Dirk Depoorter

Wednesday January 29th

We (Hedwig, Dirk and myself) have left for Gambia again. In addition to visiting the new water installations, our new school in Fuffor Village and determining the priorities for 2025, our priority is mainly to further shape the Gammol School Community and our rice project. You can read more about it later in the report.

Our journey goes smoothly, via Dakar to Banjul. We land exactly on time, at 19:10 in Banjul, the national airport of Gambia, where our permanent Gammol employees Omar and Lamin are waiting for us. It is always a pleasure to see them again. A warm hug follows!

We stay in the same lodge as last time, the Mama Africa Art Residence, a short hour's drive from the airport. It is nice to see a number of people who still work there.

We eat together with Omar and Lamin, and briefly discuss our program and the approach for the coming days. The first meeting is planned for this evening.

Rice Project Janjanbureh – Meeting Almamo Touray

Almamo is the man we met last year during the visit to one of our water installations, and with whom we started our rice test project. He has a paid job as an IT specialist, but works on this project entirely voluntarily.

The purpose of the meeting this evening is to prepare our visit to the city of Janjanbureh, where we started our rice project. A city right on the Gambia River in the middle of Gambia, with small private rice fields adjacent, owned by the many families on site. With hundreds of hectares of uncultivated land adjacent with unlimited possibilities for growing rice.

Our first test was a failure: the harvest did not yield what we expected, the test turned out to be much more expensive than budgeted and the organization was not up and running due to unclear agreements. Result: a loss of around 6,000 euros. An expensive lesson, but fortunately we were able to learn a lot about the operation on site.

During our conversation with Almamo, we get more clarity about the reason why the harvest and productivity were so low. To summarize: the rainy season and a lack of machines, which made the labor costs far too high. Our follow-up also left much to be desired, due to unclear agreements. We go over the financial picture again with Almamo and make it clear how we see a possible follow-up, in which the involvement of the local population is an essential part of our plan.

We also agree on what we expect from our visit on site on Friday. Of course we want to see the rice fields on site, but we expect to get an explanation of how the Rice Committee of Janjanbureh sees the follow-up: what are the practical problems? What are their needs? How do they plan to organize themselves? And of course we also want to share our vision on this with them.

Ultimately, our intention is to make this a profitable activity, in which 80% of the profit goes back to the local population who grow the rice, and the remaining 20% ​​can flow back to our other projects in Gambia. In any case, all profits will be reinvested in Gambia.

Almamo is motivated in any case. I myself am skeptical, emphasizing to Almamo that we should make better accounts for the next test.

It is late when we crawl into bed.😊

Thursday January 30th

Faala Village

We start our tour at our school in Faala, which has been up and running for almost 2 years now, where we get more information about how the school works. There are 4 classes with room for 128 students, 32 per class. However, they currently have 160 students, between 4 and 10 years old, with the result that they divide the lessons into half days, morning and afternoon. There are 3 teachers and 1 nursery teacher. Something we have emphasized before is the need to test the students, to monitor their level. In this school this is done, with the teacher determining the level.

However, there is no follow-up of what happens to the students once they have left school. There is control of the schools by the government, but without any follow-up. When we ask about who can ultimately go to university, the answer is: those who have money, those who work, save and are ambitious, or the very best students who get a scholarship. Cost of uni: 90,000 dalasi per academic year. 1,200 euros, which doesn't seem like much, but it is the annual salary of a teacher on site...

So the teachers also play a very important role. And it is one of the limitations. To find a good teacher, you have to be able to pay them. And who provides the money: the women who grow their vegetables, often in community gardens. Initially for their own use, i.e. the whole family, and what they have left to sell on the markets. When we ask: "and what do the men do?", we get the laconic answer "making babies".

The needs in Faala: more water, so that they can work the gardens better and increase their yields. We are talking about a yield of 20 to 30,000 dalasi per year (270 to 400 €). They still have land in Faala that would be available for cultivation. It would be about 70 acres, good for 35 workable plots. With the possibility of a 2nd plot. This needs to be mapped out.

Apart from that, we decide that the old water installations (small water tank, low tower, concrete block construction) need to be replaced by our new installation, which will already solve the water shortage. In addition, only 1 toilet is working in the school, and this needs to be fixed, as well as building a chimney in the kitchen. These are things we had already discussed last year.

Leetulor - Gammol HQ Sanyang

We have an appointment with Mien and Liesbeth, the 2 nurses of our Leetulor wound care project. What they do is train people in the villages, so that they know the basic principles of treating wounds. We have seen photos of unkempt, festering wounds that make your stomach turn. Wounds that have not been treated for years. And those same wounds, after treatment! Saving limbs – and sometimes even lives.

Mien and Liesbeth arrived at the beginning of November and are leaving for Belgium today. During that period, they have done follow-up in 6 villages where there is at least 1 person who has received the training and can now get started themselves. And training has been given in 4 new villages. We had agreed with Omar that he would follow this up, and also choose the villages based on where we place our water installations. Clean water and clean wounds go hand in hand.

They explain to us how they work, from finding volunteers, training, delivering the right material, how many people they help with this... I asked them to also make a travel report, to share their experiences. Really very beautiful and special what Mien and Liesbeth realize and the personal investment they make for this. 3 months on location...

The reason for our meeting is to make a number of agreements together with Omar on how we can further coordinate the operation of Gammol and Leetulor.

Sanchaba School – Sanyang Village

There is no school today, but they still gathered the students to welcome us. 8 students give a speech with the most important message being the importance of education.

