ROTARACT OVERSEAS PROJECT - DIARY
Team leaders, Rotarians Richard & Sue Burnett of District 1110 flew out two weeks before the team to ensure all materials were ready on site and to organise local workers to assist with the building of the wall, washhouse and toilets. The rest of the team arrived at the end of January and were met at the airport by team leaders who whisked them via a ten ton lorry to a hotel in the capital for the first night stay.
That night the team attended a reception held jointly by the Rotary Club of Banjul and the Rotary Club of Fajara. Imagine everyone's surprise when the Gambian Rotarians started the meeting with a rendition of ‘If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands'. This was to become the team's anthem…
The following morning at 6.30am before the sun had risen, the team started the long journey up country to their home for the next two weeks, the Horse & Donkey Trust's house in Sambel Kunda. The team were beginning to realise why transporting goods and people around The Gambia was not as simple as one would expect, and certainly not so comfortable.
Following 3 ferry crossings and a long road trip on rough, bumpy and sometimes non-existent roads, they arrived in Sambel Kunda to be welcomed by the 7 dogs, 2 cats, assorted horses, donkeys, sheep, goat, chickens etc, not to mention the lizards and bats. The Team leaders had already got a Rotary Aquabox up and running on site to provide the team with drinking water, and they soon got used to washing in cold water and managing without electricity.
The team immediately were introduced to the Alkalas (village chief) of both the villages and shown the scale of the work required. It did not take long for the team to get started and they worked from early in the morning until sunset to make sure they did not let the villagers down.
At one point it looked like there was going to be a problem with the pump and bore hole and this caused a major headache for the team, which thankfully was overcome. With everyone taking part in digging trenches, wood working, plumbing, electrical work, building walls, painting, roofing, and having fun at the same time, the project was delivered on time. The success and impact of the project was apparent as soon as water arrived in the standpipes and cheers could be heard all around Mesira.
It is important not to overlook the cultural side of taking part in a Rotaract Overseas Project and certainly working in the village of Mesira gave the team a chance to see rural African tribal life close up. We were honoured to be invited to the naming ceremony for the son of one of the village elders in Mesira whose compound (home) was used for storage of our building materials. Also, travelling by donkey cart, they visited a local market and the Wassu Stones which are said to be older than Stonehenge.
In their luggage, the team took out educational, sporting and medical supplies for the Sambel Kunda community school and village clinic and were able to present them personally to the headmaster and clinic nurse. The headmaster was proud to show the team around his school and it was good to see the children using the gifts within hours of receiving them.
On the final afternoon, both villages treated the team to a very African village celebration of singing and dancing with a traditional meal of sheep and rice. The team joined in with the tribal dancing and gave both villages a rendition of their anthem - ‘If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands'. They were also presented with a goat for their dinner by Sambel Kunda, but quickly named him Lucky and donated him to the Horse and Donkey Trust where we had stayed.
This was an amazing opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of these villagers. The villagers made us very welcome, and put on a big party for us at the end – the coming of a water supply to Misira was such a big occasion that the children were given the afternoon off school for the great ‘turn-on'.