May 16, 2019
We are into final pack up mode – our van service will pick us up here in 60 minutes. Our first blog post will be from Pirang, Friday night or Saturday Morning.
We are all very excited to get on our way.
Peace (Kayira – in Mandinka),
Kurt
May 17, 2019
We are here in The Gambia! Everyone arrived safe and sound and we are enjoying a dinner of cucumbers, carrots, and fresh bread. Our hosts have already been extremely gracious and we are looking forward to a good night sleep in our new accommodations.
Dr. Kenley
Sat, May 18, 2019
We are all adjusting to our temporary home away from home. Everyone slept well last night and woke ready for an adventure. We started the day by singing Happy Birthday to the newest quinquagenarian (Dr. DeGeode). Next, we took a walking tour of Pirang where we visited with several of the locals. Along the way, we had an entourage of children following behind yelling “tubob!” This is a very young country with beautiful children everywhere.
Our Gambian hosts (Omar, Alieu, and Nyamo) have fed us great bread, fruits, and vegetables and have taught us to play the local version of Crazy 8s. Dr. DeGeode has spent much of the day on the phone making local arrangements for the next few days. Tomorrow we are taking local transportation into the larger city of Brikama.
All is well in The Gambia!
Dr. Kenley
Sun, May 19, 2019
Today was our third day in the Gambia and the first day we traveled out of Pirang. We took the gelleh gelleh to the nearby city of Brikama. The gelleh gelleh was an old small van that had seats for upwards of 20 people, and each ride we took was full, sometimes next to people from the Gambia. We arrived at Brikama in the car park area where all of the gelleh gelleh were gathered, and it was insane! The crowds were even greater in the Brikama market, but it impressed me how the crowd flowed around each other. There were an overwhelming amount of options in the market, but with the help of Dr. DeGoede’s friend Binta, we managed to find what we were looking for and made it back safely to Pirang. We look forward to going back to the markets and the city later in the trip!
-Andrew Brndjar
Mon, May 20, 2019
We had another nice day in Pirang, although our breakfast was an odd casserole of noodles, potato, and fish. We walked to a number of schools. As always the children were incredibly friendly, to the point that they would shove their friends out of the way make sure they could be the ones to hold our hands. It was more interesting to talk to the headmasters. They told us about the strengths and challenges that the schools face. Lack of resources and large class sizes (normally over 40 in a class) makes the teachers’ jobs difficult, but a number of posters showed that the performance on national tests is going up – they are tested on math, reading, and science, just like in the States.
Afterward, we went to a medical clinic, which is led by a fascinating woman named Mary. She is a nurse and midwife, and has a crazy job! She normally delivers 30 or more babies every month! Yesterday she came back from church and found in her absence a woman had given birth on the front steps of the clinic. Additionally, she treats malaria, helps teach family planning, and even dabbles in dentistry when needed. We were all very grateful to meet such an interesting person.
As usual, we played a lot of cards in the afternoon, and Kyla won – the first win for one of the girls, victory is sweet (even secondhand). And dinner was delicious, we are forming teams trying to decide which is the best. I suppose we still have a while to decide! Hope all is well at home, and so long for now.
Rebecca
Tue, May 21
Hey everyone!
Today we went into Brikama again and visited with some physics students at The University of The Gambia (UTG). Most of them were seniors, but a few had already graduated. Andrew and I spoke with a few students who were working on a biomass fuel source and new cookstove models to increase efficiency when cooking. This was really interesting because it aligned with our project pretty well. We’re looking into making peanut shell or groundnut shell briquettes instead of using charcoal or firewood. We also spoke with another student who worked on a project a few years ago where they focused on making groundnut briquettes. He showed us some pictures of his work and told us about using the “glue” from cashew trees as the binding agent opposed to starches since they’re so easily available. He also talked about a few ways to continue the work they’ve done. This meeting was valuable for each student and it was fun to learn more about their education.
After UTG we also visited a cook stove company that creates cookstoves for charcoal and firewood that are 60% more efficient than the three stone method.
