A bit of a long one - wriiten by the students about their stay with a Gambian family
Laura and Georgia
I (Georgia) was very nervous before the beginning of our overnight stay, but Laura reassured me that everything would be fine. We said our goodbyes at the school and followed Isa to her compound which was not far. Her family were very welcoming and made us feel very comfortable. After exchanging hellos and making some slightly awkward small talk we visited her friend’s compound which was very scary especially as when we were walking there the street light cut out. When arriving, they were also without electric, this was a very odd experience sitting in the dark without any light. Once we got back to our hosts compound we felt a lot safer and comfortable. Soon after we arrived back to Isa’s compound we began preparing Benechin for tea. Again this was very different watching people cook with such basic tools and materials with a small open fire. Once the food was cooked they plated up a VERY large portion up for both me and Laura to share. Half way through eating our dinner we were full but felt guilty leaving so much, so we decided to put some into a spare bottle with had, hoping it would disguise the fact that we hadn’t eat everything. With our host Isa and Maya and Megan’s host being friends and living close they planned to visit us, so when finished put tea and were told we had friends to visit it was a surprise to see George and Dan. In the next 15 minutes the rest of the group along with their host’s had arrived our compound. As we were all crammed in to Isa’s bedroom we made our way outside. We all sat around in a circle, soon after the drums were out and we were all up singing and dancing. The mothers must have been watching on and decided they wanted to join in on the fun as they also started to join in with the singing and dancing. This was such a crazy experience for all of us, and it was nice that we had everybody there to reassure one another. Once everyone had enough of the dancing they slowing made their way back to their own compounds. Me and Laura then decided to go to bed, as we know we would be up early as our host lived right next door to the mosque, where all the local men and women would be up to pray and 5 0’clock.
Dan and George
Well we had rather low expectations due to the previous compound we had seen, but on our arrival it was absolutely amazing, the building itself was AMAZING. There was a large main lounge, which contained lighting, a running tap and even a television! Our room was reasonably small, just big enough to house the double bed that both of us and Abdoulie had to share, the room also had its own mosquito net! On arrival to the compound we felt rather awkward as his parents and family couldn’t speak much English. But we soon settled in. We sat on a sofa in the lounge and watched the African cup of nation’s final supporting Zambia, we came back in after sitting outside to find a table of food laid out in front of the sofa. We had chicken and chips with salad and a cup of tea each. Shortly after we came back to the hotel to get batteries for our cameras because Abdoulie ran them flat! We then walked up to the head girls compound and met the rest of our group with their Gambian hosts. After about a half hour we returned to our compound for green tea with his family. He then took us to the local bakery and to his uncle’s compound before going back to our compound to sleep.
Megan and Maya
We were quite apprehensive about staying with Karafa, but we were pleasantly surprised by the experience. When we arrived at her compound, her family were very welcoming and her compound was cosy, comfortable and nicely furnished but bigger than we had expected. We helped to make dinner, grinding herbs for the Benechin. All of Karafa’s family and friends were gathered around the fire whilst the food was cooking and we chatted to them and learnt how to speak some Mandinkan. I (Megan) have had to explain my braces to a lot of people in Gambia as they do not have them over here, including Karafa’s younger sister and friends. Karafa bought us a canned drink each before we all shared a starter of rice with Karafa’s family who were eating with their hands. We then went inside where there was a massive feast of Benechin, vegetables, potatoes and chicken. We were both really full but Karafa insisted we ate more. After dinner Maya braved the toilet, a.k.a. the hole in the ground. We then walked to Isa’s compound who is Karafa’s friend and also the host of Laura and Georgia. There, we met up with everyone else from Cabot and their hosts. We sat outside in a circle singing and dancing and Isa’s family also joined in. It unusually started to rain which made it feel like home! When we returned to the compound Karafa insisted we ate more, Megan refused but I (Maya) felt rude so I managed to gulp down a few more spoonfuls but I was extremely full. We then went to sleep in a massive bed we shared with Karafa, sleeping quite well despite a few interruptions from feeling too hot and full and the 5am morning prayer. When we woke properly at 7 we still felt stuffed and slightly queasy. All in all it was an amazing experience but we probably shouldn’t have eaten too much!
