and is now looking absolutely fantastic! A ramp was also built to facilitate wheelchair access between the ambulance and the clinic entrance. Finally, the small area of stick fencing at the end of the veranda was replaced with a 2 metre high wall which makes the area look much neater and will help keep out some of the heavy rain during the wet season.
A big progress was also reached for WYCE when it became apparent that villagers now understood the convenience of our Clinic for straightforward deliveries as it offered a clean environment for mums to deliver their babies. It was therefore agreed that, on top of offering gift packs to all new mums delivering in our clinic, pads should be supplied to all new mums choosing to deliver babies in their own home.
- Parents and Toddler Group: The group is still going well but, over the last month, it became apparent that some parents were sending their oldest children with the toddlers rather than attending the sessions themselves. A change of refreshments offered was therefore introduced in order to act as an incentive and get more adults to attend the group. Furthermore, in order to give the older girls the opportunity to have a break from household chores and baby minding duties, a separate group was set up every Wednesdays for one hour where outdoor games like rounders, skipping, football and indoor board games like Ludo, Snakes and Ladders would be organized by Samba.
- Cataract Operation: Finally, a wonderful piece of news recently came through Muslim Aid when our cataract operation proposal was agreed. Thanks to this, 70 cataract operations will shortly be carried in our Clinic on the children and young adults of the Kombo South area!
BEE FARM: During Phil Healey’s last visit, a couple of weeks ago, all our hives were found to be occupied with hard-working bees! However, Phil was made aware of the fact that as our bee project consultant Kebee was recently involved in a motorbike accident, he had not been able to visit the site and take any honey harvest. Nevertheless, we are all pleased to know that Kebee’s injuries are slowly healing and that he will soon be returning to our project in order to carry out a now imminent honey harvest!
VEHICLES: The work on the WYCE vehicles during April 2008 was achieved due to the generous time, money and expertise offered by Tim Wall from Wolverhampton. The main focus was the Land Rover which had been part of the WYCE programme from the outset but had been off the road due to engine failure since September 2007. Thanks to the generosity of Liveridge a replacement engine had been sent out from the UK and was waiting in The Gambia to be installed. Prior to his arrival, Tim had also arranged for other parts such as an exhaust system and a battery to be ready and waiting for him and, after 2 days of hard work, the main aim of this visit had been achieved! Once the road tax for the vehicle was obtained, the Land Rover was finally back on the road and all staff were delighted! Tim’s work however did not stop at this and his final days were spent replacing the exhaust system of our Vitara, fixing our Tomos moped, and adjusting our Ambulance in order to make it consume less fuel and be more financially viable to run. Needless to say that Tim has left the project in a much stronger position and we are all very grateful for the amazing work he has carried out whilst in Madina.
VOLUNTEERS: We would finally like to thank the following volunteers who visited our Lodge this month and thanks to who our project is going from strength to strength: Sharon Richter, Zane Powles and his three children, Iain King, Rob Davies, Kerry McAllister, Sophie Lockley, Amy Kruczek, Lettie and Bernard Harris, Faye Williams, Cara Williams, and Amy Newlands, Maureen Batley, Tim Wall and Phil Healey.
AWARENESS EVENING: Our next Awareness Evening is to be held on Thursday 8th May from 19.00 to 21.00 in our Wednesbury Head Office. We would love for our old AND new supporters to come and bring any family member/friend/work colleague interested in finding out more about our Charity and the ways in which to support it. We all look forward to seeing you there!
SPONSOR A BRICK: As you all know, our main aim for 2008 is to raise £20,000 to finish building the final part of the Early Years Centre and so, in order to help us reach our aim, we have launched a ‘Sponsor a Brick’ fundraising initiative. The idea is simple, get everyone you know/work with to buy a brick for £1 and send your collection back to us as soon as possible as work HAS to be completed before September. Please contact us to obtain your sponsorship form.
BEN NEVIS: We are still looking for our remaining 30 challengers to climb Ben Nevis. The first 30 spaces sold out in less than a month so, if you are interested, please download your application form on the website and send it back to our Head Office together your £50 registration fee as soon as possible! Spaces will ONLY be confirmed to those applying for the event this way.
MONTHLY SPONSORSHIP: Every month, we have to raise a minimum of £3,000 just to keep going and pay for our Gambian staff’s salaries and our project’s day-to-day running costs. We are therefore desperate to find a minimum of 300 regular donors willing to donate £10 per month to WYCE by direct debit (or 600 people donating £5 per month) in order to enable us to grow and carry on extending our project in Madina. Will you be the one to help us reach this target?
MONTHLY DRAW: This month’s winners are: 1st prize: Chris Tapley - £22; 2nd prize: Brian Powell - £13; 3rd prize: Jane Roberts - £9. This is with only 43 people playing! Just imagine; if we had 200 players, this would make a 1st prize of £100! So please, contact us for more details or download the registration information on our website and start playing now!
JUST GIVING: We are now registered with the fundraising site jusgiving which enables supporters to create a fundraising page for a special event or purpose and makes donating to WYCE a paperless and almost effortless initiative! For more information on how to join, please contact us or visit their website at www.justgiving.co.uk.
