Settling in

So, I survived my first full week in The Gambia! I’m halfway through my training period and will be starting my job on Monday the 19^th. So, what have I been up to this week?

The big move – On Wednesday I moved out of the very nice surroundings of the hotel to my permanent abode. With trepidation I boarded the truck to set out into the great unknown. After a short drive I arrived at a small compound, which I will now be calling “home”. My flat is very nice, spacious and with electricity points in all the rooms. Most importantly all the windows have mosquito nets across them, so I’m in (relative) heaven! I share my compound with three other families, who so far seem friendly and welcoming. Yesterday I had my first “food bowl” experience with them, in which we all gathered around one shared bowl of rice and ate the contents together. No big cultural errors made so far! My general neighbourhood is quite nice too, I've got all basic shops I need and am relatively close to the centre of the city. The cherry on top of the cake is that two other VSO volunteers are close by too, so no doubt lots of consoling chats and cups of tea await...

Training – Our induction training has so far been jam-packed, we’ve had a lot of information/trips in quite a short time. So far we’ve looked at the politics in the region, the health issues, the issues surrounding education and disability in The Gambia, the past and present situation of international development aid to Gambia and VSO’s role here (VSO has worked in The Gambia since 1961!). Fear not, I’ll write in more depth on these subjects in the coming weeks. We’ve also has visits to the local health clinic, a bank (to get a local bank account set up) and the local police station – I now officially have “legal alien” status. Yes, as Sting and The Police once sang, #I’m an Englishman in Banjul#. We also had a visit to the British High Commission. Just as in Mongolia they have a bar inside their grounds – just in case the local supply of gin and tonic runs out.

We've also had some basic survival training, which whilst might be useful to some people seems a bit patronising to me! The high/lowlight of this was being taught how to safely light a gas stove... Obviously our Gambian colleagues have come across some foreign volunteers who really don't have a clue of how to live outside of the comfort of the Western World (or have simply never gone camping!). The rest of my week has been spent in:

Language classes – Gambia has many local dialects, and whilst English is the official language it’s important to speak a bit of the local languages in order to:

a). speak to the lesser educated people who don’t speak English

b). show that you’re making an effort (people seem to really appreciate when a foreigner speaks a bit of the local lingo)

c). show that you’re not a tourist (so I can stop people trying to constantly overcharge me!).

I’ve started learning Wollof, the local language here in the West of Gambia. Wollof has been influenced a bit by French, and is spoken both in Gambia and in much of neighbouring Senegal. The first thing that struck me about our Wollof lessons is that we have spent the last 5 days solely learning greetings. No “where do you come from?” or “how old are you?”, but rather “how’s your body?”, “my body’s in peace”. This question then seemingly has to be followed by “How’s your family?”, to which the response is “my family’s in peace”. This greeting ritual goes on for about 4 or 5 questions (“did you sleep well?”, “how’s the afternoon?”), and is genuinely practiced by all the Gambians I have met. Once the greetings are out of the way you can get down to business, but it’s seen as very impolite to get straight to the point!

As a person who doesn’t care much for the greetings we use in the UK (“how are you?” to which the person responds “I’m fine”, without either person really caring too much about how the other person actually is), I initially rebelled against this greetings culture. However, I quickly saw just how important it is to people here – it’s seemingly a way for people to acknowledge each other as an individual human being who demands respect, rather than just an object that you use to achieve your own personal goals. I’ve been told that Gambians find foreigners who simply go into a shop and ask the shop assistant for a drink quite rude – they’re not respecting the local custom / they’re not playing the game!

That’s it for now, but I’ll write another entry in the next few days – I’m going off to visit a local village community soon, I’m sure that will be of interest. Lots of love and a big hug, I hope that you’re all “in peace”,

Robert