Sarah and Charlie
We were both nervous about staying in someone’s house, but during the school’s sports day before the dreaded over night stay I (Charlie) had a massive freak out. Luckily there were lots of people to calm me down. Once the sports day was finished, we grabbed our bags and followed our host Fatou to her compound. Luckily it wasn’t that far away from the school, but far enough to have lots of awkward silences in our conversation. Her family were very welcoming even though half of them couldn’t speak English! The compound was shared by her father and his 3 wives and Fatou’s Auntie and Uncle who had had a baby born last Wednesday. We had to prepare our own tea, which was an experience in itself! We were told to chop onions - which sounds simple - but when you are used to sharp knives and chopping boards, slicing onions in your hands proves a challenge! Even Fatou’s mum commented on our chopping skills! Our tea was beef with a yummy stock and we ate it with bread and potatoes. It was heartbreaking telling Fatou that we couldn’t eat her lovely salad because it had been washed in their water. After tea we walked to the head girls’ compound to meet up with everyone. It was VERY dark! We kept on hearing scary noises that just turned out to be goats. The best part of the night was singing and dancing with everyone outside the head girls’ compound, and the worst part was getting there! We were very tired when we returned to Fatou’s compound and managed to sleep soundly on a hard bed and pillows that felt that they were made out of bricks. The surprising thing was that they had mosquito nets above their beds but didn’t seem to use them. It was a very educating experience that I would love to do again!
Shaun and Ryan
While slightly nervous about staying in a home very different from ours, we were both enthusiastic about having the experience to see how people in The Gambia live. We stayed in Modu’s house, who is the assistant head boy at Farafenni Upper Basic, and despite our preconceptions, we found his compound very homely and comfortable. They had a front room to rival those back at home (easily fitting 22 people watching the African Cup of Nations final), with a very a comfortable bed, however the toilet was not to our usual custom, being a hole in the ground, outside, with no light. We were served lots of food, mainly rice with fish, Ryan doesn’t eat fish, but when Shaun tried it he found it quite tasty. After dinner we left the compound to meet up with the others at one of the other compounds, to have an evening of dancing and singing which brought us and some of the local Gambians together. We returned around midnight to have a sound sleep, waking up to delicious yam (sweet potato) sandwiches. Being an hour and a half late we arrived at the school to and English lesson.
Kim and Emily
We were both very excited when we found out we were staying with one of Emily’s best friend’s fatou, although Kim was extremely nervous about staying in an environment that was completely out of her comfort zone but Emily stood by her and supported through her “wobbly bit” and told her to “man up” but in a nice way. First we went to the market to buy ingredients for the benechen that we were going to help fatou make in the evening. We collected the basic ingredients which included: cassava, rice, stock and chicken along with bay leaf. And there was a sneaky flour fight between us when in the market. We then walked to Fatou's compound and were escorted by Dam Barry, due to the lack of electricity it was very, very dark and you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. Emily kept in walking in the complete opposite direction and Kim nearly fell down a hole so we all had to hold each other’s hands. When we got to Fatou’s compound we were welcomed by her whole family including her dads wives and her step dad (who is her real dads best friend) all very confusing!! Fatou’s compound was very large and very cosy, we were sharing a room with fatou which was one large straw bed between three and of course our mosquito net (supplied by fatou). We then cooked dinner whilst having a chat to the assistant head girl and fatou, we explained the laws in England and the different types of weather, Kim came out with a corker and when asked if there was rainfall in England replied with “rainforests no we don’t have any in England”. The dilemma of the night was going to the toilet which was shared by the whole village and was simply a concrete hole in the ground but we managed to pull through and recovered. We then walked to the head girl’s compound where we met up with everybody else and a very warm welcome from everyone there. We went outside where danced and sang to a drum which was simply a water container and a couple of sticks, it was a really good night and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. After a couple of hours we walked back to Fatou’s with Charlie, Sarah and their host fatou (its a very popular name) upon return everyone else was asleep so we got changed, cleaned our teeth and went straight to sleep. In the morning we sat outside to receive our breakfast we looked around and were surrounded by chickens with the odd goat and dog parading round the compound.’ At one point a goat walked in to their house walked out and walked away again, we were then greeted by five donkeys and Charlie, Sarah and fatou and walked to school with them after we went to some of Fatou’s lessons. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and we are very thankful for the unforgettable experience.
