Today we were alone with the pupils in nursery 1. The teacher was absent because she had to visit an aunt. It went great, in spite of the language barrier. With the smallest kids we went out a few minutes before the break so they had more time to eat. When we saw that some kids were crying we realised they didn’t have any money for the midday meal. We paid for them and were rewarded with beaming faces. By way of goodbye we sang the Olele song with the three nursery classes. This song is always a big success. The headmistress called us in and thanked us heartily for our efforts. We’ll never forget her praise. The content we introduced will live on in the school, but also in the families. The counting boxes were a revelation in all schools! The extra advantage of being able to produce them locally, made them an incredible success! When we left the school with the bracelet and chain we had received we felt very proud!
For the last time we went to the health centre, where we finished our tasks. We completely fixed up and furnished a second storage room. The now assembled and working digital scales were the cherry on top. Hooray!!! The staff immediately offered to test them, which lead to a lot of laughter. Just tidying, structuring, and organising seems very banal, but for the Gambians these are unsurmountable tasks. Here too we said goodbye. Before leaving we gave the male midwife a Dutch-English dictionary to help him understand the information enclosed with the medicine from Belgium.
Our farewells were very heartfelt! We all received a small pot of traditional Gambian honey from Kalifa.
During our last trip back we made a detour to Tanji, a small seaside fishing village. Twice a day fish is hauled in in incredibly beautiful boats. The fish is sold and/or smoked on site. We were offered a piece of smoked Bonga Fish to try.
To thank Karamoo for all his help, we bought some fish for him and his family. He was very happy! Saying goodbye to Karamoo was also quite moving. We wont forget him.
