Today marks the first day of my last week in the Gambia, and I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. I have so many things that I need to do before I leave, but I can’t believe how much we have done already.
The last two weeks we have spent outside the Banjul area, a week in Soma which is up country on the South Bank, and the last few days in Sittanunku which is a ferry ride and an hour bush taxi ride away. Getting to Soma is a different story. The road on the South Bank has gotten much worse. Two years ago on my last trip to Soma the journey took most of the day because even then the road was so bad that we had to spend most of the time driving in the ditch. Instead we took the Bara Ferry across, drove in a Gilly Gilly (a bush taxi) to a ferry in Farfeni, then crossed the river to Soma.
The camps there went really. A lot of the kids that I spent time with two years ago were not there, but I was able to see some of them. We spent our days running soccer drills, teaching bible lessons and reffing games. That was quite an experience. Not only do I not know much about the rules of soccer, but trying to resolve a situation when the kids speak another language is tricky.
We spent time having Gam-style tea with people that lived around us, and having dance parties. That is another clear cultural difference; Dancing. They love to do it, and we always seem to be so entertaining with our attempts to move like they do. Calling the Tubabs (while people) in to the circle to dance is quite a spectacle. I really think that they are getting the short end of the deal as far as cultural exchange goes. A great thing about the Gambian culture is that time spent with a person is highly values. So no matter what we do, whether it is drinking tea, playing music, dancing like a fool or cooking together we can show that we really do value people.
Soma is the town where Tony and Rita are working. They have had to move to the coast recently because of Ritas health, but they love that town so much. We stayed in their home, and it was so good to have Tony along with us. Soma this time round was a completely different experience. If any one remembers my stories of blistering heat, no power or water, bad food… this was like night and way. The weather only got to about 40C, the camps were so well organised and we actually had a decent house to stay in. About 100 kids came out to the camps everyday, 80 of which are enrolled in the Islamic school where they have been sent to study the Koran. It was so amazing to see them sitting in silence listening about Salvation, a concept which is very foreign to them.
I was sick for a half day in Soma, but my health has been really good on this trip. Except a strange rash that appeared on my face this week while in Sittanunku. That was just one way that the trip to that village on the North Bank was a totally different experience. We had planned on a four day soccer camp, but in true Gambia style our plans didn’t work out the way we intended. We arrived to find out that the village had created soccer teams and that we were going to be running a tournament for town. There were junior, senior, women’s and old hands teams all ready to play. In Africa you just have to work with what you have and make the best of it. The games were a bit chaotic, but we were able to have a lot of fun with the kids and teach a bible lesson. Saturday was to be the second day of the tournament, but in the early morning we got word that the Imam of the village (the Islamic leader) had passed away during the night in a hospital in Banjul. This of course meant that all of our activities would be suspended out of respect for the village and for the family. The team had the opportunity to go to the Imams compound and pay our respects, but we as the women needed to cover our hair and wear really conservative clothing and not speak to or shake hands with the men at all. Gambia is a very progressive nation, but some circumstances require a lot of cultural sensitivity. At the same time I was allowed as a woman so sit in an elders meeting with the district chief with the other leaders from the CVM team as the only woman. CVM has been working the village for the last few years, helping with negotiations over a solar powered pump and funding equipment. As with most things in the Gambia when paper work is involved it is not a simple thing at all. But the pump is up and running and the village has lead free water! It’s pretty exciting.
WEC has two missionaries in that Village, Sherriaf and Mari and their family. We stayed at their compound and were so blessed to all have a place to sleep. We had a taste of what it is like to be the only Christians in town. I am amazed at the strength that their family has with all of the opposition they face, not only outwardly, but culturally and spiritually. Every member of the team had a rough few days, many of us were sick, found them selves in not so good situations with members of the community, had trouble with totally chaos at the soccer fields and so many other things. It seemed that nothing could go right, but it was amazing to see how God worked through it all. We definitely faced opposition in everything that we did.
This week is packed with finishing up projects, seeing people one last time and of course a HUGE concert on the 15th of June. Mango Tree Revival (our band) and The Holy Family band are headlining a concert that included 12 bands/artists from the Gambia. They are expecting at least 5,000 people, which is crazy. Music has been such a powerful tool for connecting with people here. We were on the Gambian version of Jay Leno on Saturday night and were about to tell the nation whey we have come all this way from Canada to the Gambia and what message we want to get across with our music.
It will be hard to say goodbye to the Gambia. It’s strange to say, but it really does feel like home. That being said I am looking forward to being back in Canada as well.