FUNDRAISING EVENTS: We will shortly be publishing an exciting calendar of fundraising events running from June until December 2008. So, if you would like to attend a leadership or goal setting workshop, have the opportunity to buy famous brands of clothing for a third of their retail price, take part in our exciting musical event, swim with sharks, learn how to walk through fire, get a clairvoyant to predict your future, or take part in a fun paint-balling session; please keep visiting the “Latest News” section on the website for more information!
As always, we would like to thank you all for your ongoing support. If you have any queries or would like to contact us, please email us at: axelle.douine@wonderyearsce.co.uk, give us a call on: 0044 121 556 0666, or pop in to our Head Office at the following address: Arundel House – 50, Church Hill – Wednesbury – WS10 9DJ.
Dear all,
The first 3 months of 2008 have seen an amazing amount of progress from both the UK and The Gambia side of the project and it is therefore time for us to give you all a quick update of what has been achieved so far!
PARENTS AND TODDLERS GROUP: A Parents and Toddlers group was set up on 24th January by Wendy (volunteer) and Lettie (Trustee). Its aim is to prepare younger children to enter Nursery 1 classroom and familiarise themselves with their future teacher Samba through playing with toys suitable for their age group, getting used to play alongside other children. The first meeting generated a huge amount of interest and, once the purpose of the group was explained, the children and the mums started to interact with each other using the various toys and seemed to settle in very well. Towards the end of the session Wonjo Juice and fruits were given out to a very happy group. Samba (WYCE teacher) was very pleased to see that the group had started so well and will ensure that the group meets every Mondays and Thursdays from 4.30 pm until 6pm. The group is still going from strength to strength and it has been noticed that when the mothers can't make it to the group, an older sibling of the child accompanies them instead which shows commitment and enthusiasm!
FIRST BIRTH OF 2008: On Thursday 31st January at about 12pm Yusupha (WYCE Lodge Supervisor) informed us that his wife was about to have a baby and asked our staff to come and collect her from his compound with her two midwives to be taken to our Clinic. Yusapha (Health Manager), Awa as well as Wendy and Lettie were all present to assist with the delivery. A few hours later Yusupha’s beautiful baby girl, Kaddy, was born! Fingers crossed she is the first of many babies that will be born in the clinic in the coming year!
BEE FARM: The past few months have been very busy at the bee farm with Phil Healey’s arrival and a newly appointed attendant. At the moment there are 23 hives fully occupied with bees (18 KTB and 5 Dadants) with 2 more Dadants empty and awaiting entry of swarms. All hives were examined during his stay; a few had wax moth but the majority were very strong with plenty of brood - a sign that there is potentially a good honey crop around the corner. Some old combs were removed to encourage the bees to build new ones. After the storms of the rainy season, some damage was made to the leaf covering. All the Rhun Palm roof struts have been replaced and half of the area was covered with corrugated sheet. The other half will be covered next year when funds allow. The local village carpenter and his team have been employed to do the main construction work with the rest being done by a new member of staff.
LODGE GARDENS: The grounds of WYCE Lodge have been experiencing a rapid transformation since Christmas 2007 thanks to Omar (our Chief Gardener) and his plentiful band of volunteers having been making headway with the vegetable plots. With much care, attention and a spot of donkey manure, the gardens are blossoming into beds of carrots, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, oranges and much more. The rate of growth is astonishing and the kitchen will soon be benefiting from lush, organic products to compliment the already bountiful supply of paw paws from the Lodge gardens.
VOLUNTEERS: We would like to thank the following volunteers who, since January, have dedicated their time to join us in The Gambia: Ben Southall, Luke Mills, Luke Chambers, Lisa Allen, Lucy Brookes, Jennifer Thornton, Sam Thomson and Kelly Smith from Newman University College, Ian Parker, our Trustees Bernard and Lettie Harris, Phil and Wendy Healey, Sallie Scott, Pat Chester, Sharon Richter, Nigel Sadler, Vicki Kavanagh, Jane Roberts, Jude and Richard Johnson, Sue Mitchel, Karen Shaw, Indra Kubicek, Chandra Wilby, Kay Simon, Lindsey Simon, and Judy O’Keefe.
WEBSITE: For those of you who haven’t yet checked our brand new Website, please log on to www.wonderyearsce.co.uk! We can now publish regular blogs and news updates to keep you informed of the project’s development and enable you to read our volunteers’ stories. As with everything to do with WYCE, this site is EVERYONE’S site so, if you have any stories, feedbacks, and/or pictures you would like us to publish, please email them to us and we will upload them onto it.
AWARENESS EVENING: A big ‘Thank You’ goes to all our supporters who came to our first Awareness Evening on Thursday 6th March. The evening was a great success and we were able to get invaluable feedback on what was presented. The next Awareness Evening will take place on Thursday 8th May from 19.00 to 21.00 in our Wednesbury Head Office. We would love you to come and bring any family member/friend/work colleague interested in finding out more about our Charity and the ways in which to support it. We look forward to seeing you there!
SCHOOL APPEAL: Our main aim for 2008 is to raise £20,000 to finish building the final part of the Early Years Centre. If we do not build extra classrooms before September, our 8 year olds will not be able to progress onto their next class so it is crucial for us to raise this money as soon as possible. We need your help! Please, take a few minutes to circulate an email around asking for donations towards our project. If you work in a big organisation, small donations will go a very long way! Thank you all in advance for your support….
BEN NEVIS: Our next challenge will take place from 18th until 20th July 2008. We are looking for 60 challengers to raise a minimum of £400 in sponsorship to come to Fort William and climb the UK’s highest peak! Will you rise up to the challenge? For more information, please contact us for details or visit our website. All application forms and deposit must be sent to our Head Office by 18th April and the £350 sponsorship money must be sent to us by 31st May.
DONATIONS: We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who was kind enough to donate to and organise fundraising events for the Charity. In total, we received £2,734 this month. As most of you will know by now, just to keep going, we need to raise between £3,000 and £3,500 every month to pay for our Gambian staff’s salaries and the project’s day to day running costs. This is why we would like to find a minimum of 300 people willing to donate £10 per month to WYCE by direct debit (or 600 people donating £5 per month). Will you be the one to help us reach this target?
Furthermore, did you know that we could claim gift aid on all donations made to WYCE? Could you please therefore ask all tax payers to download a Gift Aid form from our website and send it to us together with any future donation?
MONTHLY DRAW: This month’s winners are: 1st prize: Vicki Kavanagh - £21; 2nd prize: Julia Welbourne - £12; 3rd prize: Sue Mitchell - £9. This is with only 42 people playing. Just imagine; if we had 200 players, this would make a 1st prize of £100! So please, contact us for more details or download the registration information on our website and start playing!
SPECIAL THANKS: “On behalf of the government, people of the Gambia, Staff, community of Madina Salaam and the children whose general welfare is committed to our charge, I wish to extend sincere thanks and profound appreciation to the Board of Trustees and all the potential donors for their immense contribution in sending a 40ft container full of assortment of valuable items. The provision of a reconditioned referral ambulance for the community was welcomed with much enthusiasm, pride and dignity. The funfair celebrations and jubilations which characterised its arrival, attested to the fact it could not have come at a better time. Apart from the essential social services the ambulance will provide, other assortment of items such as clothing, sporting outfits and school materials, equally brought much relief and pleasure to many families, groups and individuals in the community. Finally, I have been asked to assure you that everything included in the container was useful and benefited the community immensely. Thank you for everything and may god in his infinite powers reward one of you abundantly. Amen. Yours Faithfully, Alieu Sowe (Secretary NGO Board and General Manager.”
Thank you to you all for your immense support. If you have any questions or would like to contact us, please email us at: wyce_axelle@hotmail.co.uk or give us a call on: 0044 121 556 0666.
The children of Gambia’s Kombo (Western) region celebrated Independence Day on the 15th of March 2008, despite the fact that Independence Day was actually on the 18th of February. The celebration was held in nearby Darsilami, the Town of Peace (like Dar es Salaam, Tanzania). There was a full day of festivities, which were a lot of fun, even though it was a long day in the hot Gambian sun. 59 schools from the region attended the celebration, which was stationed at Darsilami’s primary school.
One child from each of the schools was chosen to represent a child minister and there was a procession of all the child versions of the political figures to kick off the festivities. Then the child President was brought out in a motorcade and child guards pushed everyone back as they would for the real President. Yaya, a student from WYCE school, was dressed up in a suit as he was selected to represent the Secretary of State for Higher Education. It was fascinating to see the child ministers because they chose boys or girls depending on whether the actual official was a man or a woman, so the child Vice President was a little girl as the real V.P. is a woman. In addition, the child ministers were dressed according to how the minister actually dresses, either in formal Western clothing or traditional Muslim attire.
The program began with each of the schools lining up and marching around the football pitch. However, more than marching, this part involved standing around in the baking hot sun for two hours while all the children were lined up and organized for the march. After the schools finally marched around the pitch, they gathered in rows for the arrival of the ministers and then sang the Gambian national anthem and listened to a few speeches, including one from the child Presidents, which unfortunately no one could hear. The children held up surprisingly well and were very well behaved, but some of the teachers and I were dying in the heat.
After a few hours the marching and speeches were over and everyone gathered in the shade for lunch, which the teachers had prepared the day before. Unfortunately, the lunch break lasted for almost three hours, so everyone got bored and restless. The teachers had a break, while Gemma, Emily and I played with the kids and tried to keep them entertained.
Around 4:30 it was time for the sports events to begin, but none of the students from Madina Salaam participated, instead we sat and watched the races and cheered on the other schools. The races were hilarious; there were typical running races and three-legged races, but there were also events such as running with a bucket of water on your head. I couldn’t believe how calm and behaved the children were, as by this point we had been there for about ten hours! We finally left to go back to Madina Salaam around 7:00, with everyone exhausted from the day. It was a great day of fun with the children, who really seemed to enjoy the day out.
Sharon Richter (WYCE Volunteer)
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