Then, we came back to Pirang and played some more crazy 8’s. I won again! But I also lost in the final round a few more times… Tonight Omar won most of the games!
Tonight we all want to send a special happy birthday message to Wendi Kenley! We hope you had a wonderful day!
Kyla
Wed, May 22
After falling asleep to the prayers of Ramadan last night, we woke up on the earlier side of this morning for a busy day in Serrekunda, the largest city in the Gambia. We indulged in a breakfast of tapalapa bread and Chocopain, the second best thing after Nutella. We then took a taxi to Nusrat Senior Secondary School. It is considered the best secondary school in the country as entrance is based on competitive exams. We met with a Physics professor as well as the principal. We received an impressive presentation. The school is quite progressive in its technologies- using smart boards and clickers. The principal claimed they have the same funding as other schools- they just prioritize their needs. “We have a beautiful laboratory,” the principal said, “but a crap cafeteria.” We then traveled to Insist, a company that develops a program called “Jangalma.” It is a platform for school materials and statistical data. They are working to make it and their tablets more accessible throughout the Gambia.
Our last stop was a food processing company called, “Tropingo,” founded by a young entrepreneur. They produce mangoes and mango products, and boy are they sustainable. They use peanut shells as fuel for the machine that dries the mango and have even found a use for the pits- mango oil. Momarr, the founder, told us that he had no help in terms of outside capital when starting his business. In the Gambia, there are only three sources of financing: family, friends, and fools. As I am writing this we are enjoying a lovely dinner of Souso- fish with rice. Until tomorrow!
Best,
Liuba
Thu, May 23, 2019
Hello all!
Today we woke to a wonderfully interesting breakfast of french fries, shrimp, and grilled onion. It was a hit with some, but for others, tapalapa bread became breakfast instead.
Our agenda today included another trip out to Serekunda to meet with Alieu Jallow and his business “Startup Incubator”. He and his staff of 4 others help local entrepreneurs in The Gambia pursue their business ventures and make successful careers. One former benefactor of theirs even works for Nike now on their diversity design team! We were all very impressed with the other success stories that had come through his startup business and left with a feeling of optimism for his business and future Gambian entrepreneurs.
Our next meeting of the day was with Engineer Chris Dean, but before seeing him we took some time to stop at an American restaurant across from the US embassy called, “La Parisian”. Chowing down on some pizza and burgers was a nice mix up in our daily diet of mostly rice dishes. Some of us even took the chance to have some ice cream which is all too rare for my liking here in The Gambia. Everything we had was delicious.
Once we finally found our next stop we had a very educational visit with Engineer Chris Dean. He is a freelance engineer that has worked on many projects on his own, with outside organizations, and also with the Gambian ministry of energy. His current ambitions include working with SE4ALL to help bring renewable energy to businesses and homes in The Gambia, and The Alliance for Sustainable Cooking, which makes affordable cookstoves that are easy to make and use. He was very informative and helpful in providing information that could be potentially useful to a few of our senior projects.
To finish our trip we stopped to get some honey from the National Beekeeping Association, and then upon our return, we took a lovely stroll through open plains, tall trees, and streams towards the River Gambia. Our walk ended at a tributary that leads right out to the river and then the Atlantic Ocean. Here fisherman set sail and then sell their catch right back at the dock. Along the way, we got to soak in some beautiful views and wildlife.
Finally, we finished our night with a delicious dinner of domoda (peanut sauce on rice and chicken with a chili pepper for spice, my favorite part to eat!). Before bed though we had to keep our daily tradition of playing Crazy 8’s going so we made sure to get in a few games. Tomorrow we look forward to visiting Banjul for more meetings and fun! Until then…
Best wishes to all,
Grant
May 24, 2019
Greetings from the smiling coast,
We had another nice day in Serrekunda. We had our first try haggling for souvenirs in the craft market and even briefly saw the ocean! Another highlight was meeting Juniata graduate Ally, who works at a medical research center. She gave us a tour, and it was nice to hear more about Gambia from the perspective of an American who has lived in the area through the political instability in 2016.
