Lightning Strikes

We’re currently in the tail-end of the rainy season, and are getting treated to some really great light shows in the evenings. My compound has a roof terrace, so I’ve got a fantastic place to view the sky being lit up. I’ve never seen anything like it – there are strikes of lightning every 10-15 seconds, and from all directions. It really is impressive, I think I’ll be quite sad when the rain stops and we’ll just have normal skies! So, whilst I’ve been staring at the sky what has been on my mind?

Mr President – Otherwise known as President Jammeh (or his full title, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Azziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh Naasiru Dee). The President came to power after a coup in 1994, and now exerts great influence over most of Gambian life. His face is everywhere – on billboards, houses, bakeries(!) and on the television. Just recently I saw him cleansing people of evil spirits, and offering women fertility treatment – his power seemingly spreads into the spiritual sphere as well.

To find out more about President Jammeh have a quick look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahya_Jammeh. An interesting character I’m sure you’ll agree.

The Bumsters – a foreigner’s life in the Gambia is invariably touched at moments by the “bumsters”. Bumsters are Gambian men who use a variety of tactics to try to get money or assistance from foreigners. They mainly can be found on the beaches or the touristy areas of the city, and spend the whole day on the lookout for foreigners. Once one is in their sight they’ll start a friendly conversation, and will follow you for miles upon miles until either a). you’ve given them money or b). you’ve made it completely clear that you’re not interested in funding their education/hiring them as a guide (this may take several attempts!).

Bumsters are particularly keen to target women. Gambia is one of the centres for male prostitution in the world, with many Western middle-aged women coming over for a bit of fun with the young, muscular local men. The arrangement seems to work along the lines that the women enjoy the attention and the men receive money and sometimes even the chance to start a new life in the West. However, the nature of this arrangement is such that usually there are very unequal power relations between the couple. Various organisations in the Gambia are trying to clamp down on the practice of male prostitution, but it obviously is still a popular career option for some young men.

Whilst many bumsters can just be harmless, simply trying to earn a bit of money by offering help and “services” to tourists, the hardcore group can really be quite cunning and trick even some of the more experienced expats out here. They try to convince you that you know them from somewhere, often by quoting names of people they have researched that work at your workplace / live in your area. Then they invite you to an event, say for example a naming ceremony of a child. The child is often not even their own child, but they will still aim to guilt-trip you into buying gifts/baby milk powder for the family. These gifts are then either taken by the bumster or sold on at a later time. The whole thing is a scam.

I had my first real bumster test today – a man came up to me and said “Hey! It’s Lamin, don’t you remember me? I work as a guard at your house” (a tactic used to make the target feel guilty for not remembering people’s faces). I replied politely, “sorry, I don’t know you. Do you know my name?”. Undeterred, Lamin answered “It’s John”. Perhaps foolishly I continued to converse: “No it’s not”, to which Lamin said “oh, but I am a guard at your house. I know Julie” (random Western name dropping seems to help). “Where is my house then?”, replies the now less polite and slightly cocky Rob. “Just next to the junction over there”. A nice try, but I actually live about a 20-minute drive from that area. Many people have fallen for the tricks that people like Lamin use. It’s a shame but one has to be on one’s guard when meeting overly friendly strangers in the more touristy parts of the city. Thankfully, the vast majority of Gambians are not like Lamin, and are some of the most genuinely friendly people I have met.

As I finish this blog entry a man has just got his prayer mat out next to me to begin his afternoon prayers. A nice reminder of the importance of Islam to the majority of people here (roughly 90% of Gambians are practicing Muslims). I'll write about how this impacts upon the culture and daily life sometime in the coming weeks. Polygamy is worthy of a couple of paragraphs at the very least! For now though, take care of yourselves and lots of love,

Robert