Gammol School Committee (GSC)

But the reason why we came to Sanchaba School is because we made an appointment with the people in charge of the 4 Gammol schools (Abuko, Sanchaba, Faala & Fuffor) to make progress with another important project for us, the Gammol School Committee (GSC). Something we launched earlier, but has not really gotten off the ground yet. Our medium-term goal is to improve the level of education.

And we have a number of questions:

• Last year we had a similar meeting, where a well-developed plan was presented to us. Where are they now with that?
• What do they need to really get started?
• What about the curricula, the tests, the exchange of experiences?
• How can Gammol support them additionally?
• What infrastructure is still missing?
• Who is prepared to take on the necessary responsibility here?

It has become an animated meeting. Present: a number of ‘teachers’ from each school, the ‘headmaster’ of Fuffor and Abuko, the ‘chairman of the school committee’ of Fuffor and Faala, and the secretary of Faala, who is also a VDC member of Sanyang. Yusupha Jassey, who does the talking, often to my annoyance.

I am not going to explain the entire discussion, but the essence is that this is not a ‘team’. The explanation we try to give initially meets with quite a bit of resistance, but rather from incomprehension. Until the Dalasi (€) of the chairman of Fuffor Village, Ensa Sanyang, falls. After which a passionate plea follows that is completely in line with what we want to achieve, together with them.

We conclude the animated meeting with the agreement that, based on what we have discussed, they would draw up a plan of action together:

• Working together as a team.
• Making a syllabus from grade 1 to 6.
• Creating a development & delivery plan for what teachers should teach in the different grades.
• How to exchange experiences.
• Fine-tuning the exams.
• What is the place of Arabic in our English Gammol schools?

Wait and see... Ensa gives us the impression that he has “got it” and seems to us to be well placed to play a role in this. We are clearly not yet at the level we want to be with the GSC. We realize that it will not be easy and that ideally there is someone who coordinates this. And then also budget for this.

Fulakunku

Our last stop for today. In Fulankunku we have installed an extension of the water capacity. From an old installation with a water container of 4,000 litres we have gone to 2 x 10,000 litres, so that there is now also clean water after sunset.

We are welcomed by the usual large committee, who thank us from the heart: “we cannot pay you, but we will pray for you for a long life”. In addition, we are asked for ‘more’. As the Alkalo vividly puts it: “a begger never has enough”. Confrontational, but for us “very honest and close to reality”. Or: “You found us hungry and you gave us food, but on the other side of the road they are still hungry”. To make it clear to us that more is needed. But they also take the initiative themselves: for example, they have bought 200 metres of pipes, possibly thanks to asking a small contribution from the community, with the aim of distributing the water more widely in the village. The problem here is that they would have to pull the pipes over a large track, which is not possible. We note the request, without making any promises. One of the many requests for ‘more’ that we expect.

Nine (!) people have taken the floor to thank Gammol and his sponsors and to make it clear that there are still needs. Dirk then takes the floor with the message that there are still many requests, that we have to set priorities and cannot promise anything. But also with the message that the expansion has come about because they have always maintained their installation well and because they have taken the good initiative to ask for a contribution within their community.

We say goodbye, but not before we are invited to become a member of their community, after which we are given soft drinks and fruit and a certificate to thank Gammol. We conclude with a prayer and song.

A first full and long day is over, to be continued...

Dirk Depoorter

Friday Januari 31th

Janjanbureh

Janjanbureh also called Makaty or Georgetown, was the first British city in Gambia. Situated on MacCarthy Island in the Gambia River. Today a city with about 400 compounds, plus the ‘suburbs’. An estimated 4,000 inhabitants.

We leave at 8:00 am, 300 km drive, generally good road, but a few times through a busy city. About 4.5 hours of driving, but there was clearly something wrong with the car: lack of power, which often made overtaking impossible. Omar was not aware of this, probably because he always drives so slowly.

We are welcomed by about 150 inhabitants on the edge of the city, after which we continue on foot through the main street, accompanied by music and dancing, so that everyone knows we have arrived. We are used to it by now, but it is still a surprise that so much attention is paid to our arrival. It is their way of thanking us and probably also a matter of setting the bar high in terms of expectations. For the welcome speech we are in a room with about 70 attendees. In addition to the spectators we are sitting together with: the president of the Rice Corporation Society, the vice-president, the technical advisor, the lady counselor, 2 men from the Elders Advisory Committee, the person ‘in charge of the money’, the ‘in charge of the machines’, representatives of the Rice Filed Committee, the woman representative of the vegetebale gardens, the secretary of the RCS... Almamo explains the purpose of our visit (see the report of our first meeting with Almamo when we arrive).

And then... there is prayer, lunch, rest. And we are left alone in the reception room. Quite a long time, which gives us time to prepare further. To get clarity about the test, which did not go as expected and desired. But with the emphasis on how this project can be profitable in the future, so that we can make the right decision.

Before the meeting starts, we make it clear that we want to discuss with a limited group, not with 15 people. After which, 7 remain. It promises to be a difficult meeting, according to our Western standards: a lot of palaver, no clear decisions. We start by presenting the bill for the test project and explaining that this is not repeatable. That we cannot justify this to our sponsors. Just explaining the bills is a challenge. Also how we see it further, because they assume that this is a profitable activity, if only they had the machines. However, the cost of this is not included in their calculations. How we want to divide the profit does not really get through to them either. They assume that the profit is the amount they get for the rice, again without taking the costs into account. Difficult to explain.

