Gambia 2011

It's been an unusual November, most of it spent in the sunshine and 30-40 degrees, and then back to monsoons in Dumbarton! The Gambia still holds that little bit of magic which means I always have a wee tear in my eye as the plane takes off from Banjul back to Manchester, but this year we found the school in terrific shape under our newish Teacher-in-Charge, Sulayman Saidy. Sulayman is a star and he certainly motivates both staff and pupils, and gets the best from both.

As always there was a great big list of needs and wants, and the Charity was in a position to give the needs rather than the wants! The children were in excellent form and their oral English has come on leaps and bounds. They couldn't all get in the picture, but we tried! One class at a time!

Raising money to keep this going, providing free food, medicine and free education for 90 kids requires a lot of effort, and anyone who wants to help with £5 a month is very welcome to join us. For those who do already, a couple of quid more every month would be like manna from heaven.

More of my time, this year, was holiday rather than work, since the school is obviously in good hands. Our Administrator, Helen Touray, does a wonderful job, and we are really grateful for her presence and expertise. 

The RW took some time off to indulge in her pet hate of snakes, yet managed to find a wonderful pal to ease her feelings of discomfort. This guy will only attack if he thinks he can eat you whole, so the RW was quite safe!

It was a great opportunity to spend some time in St Andrew's Lamin, who link with St Auggie's, and to show the weather, and the newly painted Church Hall, I add this pic!

This is opposed to what we came home to in Dumbarton....

For two days, Archie hasn't needed the River Clyde to swim in!

However, it's home to reality and a backlog of work that is frightening the pants off me! Will I make it to Christmas? Only if you postpone it to January!