While Crazy 8 is still popular, I introduced a new word game today. The premise is that two people say a random word at the same time, then have to think of something that connects the two until you come up with the same word. Sometimes this goes really well. Sometimes the two words are safety and falling, but instead of saying the logical connection of parachute, Kyla says rope. I probably shouldn’t throw her under the bus because we had a lot of very silly rounds, but we have had a lot of fun as a group. And this weekend should be even more fun getting to enjoy some of Gambia’s lovely scenery.
Best,
Rebecca
Sat, May 25, 2019
Day 9 was one for the books!
We rose to an overcast sky but nothing could diminish our excitement for our walk in the Pirang Forest.
After a quick breakfast of tapalala bread with peanut and chocolate spread, we were led by Nyamo, Alieu and Omar into the green oasis of the Pirang Forest that was just a quick 1/2 hour walk away from MEDHA.
Nyamo and Alieu are expert birders and we’re able to identify many bird species for us, including violet turaco, black kite, paradise flycatcher, white-faced owl, village weaver, beautiful sunbird, red cheek cordon blue, pied horned bill, red horned bill, golden oriel, long-tailed glossy starling, yellow-crowned gonolet, etc.
These guys REALLY know their birds! We were all super impressed.
Once inside the Forest, everything seemed different. The air was cooled, yet more humid. Time seemed to stand still as we were out of earshot of the road, the children yelling ‘TwoBob’, the bleating of the goats, and humming of the flies. Liuba enjoyed feeling as if we were cast in an episode of ‘Lost’.
I found it remarkable that so close to the red dust roads and winding highway sat a locally preserved jungle.
Shortly into our journey, we came across our forest guide named Kawsu. We found him in his ‘office’ – beneath the canopy of jungle trees – and he immediately led us to key sights. Within minutes, our group feasted our eyes and ears upon monkeys and baboons frolicking high above us. It was unreal to just turn a tree trunk, peer upward and witness such majestic animals in their most natural habitat.
Kawsu then led us to a spot where we, after lots of squinting and shutting positions, saw two Verreaux’s eagle-owl (pointy eats and pink eyelids) being pestered by crows. Apparently, the crows do not like when their nocturnal owl friends take their hiding spots among the treetops. We watched a group of crows circle in on an owl who eventually gave up and flew away. These crows are not vegetarians, unlike the palm nut vultures, so we were frightened the owls would become crow lunch.
Alas, the walk was invigorating and we saw a great deal of African flora and fauna.
It was a beautiful day in The Gambia!
Blue skies,
Kristi
Sun, May 26, 2019: Gambia Day 10: The beach!
Hello again!
Today we ventured out to Paradise Beach for a relaxing day by the ocean, but first we had an unexpected delay during our gelleh gelleh ride. Rebecca is getting an outfit tailored and needed a picture of the style she wanted. So, as we passed a women wearing this style, Kristi took a picture of her, and coincidentally the police standing at the checkpoint on the road, too. So then the whistle blew and our driver pulled to the side of the road as a policeman walked up to Kristi’s window. He initially asked her to get out of the gelleh, but after Alieu and Omar stepped in and explained what happened, she just had to hand over her phone so they could see the pictures. After a pretty lengthy discussion with the police and the woman in the picture, we were back on the road to Paradise Beach (Kristi got her phone back).
The beach was beautiful and we all enjoyed the time by the water. We played some soccer, swam in the ocean, built a sand castle with an underground tunnel, and ate some delicious fish and chips. There was a “special sauce” to put on top the fish that was similar to salsa. We also spotted a few more tubobs (from the UK) who were surf fishing. While we were there they caught 3 stingrays! Overall, today was a lot of fun. We enjoyed the change of scenery and made a crazy memory along the way.
-Kyla
May 27: Gambia Day 11: Old friends, new babies…
My turn. We had a relaxed start to the day, with a big multi-course Nyamo breakfast. Liuba and Kristi dug in with Nyamo and Alieu brainstorming next steps for the NGO My Sister’s – My Brother’s Company.