We do not quite get it. So we visit the rice fields on site. But first we pass by 2 community gardens, which are fairly well maintained, but where they suffer from a shortage of water. The installation here is part of a JSF program, ‘founded by the EU’. The pump that pumps up the water is said to be not strong enough, which means they have too little water. However, we also notice that the solar panels are dirty and not in the best place. From a certain time in the afternoon, a tree is in the way of the sun. Janjanbureh is too far for us to follow up on this.

As for the rice fields: the field we visit is about 25 hectares in size. On this rice field there are 127 plots with 83 ‘farmers’. Most farmers have 1 plot, some have several. These are all relatively small fields of about 2,000 m2, each worked by 1 family/farmer. A second rice field is 52 hectares, 205 plots with 100 farmers. All the land is owned by the government, but they have permission to use it to grow rice. And it is the president of the Rice Corporation Society who allocates the fields. Concrete canals have been made so that water can be pumped from the Gambia river to irrigate the fields. In one field there are 2 pumps, powered by electricity, that no longer work. They have installed a third one, powered by petrol. Not by solar energy. So it is a costly affair. In the other field there is also a pump that is broken. In the rice fields we get a lot of explanation about how rice is grown, so that we can at least get an idea of ​​it.

On the island there are about 5,000 hectares that could be used for growing rice. It remains remarkable to note that the government does little or nothing with this. But they do support every initiative to develop new fields. Passively supporting, not actively. However, expanding means building new irrigation canals and then we are talking about different amounts, without any certainty today that this can grow into a self-supporting, let alone profitable, enterprise.

We do want to do a second test on a plot of 2 hectares, provided that clear agreements and invoices are made.

The way back to our lodge is long and dark, literally. Where you have to pay extra attention when you drive through villages where people are still walking around on the streets. Moreover, the low beams do not work, which does not make driving more comfortable. So I use the fog lights.

First lack of “power”, now the low beams that do not work, indicator lights that are on, the air conditioning that does not work... Urgently need to get the car back in order! Omar is very caring and does not want to spend money unnecessarily, so we have to make it clear to him that the jeep in perfect condition is not an unnecessary expense. We are back at the lodge around 22:00, after which another beer and a short debriefing follows.

Saturday Februari 1th

Faraba Sutu Village

We have been passing by here repeatedly in recent years. This is the village with the youngest Alkalo, Alieu Sanyang, an enterprising man who does not sit still. The Alkalo has also followed the training of Mien and Liesbeth to be able to treat wounds himself. Where in the beginning 15 to 20 treatments were needed per day, this number has now dropped to 4 to 5 per day. Which shows how useful that training is.

The market place, which was under construction last year, is finished and is used by the women to sell their vegetables and fruit. In addition, Alieu has started a form of microcredit for women who paint clothes and bed sheets (I bought a very nice one for support) to earn some extra money. The second water pump that we installed in 2024 near the market place serves the second half of the village, on the other side of the busy street.

He now wants to expand the existing nursery school with a primary school for children from 7 to 12 years old, after which Dirk explains to him how we want to build a school community, and how we want to raise the level of education, partly by exchanging experiences. Alieu is all for it. Before he was Alkalo, he was a teacher. And he tells us what they are already doing in the existing nursery school (for children from 3 to 6 years old): assessment of the teachers, curricula per year group, clean water and food for the children... He also has sponsors for this, who also ensure that the teachers receive a salary. And of course he would like the children of the nursery school to continue to receive good education in a new primary school to be built. Alieu will submit an application to motivate his request.

And Alieu is motivated, without any doubt. He also sees himself as a member of the Gammol Community. And what we have already done there is clearly bearing fruit. Moreover, he is good at networking, and if he puts his shoulder to the wheel, this would certainly be an asset to Gammol. But there are also other villages that have needs. So we do not promise anything, although we discuss afterwards that this would really be a good investment, just like the other investments we have made in Faraba. It is simply more interesting, but also more profitable and motivating, to invest in a village where an Alkalo and the population are fully committed to making the best of it. Initially, we will respond to his request for an extension of the existing water installation, so that we can meet the demand for more water. There is 1 solar panel that needs to be replaced. We do the work, but they will bear the costs themselves.

This visit also makes us reflect on the construction of our water installations. We have already made serious progress here: from small constructions in the past, with small barrels of 4,000 liters and at a height of 3 meters, to (our latest) installations of 2 x 10,000 liters at a height of 6 meters and up to 1,500 meters of pipes in the villages. We ask Omar to investigate later what the cost would be if we were to put up towers of 8 or 9 meters, and how many meters of pipes we could then lay. A todo!

Niggie Village

We also visited this village last year. We installed a water system there two years ago and found that it is perfectly maintained. We also advised them last year to work on fencing off a large piece of community land to grow vegetables. And they did! It is wonderful to see how they have transformed a piece of wasteland into a beautiful garden. Heartwarming. And they want to expand even further. However, they do not have enough water for the garden. What needs to be done here are reservoirs to store the water. We agree that they will provide the reservoirs and that we will install the pipes.

In addition, there is a small school. At least, if you can call it a school... 2 small classrooms, an even smaller teacher's room, a kitchen and a materials room. All dilapidated. Bats have made their nest in the kitchen and the materials room. The roof of one of the classrooms has collapsed. The Alkalo financed this, but when the government came to check it, it was rejected because of “unsuitable” classrooms. And yet, 19 students are still being taught by a motivated teacher. No wonder they ask us if we want to help them build a new school. The village is expanding, partly thanks to the water that is now available, and children now have to walk for miles if they want/can go to school. The choice of where to build a school this year is not getting any easier. And then we know that there is a third request...

When we leave, the Alkalo thanks us: “Thanks to Gammol, our lives have changed. We now have clean water. We listened to your advice to fence our garden, so today we have a garden on which we grow vegetables and can earn something and feed our children”. Our answer: “we provided clean water, gave advice, but you took the initiative to make it happen. We can only encourage you to take further initiatives”. It remains confronting when you hear this, from the environment where we come from.

Sotokoi Village

We visit Sotokoi, because they have applied for an additional water installation. On site we receive the classic warm welcome and thanks from the many speakers, with the request for: more water, a market place, a fence for the garden and a school. Nothing new, but when we ask them what initiatives they have already taken, what their action plans are, the answer is that we will be able to see the changes in 2026. They have started making the concrete blocks for the market place, but we immediately make it clear that we are not going to help them with this. Our focus is and remains: water installations and schools (and maybe rice later?). In addition, they are building an Arabic school and they are also asking for help with this, which we also reject, since there is an English school nearby. And in the schools that we build, we focus on English education, because this gives the children more opportunities for the future. This has nothing to do with their faith. We also explain this to them.

As for the water; there are about 300 compounds, a rapidly growing population, probably now between 2,000 and 2,500 inhabitants. With our tower we only supply a part of this with water. In addition, there is a very large tower, 40,000 litres, installed 27 years ago by the EU. However, only one street with nine taps is connected. They ask if we can provide extra pipes and taps? The solar panels also appear to no longer function, so they connected the installation to the electricity grid, which of course is a much higher cost. It is terrible to see how that installation has been neglected. Installed by the EU, and then abandoned. We need more clarity on how we can optimise this again!

Faraba Kariaba

This is a new village where we have installed a water installation, not far from Sotokoi. When we go from Sotokoi to Faraba we come across a second EU installation, 30 years old, even bigger than the one in Sotokoi, 80,000 litres, very high tower. Apparently 100 taps are connected to it, but the solar panels no longer work, so they have to connect to the electricity grid, which costs them 10,000 dalasi per month. Absurd situation: there is capacity, but it is not used because of defective solar panels and too expensive electricity!? We should map this: where are there still EU installations and are they still being used, and in what way. Maybe we can make a big difference here, with relatively small investments.

We visit our installation, which is perfectly maintained. Right next to the installation we see a large garden that is being worked by several women. This turns out not to be a community garden, but owned by a private person who makes his garden available to the community. He also gave up 10 m2 at the place where the installation is located. In return, he received a tap in his compound. This is not the agreement we make, but is of course sensitive. By “giving up” a tap, about 50 women can now work the garden and provide food and an income.

A whole ceremony awaits us again. They start by saying that they find it a shame that we cannot celebrate as usual, as our time is limited, but we get speeches from the Imam, the Governor, the Alkalo, the lady councelar, the council, M/F users, someone from the VDC... and at the end they have provided a meal. 😊 The council, Binta Bah, is put in the spotlight quite explicitly, which is not so clear to us since she is never involved in the decision-making process where we place our installations.

In summary, we are thanked, the community hopes for a partnership that can evolve further (read: additional help), with the immediate request for an extension of the water installation and help with building a school. Our installation now helps about 200 compounds, but we can see that the village is seriously expanding. We speak to them about the EU installation that is there, but according to them there are very high costs to make it fully operational again. They promise to provide us with a ‘feasibility study’, so that we can make a well-founded decision whether we should invest in it. As far as the school is concerned, Dirk has been able to determine that there is a school with 4 classrooms and a teacher's room. So not a priority. Dirk concludes with our usual question and expectation about maintenance and initiative.

Dirk Depoorter

Sunday February 2

Mandinaba

This is the village where we installed a water system in 2022. When we visited them in early 2023, they asked us if we wanted to build a school for them. They have the land for this and given the size of the village, there are certainly enough children to justify this. We told them that this would not be possible in 2023, but that we would definitely come back in 2024. And that in the meantime we expected them to maintain their new system well and take initiatives. However, in early 2024 we had to conclude that they were not maintaining their system well. We are consistent in our message: “we promise, we deliver – you promise, you deliver”. Result: no new school. With the promise to come back in early 2025...

And this time everything was fine: the system was perfectly maintained and they have also created a beautiful garden in the meantime. We do note that the irrigation of the garden is not optimal. Consider providing additional reservoirs here, so that they have a larger capacity. Mandinaba is more than a village, Mandinaba also has a growing population. It does not surprise us that we are asked to expand the installation.

While we are having the previous conversation, one of the participants in the conversation says ‘out of the blue’ that they have also placed taps in the compounds, and not on the public road where everyone can access. Omar is not aware of this, and this is against our basic principle: water must be freely available to everyone. A heated discussion ensues, in which they argue that they did this to protect the taps. An argument that we do not agree with. Someone else also says that they would have said this last year, which is not true. We make it clear to them that we have made the wrong choice to place an installation here, if there is insufficient discipline in the village to maintain and respect the installation. We have not experienced this in any other village, and we really do not want this. Eventually they see that we do not want to deviate from our position and a few people promise us to place the taps back on publicly accessible land. Omar will follow up on whether this actually happens!

After this rather painful discussion, we discuss their request for a new school. We can see that there is a need for it, given the size of the community and the population growth. What they are asking for is an English nursery school, for children between 3 and 6 years old. It goes without saying that, after the previous conversation, we have doubts about whether they will comply with the agreements we make when we build a school somewhere. Building is one thing, but what do they think of our vision and the expectations that flow from it with regard to a Gammol school?

We give them a list of eight questions that we expect to get an answer to. We also send the same questions to Niggie and Faraba Sutu, so that we have an additional element that should help us decide where we are going to set up a school. These are the questions that we expect an answer to:

1. Why do you need a school?
2. What is the purpose of the school? What do you want to achieve?
3. What kind of school: nursery school, primary school, English, Arabic, ...?
4. How do you plan to organize yourselves?
5. How are you going to find the right teachers?
6. How are you going to finance everything (teachers, materials, syllabus, ...)
7. What can be the added value of the Mandinaba school for the Gammol School Community?
8. What will be your commitment? How can we be sure that what we agree on will also be implemented?

The last question in particular is now a sensitive one for us, after what we have determined in connection with the water installation in 2023, and now with the taps in the compounds. They promise us an answer by February 24.

Sanyang Garden

Serious problem in the Sanyang Garden. One of the largest communal gardens in the region, about 10 hectares. There are five water installations that fill the many reservoirs that are set up here and there. These installations were not installed by Gammol, but when there were problems with the pumps and the solar panels, we ensured with Gammol that this was fixed. Now the entire front part is overgrown, because the front installation no longer provides water to fill the reservoirs. Here and there there is still a garden that is maintained, but in the 'old' way: pulling water up a bucket with a rope to water the plants. Not sustainable and not tenable.

The problem is that there is no clarity about who follows up on what and in addition there is a lack of communication. And so everyone just does their own thing, depending on sponsorship money that can come from different sides, or not. For example, part of the fence has recently been repaired, but also not according to the rules of the art. And so we also find that the water installations are not being maintained. Fortunately, the second part of the garden is in good order.

We agree that Gammol will now follow up on all the water installations that are currently in the garden, on condition that everything is maintained. In concrete terms, this means that we will donate all the resources so that they can remove the rust from the towers and the paint to paint everything afterwards. Something that the men from the community will have to do. Only when that has been done, are we prepared to take this ‘into our portfolio’. We are curious. We do not follow up on anything that has nothing to do with water, such as ensuring that there is a decent fence, but we do expect them to do this themselves. It often remains a tug and pull to get them to take the initiative themselves.

Sanyang Fishing Market

We have connected a new tower to the water pump of the Rescue Sea Center on the beach. Our old installation pumped salt water, which is not drinkable. This is still used to irrigate a number of (normal) gardens of adjacent restaurants. The new connection works properly. However, there is only one tap where the women clean the fish, which means that some women have to walk a hundred meters to get fresh water. We spoke about this with Aminata Jatta, who is in charge of the fish market. This is a very limited investment with which we can help a lot of women. It is therefore a simple decision to install three extra taps here and to replace a leaking shut-off tap.

In addition, the problem of the covered market place has not yet been solved: part of the roof is on the verge of collapsing, and has been for a few years now. And we have already made it clear to the VDC that Gammol will not intervene in this, that they can solve this themselves by asking a contribution from the restaurants that use the – now salty – water from our Gammol pump. But any initiative to do so seems to be lacking.

Before we leave, the fishermen give us a fairly large fish as a gift in gratitude for the new tower we have placed. An expensive delicacy here. We cannot refuse, but we gladly give it to Omar and Lamin, so that they can share it with their family.

Monday Februari 3th

Gidda Sukuta

Today is our first visit to the village where they promised us tomatoes last year. During our visit last year, we had to postpone the extension of the water installation, because the men of the village did not keep their promise to fence a community garden so that the women could grow vegetables. This led to great frustration among the women, to the point that they threw all sorts of unpleasant things at their husbands. At least, that is what we could make of it, since the curses were in Mandinka and Wolf (the local dialects). But sometimes you don't need to know the language to understand them...

The men had apparently gotten the message, because now the garden was completely fenced off, vegetables were being grown (the tomatoes were not yet fully ripe) and we received a very warm welcome from the women with dancing and singing. And of course we had to join in, much to the delight of the women. I do notice that there is a leak in the existing tower. They say that they are going to repair this themselves. Omar has to follow up on this.

After which came the words of thanks, in the 2 dialects and again translated into English. And this by 9 (!) different people. As so often, the messages are the same from the different speakers, sometimes with a different accent, but always a thank you and a request for something extra. In summary:

• BARACABA, or ‘thank you’ in Mandinka. Thank you for taking an interest in Gidda’s needs.
• Gidda loves Gammol and we have to come back every year.
• Last year the whole community was sad and it is partly thanks to the women that we now have vegetables.
• They are impressed by the idea we brought (?) to create a community garden.
• Now that they see the results of their own effort and initiative they say “We will never again promise something we are not going to do”.
• The oldest woman was emotional when she told us how the garden has changed their lives, thanked us for the inspiration we have brought.

Because, now we have the will to take further initiatives: now that they have water and a large community garden, they also want to build a market place near the main road to be able to sell their vegetables. To pay for this, they are going to hold a festival to collect money. They have already dug the foundation for the market place. Contrary to what we expected, they are not asking for financial support for their market place, because we have already given them water. The fact that they want to build their own market place is all because Brikama, the next village, is too far to sell vegetables. With the proceeds they are also thinking about what they can do in the context of educating their children. More of a long-term ambition. They are also thinking about a “health center”. The enthusiasm is very great. Really nice to see. As for the health center, we have to see with Leetulor whether they can provide training here as a first step.

What they do need is extra water. And it is the women who ask us, because they find that sometimes there is not enough water to supply both the garden and the compounds. This is a problem especially after sunset, when the solar panels stop working. As promised last year, we are going to install a second water tank here, so that the capacity doubles. But they are also asking for an extra tower, because of the expansion of the village. The west side extends to 2 km from the tower here. We are not promising anything, but before thinking about installing an additional installation, the need must first be mapped out in order to be able to estimate the real need. They speak of a total of 2,500 compounds, which seems a lot to us.

I give a short speech, in which I do not fail to involve the woman (to the great delight of all the women, but less so of the men) who had made the loudest noise last year and in which I congratulate her on her energy and commitment, which certainly contributed to this result. I would also like to emphasize that we are impressed by the change in mentality that we are now seeing compared to last year. In the meantime, we have already agreed with Dirk and Hedwig that the expansion of the installation will take place, which I of course share with everyone with pleasure, after which even more joy!

To conclude, we are offered a meal in Gambian style. Everyone around a large bowl and eating with our fingers. If you are not used to that, it is not so obvious. A little later they give us a spoon, just a little easier.

 

Fuffor Village

Fuffor is the village where we built a new school last year, instead of in Mandinaba. And where we will have installed a water installation in 2023. Another village in full expansion. When we drive through it, we indeed notice that they are building a lot, more than we have seen elsewhere. And the reason is simple: the land here is free and there is a water installation with clean water and 15 taps spread across the village, two important additional reasons to move to Fuffor.

The first thing we notice is that a solar panel is broken. We give the message that this needs to be repaired quickly, and that we expect the village to bear the costs. But it is Lamin who accidentally dropped something on the panel. Costs are therefore also for us. When I ask why the repair has not been done, Omar and Lamin answer that the installation provides sufficient energy with three panels. Wrong approach. We make it clear to them that we aim for certain quality standards, that we also expect the villages to maintain the installations perfectly (which is also the case in Fuffor), and that this also means that we set an example ourselves. The broken solar panel must therefore be repaired by us.

In the meantime, the village already has a second community garden in use. It is land belonging to a compound, which has made it available to the community. Fuffor is a good example of a village that takes initiatives. For example, they agreed that everyone had to help put up the fence around the gardens: per compound they had to get 5 poles and put them up, and everyone had to pay 200 dalasi (2.7 euros) so that they could buy the wire. What would also be useful here are water reservoirs that they can fill up extra to irrigate their gardens after sunset. This is also where the idea arose to provide an overflow on our 10,000 liter water reservoirs on the tower to fill reservoirs on the ground if there is a surplus. Now this is drained back to the source, rather than filling reservoirs, so that after sunset they have water for the community garden. The aim should be to provide the pumped water initially as drinking water and for those tasks that require clean water (e.g. cooking), and only when there is a surplus use it to fill the reservoirs for the garden. The overflow must therefore be at the top of the barrel. Also to investigate whether we cannot build our towers even higher, so that we can place extra pipes and taps, over a greater distance. Cost price?

Then it is time to go to the school that Gammol built in 2024. And I have to say, all three of us are impressed. Maybe they made an extra effort because we came, but everything shows that they are very careful with this. The school is built on a piece of wasteland, but all the classrooms are clean. Every Sunday the community ensures that the classrooms are cleaned. What we see in the staffroom is impressive, and we have not seen this in any other school: a wall covered with the lesson schedules, what needs to be done in preparation, the curricula they follow, the tests they take and the results, a code of conduct for both the students and the teachers... this all seems obvious, but in Gambia it is not. And perhaps difficult to understand if you do not see and hear the pride and joy of the teachers yourself, but I get emotional about it. This is partly one of the reasons why we do this, I think to myself. And this is also the message we give them: “you motivate us, to continue what we do”.

A minor point, although we understand the reason why… They sacrificed 2 classes for the children of the nursery school a bit further away, because those classes collapsed. Something we warned them about last year actually happened. Too bad. Actually, there are too few classes now, which is of course not ideal. A solution for this is not immediately at hand.

And then it is time for the words of thanks. But still a little different than we are used to. The welcome is done by the children: a large group of 50 children sing to thank Gammol, after which 4 toddlers recite a poem. Moving. Then come the traditional words of thanks by various speakers. And superlatives are sprinkled. “Gammol has written history and has been given a place in the heart of the community”. The council, the Alkalo, the Imam, the headmaster, one of the parents, two mothers, a VDC member, the chairman of the school committee… everyone thanks Gammol in their own way. But besides the words of thanks, they also give us other messages that give us confidence for the future:

• We promised to fence the garden, it is good that you come and check this.
• Thanks for the ideas that we provide, which have resulted in even more initiative being taken.
• The biggest problem is finding quality teachers, but we also want to involve Gammol in this.
• Provided a contribution (according to their own means, which in reality is limited), all parents contribute to the level of education.
• The importance of water is emphasized several times, for the children, the households, the gardens. And in addition, the importance of education and health care.
• They have also already received training from Mien and Liesbeth, our nurses from Leetulor.

And then the questions arise:

• Paying the teachers is difficult. “The community is kneeling down to ask support to Gammol”.
• Solar panels for the roof of the school to have electricity.
• Fencing the school.
• Water supply in the school. The question here is whether we can indeed install a tap in the school?
• More water for the gardens, which means expanding the installation.
• A second water installation, because of the expansion of the village.
• Materials for the school.
• A ‘health’ centre.

After which an ‘interlude’ follows with five young students dancing and singing for us. Remarkable: it is about 35 degrees and we see a man walking around in a thick winter coat! 😊

Dirk concludes by saying that we are impressed by the welcome we receive from the children, with the singing and dancing. And by the many compliments from the many speakers. We were able to contribute by providing the village with clean water, building a school and Leetulor provided training in wound care. But we also have a bitter feeling: with everything we have already done and then being confronted with ‘more and more’, does not come across well. Gammol has a limited budget, and there are many villages that also need clean water. Dirk asks the question what we should choose: “solar panels on the roof of the school or a water installation in a village that does not have clean water”? It is clear that this message is getting through and without any doubt in his voice the Alkalo says that a water installation in a village that does not have clean water will of course be given priority. He apologizes by asking that we should not be frustrated because of their demand for more. That this is because they see what Gammol's intervention has brought about for the community of Fuffor.

