In Gambia

Progress

jeffdeflavio — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:32:39 +0000

After many months of planning and preparation, we finally have a visible product of our work: the fence that will keep the hospital’s various sheep and goats from roaming through the wards will soon be finished. Stay tuned for pictures of us herding the animals in!

Modou working on the fence

Soon to be contained

Tie Dye

jeffdeflavio — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:57:48 +0000

On the last evening before Diana and Teresa left Bwiam, we made one more trip to see the women’s group in Kankuntu. We went to see them make tie dye fabric, which they make to sell locally. The village imam’s wife is the tie dye master, so we went to her compound to watch the process.

Measuring the fabric

We were unsure of how it would turn out when it was a puddle of dye and fabric on the ground...

...and we were shocked at how beautiful the fabric was in the end!

Cleaning Up

jeffdeflavio — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:30:03 +0000

The hospital’s maternity ward has been adopted by the women’s group from the nearby village of Kankuntu. As a result, the women have volunteered to come by periodically and clean the maternity ward together. We joined in to help them this month:

Carrying water

More than 20 women worked together to clean the ward

Tendaba

jeffdeflavio — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:57:48 +0000

Last week we ventured up-country with Diana and her friend Teresa to the Tendaba camp, a lodge on the River Gambia perfectly situated between two national parks: the Bao Bolon wetland reserve and Kiang West National Park. Our trips through the mangrove creeks were filled with sights of beautiful exotic birds and the occasional glimpse of a crocodile.

Sacred Ibis

On our land safari, we were lucky enough to see more gorgeous birds, a group of red collobus monkeys, and a huge group of hundreds of baboons. It was a great chance to see yet another facet of The Gambia.

Red billed hornbills

Tendaba at dawn

Christmas in The Gambia

jeffdeflavio — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:39:14 +0000

We hope that all of our friends and family at home enjoyed a wonderful Christmas. We were lucky enough to have some family here with us for the holiday: Jeff’s mom, Diana, is staying with us here in Bwiam for one month.

Alex and Diana have been enjoying shopping for Gambian clothes together!

We enjoyed a Christmas dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread with our friends Robert, Thomas, and Chief.

Our Christmas Dinner

We had a great time. We have been blogging infrequently as we have been so busy working, learning, and enjoying the friends that we have made here. We are looking forward to sharing more stories and pictures soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

jeffdeflavio — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:14:10 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family back home!

We celebrated our Gambian Thanksgiving today with our favorite meal, domoda- a delicious spicy peanut sauce served over rice. A cold pitcher of mango juice made the meal extra special. It’s not quite apple pie, but we’ll take what we can get!

Mabintu, our newest Gambian friend, joined us for Thanksgiving

Gambian Traffic Jam

jeffdeflavio — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:55:35 +0000

The Maternity Ward

jeffdeflavio — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:14:07 +0000

One of the most troubling aspects of this hospital is the dismal state of its maternity ward. We are currently working on a plan to improve it- for more information, check out http://betterbeginning.wordpress.com

Wash Dem Sheep

jeffdeflavio — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:47:43 +0000

Sanitation is a major issue at the hospital, and yet they still found time (and soap!) to wash their sheep:

Wonders of the World

jeffdeflavio — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:53:07 +0000

5 Dalasis to anyone who can explain how this works:

…or what the function of this key is: