Weather the Storm

The last two weeks have been every eventful, both in good and bad ways. Last Friday my group and I did Marathon March, which was a 20 kilometer trek through some of The Gambia’s jungle, rice fields, and mangrove swamps. This was my favorite part of training so far. I have always enjoyed hiking and backpacking back home, so this was right up my alley. There was no set trail that we would walk; we just went right through all the rough terrain. My favorite part was going through the mangrove swamps. Even though I was up to my knees in mud, it was so much fun. I was hoping to be able to do things like this when I found out I was going to be coming to Africa. Many of the other volunteers enjoyed it also.

We returned to our training villages the following day, many of us sore and tired from the march. There was a heavy rainfall that morning that stayed consistent throughout most of the day. Strong winds came through my training village, Madianna. When we arrived we saws signs of damage. Some of the trees had been blown down and there was scattered debris. Some of the houses in the village received significant damage, including the house of my host family. When I got dropped off at my compound, I saw that the roof of my family’s house had slid over the front porch and was inches from the ground. It turned out that the wind blew off the roof covering the back part of the house, and then the roof covering the front fell forward. My family had a small building that was separate from the house that they used as a kitchen, it was completely destroyed. The winds blew the roof of that also and walls collapsed in on themselves. My house was also separate from my host family, but it did not receive any damage, only part of my backyard fence fell, but that took minutes to repair. Thankfully no one was hurt. My three year old brother had a slight bump on the head but he was okay. When the rain stopped some of the other villagers came by to help put the roof back on. They salvaged some of the materials from the roof that fell off the kitchen to put on the house. It was not fixed like my host father would like, but he considered it to be good enough for the time being. He intends to do full repairs on the house once the rainy season is over, which will be in about another month. My family, as well as the other villagers are strong people, and they work very as a community. My family never ceases to amaze me. They seemed more concerned about making sure I had something to eat, rather than fixing their home. It certainly was a tough moment for my host family and me. Many say that strong winds like that only occur once every few years. However, after a few days things seemed to get back to normal.

Within the days following the storm, Madianna celebrated Korite. This marks the end of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims worldwide will undergo 30 days of fasting. The villagers all gathered together on Monday morning for prayer to bring Ramada to a close. Later that day the children would go around the village collecting salibo (charitable donation). It is similar to Halloween, the children will come to the door and I would give them a coin or candy.

I moved out of Madianna yesterday. It was tough having to say good bye to my host family. They have been so wonderful and have looked out for me throughout my training. Even though my language skills have improved significantly since I’ve started, there is still a barrier between me and them. Only my brother and namesake Bubacar can speak English. Even so, I would always have a great time interacting with them. I certainly intend to find my way back to Madianna during my service to see them all again. I am sure by then my Sarahule would be much more fluent. I may not have been able to verbally communicate with them very much now, but in the end that did not matter. My time with my host family has been filled with smiles, and smiles need no translation.