Dirk concludes by repeating our expectations regarding the Gammol School Community, and what this can contribute to their school. With the focus on training, drawing up curricula and following up on the results. How sharing their experience can also help other schools, with emphasis on what we have seen in their teacher's room, which is truly an example for other schools.

We conclude with a very good feeling, on both sides. The women of the village have cooked for us again, a feast, again from one big bowl. Even though we will certainly be late for our next appointment, we can hardly do anything but accept this. We go to the hut where the women are cooking to lose as little time as possible. Nice experience to see how they cook, where each woman has her role. After a dance with the cooks we leave.

Getting to know students

Before we go to our last appointment we quickly pass by our Gammol house to welcome Sterre, Julie and Dina, students from the Thomas Moore University who will be doing an internship here in the coming months.

Mama Afrika Lodge - meeting Almamo Touray

The objective of the meeting with Almamo is to determine what the next steps in the rice project could be. And how we see this in practice.

We are left with many questions after our visit to the rice fields in Janjanbureh. Our objective is “Rice for Gambia”, with the side effect that the population of Janjanbureh will also experience this. We explain to Almamo how cooperation can yield a great advantage, compared to the current method where everyone has their own piece of land. Almamo understands this, the challenge is to convince the ‘plot’ owners of this.

It is already late when the meeting is over. Almamo will work this out further and come up with a proposal. A decision will be made later. The poor result of the first test has taught us a lot. We agree that we have to set up a second test, but under much stricter (also financial) conditions.

Dirk Depoorter

Tuesday February 4th

Our last day already, but again well filled. Also the last morning that we are woken up early by the prayers of an Imam that, somewhere nearby, resounds through the loudspeakers. At 5 o'clock. We are not going to miss that. Suitcases packed, because after the last appointment we immediately drive to Banjul, the airport.

Keba and Gibril Babucarr

Following the issues we had last year around our headquarters, where two parties claimed ownership of the land on which the Gammol house was built, we are having another meeting with both parties separately. First with the Babucarr brothers and then with the VDC of Sanyang.

I am not going to rehash the entire story of last year, but the positions of both parties have not changed after a year. Babucarr's ancestors were given a piece of land by the then Alkalo to settle in Sanyang. According to the VDC, the part of the land on which the Gammol house stands has been returned to the village what the Babucarr family denies. This was so long ago that it is not clear whether there are any papers of the agreement that was concluded at the time. So there is a problem of ownership rights, but in Gambia this often means the law of the strongest. In concrete terms, this means that the Babucarr family does not have the money to go to court and successfully defend themselves.

In itself it has never been a problem: our headquarters has been there for years without any issues. The problem that now arises is that we have to invest in keeping the house liveable for Leetulor wound care and for the students who stay here for a few months a year. And we only want to do this if we are certain that we can stay there. In the end, both parties agree that we will stay there, but they both claim that they are the ones who have to give the approval and not the other party. This has gone off the rails, which is why our solution, in which we say that they both have to give their approval, is not accepted. Pfff…

VDC Sanyang

Apart from the discussion about the Gammolhuis, it is necessary to make a number of agreements with the VDC:

• Clarity about the various responsibilities in Sanyang Garden. Gammol will be responsible for the proper functioning of the water installations, the VDC for the rest. In concrete terms, this means that the VDC will ensure proper maintenance of the installations (removing weeds and rust, painting the towers, making the reservoirs waterproof) and the surroundings (such as the fencing). Omar will follow this up.
• Gammol School Community: we will explain again what our objective is, given that there are two of the Gammol schools in Sanyang. It is difficult to know what we can expect from the VDC. What I have noticed is that meetings are always held with a lot of energy, but when push comes to shove, not much happens in practice. That is also why we address people who are directly involved in the schools.

Daru Busumbala

We visit one of the older installations, built in 2012. And old Omar, who has been maintaining the installation for years, is waiting for us. We hug each other, what an enthusiastic reunion. We know that the capacity of our old installation is too small and that there are too few taps to meet the needs that exist. Hence our visit, to see what we can or should do here. On site we find that the roof is worn out, the support beams are broken. And the village is expanding, just like so many other villages where there is clean water. Nawec, the national water and electricity company is partly present here, but a connection costs 30,000 dalasi, in addition to the monthly fee, unaffordable for the people there.

More than 100 compounds and growing, with a water installation that is too small (tank of 1,000 liters at a height of 3 meters), means arguments or even fighting for water, especially during Ramadan. We need to include this installation in the planning to replace it with a new one, to see if we need to provide 10,000 litres or 2 x 10,000 litres? This is a village that is being built up, so unfortunately there is no room for a community garden. This is something that should be looked into, to see what possibilities there are here to do something extra with the water if we place a new installation here. A small contribution is already requested for the water from the compounds here. One problem they are faced with is that thieves from outside the village apparently come and steal taps.

Ismail Jack takes Hedwig and me to an Islamic school near the installation. Sad, but they make do with what they have. Every time they save up some money or receive a donation here or there, they repair something or provide a bench for the students or buy some chalk. There are no toilets, no blackboard, no window covers, ... The latter means that when the wind blows (and that happens sometimes) the children are covered in dust/sand with all the associated health problems. There is no money for an English teacher. In short, not easy. I explain that the schools we place are English schools, based on the knowledge we now have that English is the basis in Gambia. But Ismail doesn't ask us anything, he thanks us because "we give life" with the water we provide. Still, it's a bit of a shock.

