"Up Country" - South

Last Monday was a national holiday - Ascension Day of Mary, mother of Jesus.  Are you surprised?  I was, since Gambia is overwhelmingly Muslim; the holiday (actually, the holy day) is celebrated by Catholics.  Not sure I understand exactly how in an Islamic state, but most school children were off school and happy for a holiday.  We had a nice little break and Steven took us on a 100+ km trip on the south side of the Gambia river. 

So, by popular demand, here are a couple more Quiz questions for you [see bottom for answers] before you see the pictures of our trip.

1.  Twice a month, 9 am - 1 pm, no one in Gambia may be out on the streets without a very good reason.  Try to guess why.  

2.  The Gambia (country) is shaped like what creature?  

 
Gloria, Steven's versatile assistant, came along with us for the day, and Samuel, one of the students, crowded way in back with fruit, bags, & books.  We were going to be stopping in his family's village, so it was a good way for him to get to see them. 




[Oh, yes, and his darling friend Abby just happens to be a nurse at the Mission Hospital we were going to see.  :) ]

These are ground nuts (alias peanuts) growing well at the Intervarsity compound where we stopped.  

College students here hold day camps to help students with their English, Math, and other subjects they need to pass for high school.  The classes are free and are helpful to both secondary students and their parents.  Then the Christian college students are able to pray for and encourage the high school students, many of whom are from Muslim homes.  They try to visit the families, answering questions and encouraging dialog.  Saikou, one of our students from school, turns up there at the camp!  Here is the whole group, David at back left, Gloria in pink in front, Saikou, Joseph (director), Steven in front middle, and Dick at far right. 

Enroute to the WEC (Worldwide Evangelical Council ?) Mission Hospital. On the way, we heard the sirens of exactly the third ambulance since we have been in Gambia.   Stopped in Mandinaba village for Steven to buy mangoes; Dick does "knuckles" with young boys who come by the car.



 We pass by Amdalie village where one of the Bible college students, Fadil, has ministry headquarters building with a mission house.  He organizes leaders of tribes to do missionary work with indigenous peoples.  Fadil is from Mandinka tribe; he is a rare bird since Mandinka is normally about 100% Muslim.  He has an amazing story. 

At the mission hospital: They saw roughly 41,000 outpatients in the clinic last year. James, a nurse from Australia, gave us a tour.  He mainly handles the HIV clinic, 1900 on the books but they actually see about 600+ a month.  The hospital recently celebrated their 50th anniversary and has highly-sought-after nurses, whom they train themselves in a 2 year program [but so far the government has not seen fit to certify them].  Typically there are about 1200 admissions and over 500 deliveries in a year.  2-3 docs staff the program, and many nurses.  Nurse Abby tells us they will have over 90 patients a day in the clinic.  Here are some pictures from the hospital, which is so highly regarded that patients will often travel to come here rather than use other options.  They no longer do surgeries here so patients needing additional care will be referred to other facilities. 

Clinic directly ahead; a ward building to the right

Reception Room 

Birthing Room

 

We pass through Bwiam village, where the Catholic Church has built a school, church and hospital.  We are headed to Kanilai, the village of the Gambian president.  We have a delightful lunch in the hotel restaurant and are free to walk the grounds.  No pictures allowed of the president's home (he isn't there now anyway), and we don't think it is worth 500 Dalasi just to tour around it and go into a zoo where the animals will all be sleeping because it is very hot, but the grounds at the adjacent hotel are beautiful. 

Let's Have Lunch Here!  At the hotel patio in the Presidential Village. 

Beautiful grounds near the Presidential Village

Wow - could this possibly be an INDIANA catfish???

Quiz Answers:
1.  National Cleaning Day     Everyone must be at home cleaning their environs.  If you are out on the streets, you will be stopped, and unless you are in labor or on your way to work in a hospital or some other dire emergency, you could be in BIG TROUBLE!

2.  A Snake!!