Before long we headed out toward Brikama via gelleh-gelleh. In town, we headed to the old DeGoede family neighborhood behind Box-bar, the big football stadium in Brikama.
First up, Brewer: the self-proclaimed next president of The Gambia. We’ll see about that, but in response to one of his tweets apparently, our president tweeted back “Keep your black ass out of US politics.”
Next stop, after Brewer finally chased off the crazy man outside the restaurant where we enjoyed a light snack, the peanut processing facility in Brikama. Where Brewer served as tour guide, providing a compelling look at the processes and products.
And now the new baby, we also stopped by a neighboring compound of Binta (the older Binta). Her sister (or cousin) handed me her 3-week old son. Precious. We enjoyed a nice visit with the family while 6 of the 8 of us took turns with the little one. A couple of guys decided they were not quite ready for that action.
We ended the Brikama adventure with a walk out to the craft market and back. Out at the market, I got to catch up with my old djembe instructor while the others browsed for souvenirs.
A new favorite Gambian dish for some: chicken yassa.
Till tomorrow – Kayira be,
Kurt
Tue, May 28, 2019, Monkey Business…
Today we started off our day by going to Bijilo to a monkey park. On our way into the park we bought some peanuts to feed to the monkeys. Although the people in charge said we would need a guide to find the monkeys, we had no problem coaxing them out with food, and were quickly swarmed. Make sure to check out the pictures at the end of the trip because some of the monkeys were gutsy enough to climb on some students’ backs to get their peanuts! After being torn from our new friends, we went to the GREAT institute (Gaining Research Experience for Africa’s Tomorrow) and discussed our projects with a group of young individuals who are environmentally conscious like ourselves. We then went for a quick bite at another branch of La Parisian, where we enjoyed “American” comfort food of ice cream and pizza. Our last meeting for the day was with Anthony Tabbal, who works making peanut shell briquettes for the poor people of Senegal, Gambia, and Madagascar. He was a well-traveled man, and even has connections with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and offered us all free tickets if we can get ourselves there as the Gambian fan section! When we came back to the compound, a few of us played soccer with kids while waiting for dinner, where we were once again spoiled with good food.
For the last time from Gambia,
Peace out,
Andrew
May 29, 2019 Gambia Day 13: Farewells
Today was our last full day in Pirang. We began the day by doing a drive through Banjul. After a last stop to our faithful La Parisian, we continued to the headquarters of the Peace Corps in the Gambia. They currently have about 100 volunteers in the agriculture, health, and education sectors all ranging from 22 to 70 years old!
The last task of the day was the hardest of all: a soccer game with the local children. What we thought were our respectable athletic capabilities were deemed pitiful in comparison with them (video).
For the last dinner, we had domoda- a crowd favorite. We spent the evening in laughter, enjoying our host’s, Alieu’s, various imitations of accents (“Chinese “, Jamaican, American, etc.).
We will head off to Sandele tomorrow as an adieu to the Gambia.
– Liuba
Thu, May 30
This morning we said our final goodbyes to our amazing hosts and headed off to Sandele eco-resort after one last delicious breakfast at MEHDA.
While we were sad to go, there was excitement all around when we arrived at our temporary home for a day and a half. The beautiful architecture, inviting shore, and the hot showers were all welcome sights (especially the hot showers).
Overall, it was a day of relaxation and fun on the beach. Waves were jumped, sandcastles were built (and flooded), and a mermaid was made.
After the beach, everyone rejuvenated themselves with a nice warm shower and exceptional indoor plumbing. Tonight we are all looking forward to a good night’s sleep on a soft bed before a few more hours of relaxation at the resort.
Sandele is definitely the perfect relaxing end to a long two weeks of educational experiences in The Gambia. Thanks for staying tuned to the updates hope they were all enjoyable, and we all look forward to seeing you back in the good ole US of A on Saturday!
Signing off for the last time,
Your favorite E-town students and staff
(Written by Grant)
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