Just before we leave, old Omar tells us that we probably won't see him again. Any questions??? Omar took a ‘bush’ taxi today especially to come to Daru Busumbala. He was chased out of the house he built himself, for several years. Chased out by an influential person, against whom he could do nothing. Gulp! Again. The problem of ownership of the land. Fathers of fathers who donated land to their children, who did the same to their children, etc. With the final goal being the great-great-grandchildren who sell the land to have money. And no one knows who owns which piece of land. And when you have some influence, then what happened to the old Omar now happens. The ‘old’ Omar was really someone who maintained the water installation in a very disciplined manner. Conscientious, without receiving any compensation for this. Only the gratitude and respect of the villagers, who realize how valuable Omar’s work is. It is really not obvious to us when you hear such a story, because you feel powerless, knowing that this is not an exception. We ask 'our' Omar to investigate whether and what we can do about this.

Abuko school

Omar (another Omar, the headmaster) and Pierre are waiting for us. School is already over. We first do a tour of the school and notice several minor defects that need to be addressed:

• The toilet door, the tiles and the toilet bowl need to be repaired.
• The sign and the mission of the school on the outside wall have been painted over.
• During the rainy season, the playground floods, water that comes from the street.
• The few play equipment that was there is broken.
• Omar's teacher's room needs to be upgraded (see Fuffor).
• The roof needs to be repaired.
• Some of the teachers' desks and desks need replacing.
• There is an urgent need for some classroom supplies: crayons, paper, pens (red, black, blue), quality paint.
• The kitchen is not being used because it is being used as a material shed, often with broken equipment. Should be put back into use so that the children can have a meal.

Every time we come to Gambia we want to visit the Gammol schools. Purely in comparison with the most recently built schools, we have neglected Abuko somewhat. This is the oldest school, and we have adjusted a few things here in recent years, but now we have to do this more thoroughly. Another problem is that the school is too small. Omar has to turn away many children due to a lack of space. The rule is “first come, first served”. Given that the school is ‘locked up’ between houses, there is no immediate solution available.

The reason for our visit was to exchange ideas about the Gammol School Community (GSC), but it is clear that the previous one was also necessary. As far as the GSC is concerned, we ask Omar how he experienced the meeting with the different schools. In one word: difficult! For various reasons: difference in age of the students in relation to the school, different levels of experience and education, lack of standardization and approach. These are of course exactly the reasons why we want to set up a GSC, so that schools can learn and share from and with each other. Working on curricula for each academic year, which can be shared. The same goes for the tests, weekly and lesson plans, how to deal with absences, homework, etc.

During the meeting with all schools, Ensa Sanyang, the chairman of the Fuffor school, took the lead in including a few things. And perhaps we can also count on Alieu Sanyang (not related to Ensa) if we decide to build a school in Faraba Sutu. Patience and knowing that we will still have to put a lot of energy into this.

Wellingara

Our last visit before we drive to the airport. Not far from the Abuko school. If you look at the map you will see that this is actually one stretched and built-up region. It is a new water installation and the water tower is well maintained, although they have been very frugal with the paint. This should be redone. Omar has to provide paint for this.

We are warmly welcomed again. In the past they had water (from Nawec) between 4 and 6 in the morning, and even then… Which made the women have to get up to be sure they could get water. Now they have clean water all day long. It has changed their lives, the water has given them comfort. But… there is a need for more. Today, about 200 compounds use the water from our tower. The region consists of about 1,000 compounds. And we are the only ones who provide drinking water. We can understand that there is a need for more pumps and installations here. They also emphasize that they are well organized, which means that their installation is well maintained. If there are broken taps, they repair them themselves, for example. They will certainly do that with the next installation. We explain to them that we receive a lot of requests and can do nothing other than set priorities. We make no promises.

And then the Imam calls through the loudspeakers in the village, which he uses for prayer, that we are in the village. We do not know exactly what he is announcing, but in no time at all, many women, men and children come to the room where we are sitting to show and say how grateful they are for the clean water. The Imam puts it as follows: “In Islamic religion, someone who commits suicide goes to hell, but if you did, even then you would go to heaven”. Wow, we can afford to do something, I think to myself 😊. Our Omar is also put in the spotlight, as “a great, great man of his word”, something we can only agree with. It is clear that he has made a great step forward again in the past year. The self-confidence grows, he makes decisions, takes things up and does something about them, he is listened to when he says something. And he is very much appreciated in all the villages where we are present. They know that this is our last stop before we leave and say that they are going to pray for a safe journey back.

Banjul

It is now 5:30 PM and “the barrel is empty”. Off to the airport, where we finish together with Omar and Lamin. We agree with Omar that we will do a Teams next week to go over the list of ‘to do’s’ and determine the priorities for 2025. An additional point of attention that we note: we have been to 17 places this time. 17 of the 46 projects where we have completed a project. It is necessary to make a multi-year plan so that we can visit everything every 3 to 4 years, knowing that between 6 and 10 new projects are completed each year.

We say goodbye to Omar and Lamin, always quite emotional. “These guys are definitely in our hearts”.

Departure at 10:15 PM local time, we will land at 5 AM Belgian time…

Abaraka Baké: Thank you very much (Baké) (Abaraka). We have heard that a lot in the past few days. But it is mutual. We are realizing a few things in Gambia, but we are also grateful that we can do this, together with the people there and without wanting to play the missionary!

Dirk Depoorter