Standard of Living UPGRADE

Mango season has come and past; though that isn’t the only change that has happened since my last post. My mom and sister came in May, which was so refreshing. I feel so blessed to have gotten to share this experience with them. They were instant celebrities in Jali village and will surely be the “talk of the town” for years to come. So many wonderful moments with them! First off, to all the women who donated their old bras to the busty women of Jali, they would like to thank you for your “support”. Sorry, I’ve been waiting to write that for too long.
While they were here, mom and Emmy took Gambian names, Mindy and Emily are just too difficult for people to remember. My mom’s namesake is Janke Fatty (yes, her last name is Fatty, and when you greet someone, you often just say their surname over and over- FATTY FATTY FATTY…great for self-esteem, eh?). Anyways, Janke is a vibrant woman who loves to dance, entertain, and always making people laugh with her sarcasm, so I knew my mom had to be named after her. Emily took the name Naba- 2 of my favorite ladies in Jali are named Naba- first, one-armed, Binki (means Aunt) who never complains about anything and will do anything to help anyone, and secondly, Naba Daffee, my humbled, hard-working neighbor who is stunningly beautiful and is probably the strongest women ever, other than Emily. They were so excited to have namesakes in America. We had a party for them where the women cooked bennechin- fried rice and chicken. DELICIOUS! They even learned some Mandinka- SUMOLU LEE?? Yes, the home people are here only! After the village, we spend a relaxing few days at the beach, dodging jellyfish, playing scrabble, and eating fresh fish every day. Hard to resist. The 11 days seriously flew by!
More recently, I have moved to a new site. The road up to Jali was giving me one too many problems and so I moved to a town along the road about an hour from the coast called Brikama. I am working with the Methodist Mission Agricultural Programme (MMAP) and living in the NGO’s compound. Talk about an UPGRADE! I am blessed with wonderful co-workers, a great town, and above average living conditions. Currently, MMAP is working on agricultural extension work planting woodlots and orchards, increasing food processing into juices, jams, chutneys, and dried fruits with mangos, cashews, citrus fruits and REALLY HOT HOT-SAUCE, and working on improved irrigation systems in rural villages. This had been a really great and meaningful experience thus far and I’m excited to finish up my time in The Gambia here. Additionally, I am only an hour away from the beach via rubber horse (bicycle) along a beautiful road. There’s a big market in Brikama, so nearly every day I can go get vegetables, salad, bananas, and all those exciting things that I’ve been deprived of during my first year and a half here ;)
Two weekends ago, I went to the beach with the MMAP Director’s family- The Mendy’s. They are a Methodist family who live in Brikama with 8 kids, who get along like the best of friends. They are incredibly welcoming and fun to be around. The girls cooked tons of great food, including crabs in a pepper soup and baobab-banana juice! We swam, took pictures with my underwater camera, danced, and turned sea-weed into moustaches and beards. It was hard to leave!
As a secondary project, I’ve been working on organizing a week-long cross-country bike trek stopping each day at secondary schools (Grades 7-9) to do HIV/AIDS education. We’ve drummed up a lot of support nationally and hope to reach 15 schools across northern Gambia in one week. It’s really exciting to see this coming together. The HIV rate may be low here compared to other African countries, but talking to kids when they are young about risks and how to protect themselves is key to keeping infection rates low. We already have 45 people interested in participating in the trek! How great! We have begun finding local businesses and organizations to financially support this endeavor as well and I’m feeling quite optimistic!
Thank you everyone for their continued support! My official Close-of-Service date is 15 January 2011 and I’m trying to decide what to do at that point. Thanks to all my cousins, Aunts, and Uncles in advance because I’ll be showing up to sleep on your couches soon. I’ll make a list of all the things I like in my egg-white omelets, please no flannel sheets, and where’s the liquor cabinet? I don’t want to over-stay my welcome, so I’ll only stay a month before moving on. In efforts to save money, I won’t be calling first either- SURPRiSE!