The Only Toubab in the Village.

Before the easter break, Ive been mainly helping at the primary school so my time at the nursery has been reduced. The previous volunteer has come back to help me over the holidays with some ideas for the nursery.

Gambians are very laid back and dont have the strongest of work ethics! The teachers dont do teaching plans so they often go over the same things time and again. Corporal punishment is a huge problem in the nursery and the teachers havent had formal training so weve been working on a few ideas that might help them.

So far all the kids have been doing the same work. The brighter children tend to get quite restless at times and some less able chidren are afraid to try things in case they get things wrong. They do sometimes get beaten for getting wrong answers which is horrible. The variation of ability is huge, especially in the second class so I wanted the teachers to be able to set different work. Weve also come up with a strict rewards and sanction strategy that the teachers will use and this should help to cut out beating in time. We met with the teachers and they like our ideas but arent sure that they will work. They have the attitude that children who arent as clever as some are bad children because they get things wrong and dont want to learn. They are also afraid that the children will run riot if they arent beaten. Old habits die hard and it will be difficult for me to stamp out beating all together but I will be consistent with the procedures we have put in place.

I can understand why things slow down, especially in the afternoons because it is so hot. It is frustrating at times when I need to get somewhere but overall it has helped me to relax a lot more and to not worry about time so much. They are very impressed by the way volunteers work and how we want to get things done!

Gambians are great company and will always talk to me so Im rarely lonely. They have some humorous and interesting ways of saying somethings in English. My room in the jammeh compound is called my house and they all say stubborn for bad child instead of saying naughty. They are also very superstitious. They believe that some people are devils and I cant play my drum in the house for fear of breaking a protection from this. I cant say that Im a believer myself but its fascinating to hear about their ideas and beliefs. Its mental! Cosmos my djembe teacher has the best sayings and he once told me that smoking cannabis made him very clever! He talks a lot of rubbish and Iv had to help bail him out when he was arrested for an incident with a neighbour. But he can teach djembe. I go to his house to drum in the evenings. The local girls also come to dance while several of us drum away. Im improving steadily and thoroughly enjoy it.

Im also picking up a bit more local lingo and have kitted out my house a bit more. I had no furniture when I arrived and found it very difficult without electric light in the evenings so Iv had table made for me and a motor battery and bulb put in. its a huge help. Im continuing to help fatou, one of girls in the family, with maths and using the internet and looking to add more students to the AP class. Theres is also a local football team that Iv helped support and iv bought jerseys for them.

Its been great having help from another volunteer but she has had go back to the UK for a teaching placement. Iv found that it is so much more difficult to try and implement things when you are on your own but I will continue to keep working with the teachers and try new things.