WYCE Blog

Mothers & Toddlers

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.

   

 

2008 MADINA SALAAM VILLAGE CENSUS

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)

FOOTBALL MATCH: WYCE STAFF VS. MADINA SALAAM VILLAGE

On Wednesday the 7^th 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)                                                                                                              

The Lodge Gates

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)

Local Cookery Evening - 27.03.08

Our first ever cookery evening at WYCE was a great success. To get in the ‘ladies in the mood’ (men of course were banned from the cookery), the African ladies dressed us in traditional robes and head tie, what a pretty sight we made!

Mama took charge and gave us all African names.  We collected wood and with help from Mai we made two fires: one for meat domada and one for the vegetarian equivalent.

Mama, Sarjo and Mai gave us all a task to do and kept a careful eye on us! We chopped vegetables (some from the Lodge garden), cut the beef, pounded pepper, peanut paste and tomato paste and put it all in the big pots to cook.  Lots of pushing the fire took place and a great deal of stirring.

While we were waiting for the food to cook we practiced our drumming and some even danced.

Some of the ladies ventured to the village shop for more paste and as dusk fell it was time to put the rice onto boil.

We swept the area in traditional African style before we could eat and Mama invited us all to share the food by saying “Alna na seman” (come for dinner).  Large bowls of domada and rice were prepared for us to share; the men had their own and ate somewhere else.

We crouched on the floor and using our hands, shared our meal together- a truly magical moment.

Vicki Kavanagh (WYCE Volunteer)

Lodge vs School Football Match!

The date and time were set, it was on! It had been on the cards for a long time but the day had finally arrived. The lodge team was made up by the staff and a rather reluctant UK project co-ordinator, whilst the school team was made up of teachers and assistants with the addition of three students from Newman College.

After the initial warm up and tactical talks the game got underway. It was a close game with both teams giving their all. Several grazed knees, cuts and bruises later (mainly on the part of the UK contingent), the game resulted in a 5-4 victory to the lodge staff.

As with always the case with these games, the after match debates are still continuing, as is the healing of both the mental and physical scars suffered by the English players.

Malang Camera the lodge manager was awarded ‘man of the match’ after a stunning hat trick and some equally impressive amateur dramatics!

Tony Cunningham