Jackie's Adventures in The Gambia

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Gambia: Peace Corps The Gambia : Web Links for The Gambia RPCVs: Jackie's Adventures in The Gambia

By Admin1 (admin) on Wednesday, July 04, 2001 - 6:55 pm: Edit Post

Jackie's Adventures in The Gambia



Jackie's Adventures in The Gambia

Introduction I arrived in West Africa in July 1999 and it has been an Adventure ever since. The Gambia is a small country bordered by Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean. I spent my first year teaching science and I am presently working on a computer literacy center. I live in a Mandinka village three hours from the coastal capital region. This site documents my stay in The Gambia and I hope to update it often.

Thanks for visiting!

This is the day of my coolio the day I received my local name (Kaddi Jammeh). Mothers carry babies on their backs like this throughout the day.

I had technical training at Tendaba Camp. During the rainy season (july-october) it is a fantastic place for sunsets.

Relaxing in Winston's compound with Scientific American and a curious child.

My sanity...monthly trips to the beach.

Share Your Photos Online!

More...

It's fun and simple!

Use Yahoo! Photos to easily create and share online photo albums, upload photos to the Web, order high-quality digital prints and much more.

Share the smiles with...

Yahoo! Photos

[Close]

undefined

undefined

More...

undefined

[Close]


Life in the Village Living in an African village is quite the experience. I have lived in three houses in The Gambia. My first was a hut during training in a Mandinka village. Immediately being immersed in a community where you cannot speak, do not understand the local customs, and are a different skin color is quite a shock. After training, I moved to Pakalinding to a large compound with one of the wives of my principal. After I switched teaching assignments I moved to a more private house in Mansa Konko. Here I am lucky to have running water and twelve hours of electricity per day.

This is the hut that I stayed in during training. My door is all the way to the left with two goats sleeping in front of it. The name of the village was Wurokang and I stayed there for ten weeks with three other volunteers as we learned the language and culture.

This is the house that I moved into after training. The name of the village is Pakalinding. My house was private, but the building was shared by eighteen others.

Sitting on a prayer mat with members of my host family.

Roasting peanuts with my neighbors, Omar Bah and Lamin Bojang. The entire peanut bush is started on fire and when it goes out we pick out the nuts and eat them.

Here in The Gambia work is done mainly by the women while men have up to four wives and spend most of their time brewing tea in the shade. Here are two typical Gambian women working in the rice fields.

Gambians are lucky to have closed pump wells with charcoal filters. In some villages, however, it is still necessary to use a bucket to get water out of an open well.

When my mom visited we helped out my family by pumping and carrying water.

A typical meal is rice with a sauce. Here is a woman pounding fish, onions, peppers, and spices.

Her daugher is taste-testing.

My father was not shy about joining some students around the foodbowl. Males and females eat seperately and you must remember to only use your right hand (the left hand is reserved for other matters).

My host mother, Musekebba, got a big kick out of dressing my parents up when they came to visit. My father's outfit is called a "kaftan" and my mother and I are wearing "completos".

Yahoo! Author Series

More...

"Ball Four" Author Jim Bouton

When it was first published in 1970, Ball Four ignited a firestorm of controversy that raged far beyond the boundaries of baseball. 30-years later, Ball Four still resonates with readers and is considered by some to be one of the most important American books of the 20th century. Join in a chat with Jim about life at 60, the Yankees, and of course the World Series! 10/23 at 7pET/4pPT.

Click here!

[Close]

Yahoo! Author Series

More...

"Ball Four" Author Jim Bouton

When it was first published in 1970, Ball Four ignited a firestorm of controversy that raged far beyond the boundaries of baseball. 30-years later, Ball Four still resonates with readers and is considered by some to be one of the most important American books of the 20th century. Join in a chat with Jim about life at 60, the Yankees, and of course the World Series! 10/23 at 7pET/4pPT.

Click here!

[Close]

Sign up for Yahoo! Mail!

More...

Stay in touch with Yahoo! Mail!

Yahoo! Mail provides you with a permanent email account which you can access from anywhere - and it's FREE!

Sign up for Yahoo! Mail!

[Close]


Science at Tahir High School Last year I taught Biology and General Science at Tahir Senior Secondary School. It is a private Muslim High School of 500 students, grades 10-12. Last December I was given my own classroom and the pictures below show how I decorated it, a rare event as other teachers lack colorful resources.

This is the Administrative block (and my bike).

These students are learning to use litmus paper and burettes in my original classroom.

The new classroom

My friend's host brother is helping me to decorate.

Making progress...

I came to class one day exasperated because one boy told me that he was storing a lizard for me in my classroom which should have been locked. It turns out that he had frayed his uniform, tied a thread around the lizard's abdomen, and tied it to a window bar. Here it is before we preserved it in alcohol.

Girls giving me a hand returning a plastic skeleton to the nearby Nursing School.

When my parents visited student riots had broke out in the capital and school was closed. Some boys loitering around the school got a suprise physics lesson when we unloaded donated equipment.

Yahoo! Author Series

More...

"Ball Four" Author Jim Bouton

When it was first published in 1970, Ball Four ignited a firestorm of controversy that raged far beyond the boundaries of baseball. 30-years later, Ball Four still resonates with readers and is considered by some to be one of the most important American books of the 20th century. Join in a chat with Jim about life at 60, the Yankees, and of course the World Series! 10/23 at 7pET/4pPT.

Click here!

[Close]


Computer Literacy at RDI My current project is to develop a Community Computer Literacy Center at the Rural Development Institute in Pakalinding. I am training 16 students to by my teaching assistants while I am waiting for a classroom to be renovated and community classes to start. Here is a picture of my sister unloading donated computers when she visited in July.

Clara Soh is another volunteer that is helping me set up and maintain the computers. I had never touched the inside of a computer before I came and now I am in charge of troubleshooting for the entire region.

This is Musa transporting computers to the classroom.

Sign up for Yahoo! Mail!

More...

Stay in touch with Yahoo! Mail!

Yahoo! Mail provides you with a permanent email account which you can access from anywhere - and it's FREE!

Sign up for Yahoo! Mail!

[Close]

undefined

undefined

More...

undefined

[Close]




Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Personal Web Page

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - The Gambia; Science Teaching; Conputers

PCOL4520
59

.

By Jimmy (cust6-0.netcabo.co.mz - 196.46.0.6) on Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 4:14 am: Edit Post

has been very interesting.you are very strong and has got of courage when i immagine the places you spent most of time in the Gambia.You have helpful as well and i hope we get such types of people to be visiting .All the best and keep up the good work Kaddy Jammeh.

By ousman (c-68-61-208-91.hsd1.mi.comcast.net - 68.61.208.91) on Sunday, June 04, 2006 - 1:05 pm: Edit Post

I am a Gambian born computer professional now residing in the united states. I have lived and worked in the same places that you mentioned...ie Pakalinding at the RDI and Mansakonko. Going through the pictures bring back memories of my six months stay in the Soma, Mansakonko pakalinding area. Keep up the good work.

By Anonymous (62-128-160-61.iwayafrica.com - 62.128.160.61) on Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 12:20 pm: Edit Post

pls i want to styudy nursing in gamia

By abdush -shahid (71.199.136.30) on Monday, April 06, 2009 - 7:11 pm: Edit Post

I am trying to place my !5 year old son in an Islamic private school for a few years, and i am in need of some good schools. I am looking to get him enrolled soon. I reside in the U.S. My name is Shahid Ali. My email is shahidihsaan@yahoo.com If you can assist me in a few school listings , i would appreciate it


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: