Hi, I'm John & my account of the past two weeks at Tendaba Lower Basic School vanished into the River Gambia when I tried to post it! I'm giving it another go!
Watch out, there is something about The Gambia that gets into your blood & leaves a fizz in there which won't go away. What an amazing time Clair, Lille, Sammy & I had at Tendaba Lower Basic School for 7 days & a weekend. We worked with the children, playing parachute games, rugby,made musical instruments, told stories, participated in impromptu dancing to rhythms drummed out on 25 litre plastic drums with wooden sticks, flew kites & boomerangs, talked about the history of flight, made paper aeroplanes, built a clay oven, made bread & last monday evening set fire to the oven & cooked, to the sound of more drumming and dancing.The little hot air balloons caught fire & never made it into the sky. We drove 2 hours to Soma on the saturday, bought paint, brushes & rollers, returned & by sunday evening had painted 3 classrooms - gave the children a cracking suprise on the monday morning! We ate fish from the river with rice, from a communal bowl at lunchtimes,provided by the school cook. We learnt about the Baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) the 'upside down' tree.If its circumference is 30 metres it is about 4000 years old!You can get a drink from the pulp of the fruit. We took a long boat with outboard across the gigantically wide River Gambia, into the Mangroves on the far side & saw birds & crocks. The community was so very welcoming, the children a pleasure to be with. The dedication & committment to the learning process by the staff - Mr Alie Boye, Mr Babu Fatty & Miss Mariana Bajo, with precious few resources, is to be congratulated. A big hug & thanks to Nyima for co-ordinating our stay so well.A great big thank you to Lamin for making all the arrangements,to his Mum & Dad for making us so welcome at their home party at Kwinella, & total gratitude & appreciation to all the children, to Alie, to Babu, to the beautiful Mariana for their help, their support & their kindness.To them I say 'Hello everybody', 'Abaraka!' Saying goodbye was very hard. The fizz is still within me.
John, I am glad that you've had a great time. Well done for doing all that hard work within 10 days. The FSF appreciate all your support and your work will benefit the children and the entire community. Feel free to return, I am sure that they already miss you! Lamin
Well I think that John has covered everything!! The trip was fantastic the most breath taking experience ever. I have been so inspired by all the people that I met there and haven't stopped talking about everything since I got back. Working at Tendaba Lower Basic School was a culture shock for me as it is completely different from teaching in England. The children are so enthusiastic and eager to learn new things. Being greeted by the community as warmly as we were made everything such a pleasure, seeing the children's faces as they came into their classrooms on the Monday morning after Sammy, Lil, John and I had painted them and fixed their desks over the weekend was fantastic, and worth every minute. From the minute we arrived everyone was so very welcoming and helpful, and made us feel like we were part of the community. The ladies of Tendaba organised and invited us to a cultural dance. They had done this to show their appreciation to us for working with the children at the school. I thought that this was a kind gesture and they were so giving, I felt that they gave more than I ever could as I have gained so much from this experience it had been a pleasure for me to involved in such a wonderful project I didn't need to be thanked for anything. But I have many thank yous to make, I would like to thank Nyima for her support and guidance throughout the trip she is a fantastic coordinator. Thank you to all the staff at Tendaba Lower Basic School for making my experience so rich and being so willing to help, get involved with the activities and helping us to make the time there so successful. They are all amazing people that do a fantastic job with limited resources, they are positive and hard working they are a credit to themselves and all the children they teach I feel that I have learnt a lot from these people and I am truly grateful for this. I want to thank Lamin and Rebecca for there hard work in arranging everything and checking we were all OK throughout the trip, to his parents and family for making us feel so at home and welcome at their celebration in Kwinella. And most of all to the children and community of Tendaba for making my time there so very special. They will stay in my heart for ever and I wish to return as I am missing them already and saying goodbye was the hardest part of the trip.
Hi, my name is Greg Packer and I’m a 23-year old final year medical student at the University of Birmingham.
In April I spent six weeks in The Gambia, most of it at a rural nurse-led health clinic in the village of Kwinella just south of the River Gambia. In UK medical degrees a period of the course is kept free in which we are encouraged to go abroad and work in a different healthcare system to get experience outside of the NHS. I chose The Gambia as I knew it was going to be very different from what I was used to; from what I had read it seemed like a really interesting, friendly place; and because I thought I might be able to make myself useful as the healthcare system is under-resourced.
Lamin and Rebecca at FSF were extraordinarily helpful in organising the trip. Lamin is originally from Kwinella and went out of his way to put me in touch with the staff. Lamin’s father lives in Kwinella and was kindness and generosity personified. He provided a delicious meal for me each day as well as introducing me to many different very welcoming people in the village and generally looking after me.
At the clinic I frequently accompanied staff on visits to outlying villages to vaccinate babies and young children. Everyone I spoke to was unfailingly friendly and it was fascinating to visit the different communities, and thrilling to be bouncing down the dusty unpaved roads in the back of the 4x4 ambulance in the oven-like heat of the dry season.
Most days I helped Jammeh, the head nurse, in the morning outpatients clinic. At first I found it very difficult to communicate but after a while I learnt a few words of the Mandinka language and, with the help of another nurse translating, was able to run a clinic myself under Jammeh’s supervision.
The clinic was well-supplied with some drugs and treatments, for example anti-malaria drugs, and the staff were committed, enthusiastic and those who had been to the nursing school in the capital were obviously well-trained.
Unfortunately there were quite a few problems as well: it was impossible to get tests that would be routine in the UK, such as X-rays or blood tests. Pain relief was limited, for example paracetomol is not really good enough for a man who has accidentally slashed his foot deeply whilst cutting wood with a machete. Worst of all referral to a distant hospital for treatment of more seriously ill patients was just not an option for some poorer people and others had to suffer with severe illness until the hospital had room to accept them. Seeing the plight of some patients really made me realise how lucky we are in the UK to have a free (at the point of use) health system available for all.
I like to think that I made a bit of a difference whilst I was at the clinic. Having two people running the clinics instead of one made things much faster and enabled us to see more patients. My training and the nurses’ training are obviously very different and we were each able to learn from each other. When I left I gave the clinic some really useful textbooks that are favourites of every UK junior doctor and a drug formulary that will help them use the unfamiliar medications they sometimes receive from UK donors.
One way I think I may have helped some people was by offering a slightly different perspective to patients. Splitting the clinics enabled me to spend more time with patients than they were usually able to have with Jammeh and in some cases I was able to offer little bits of advice that seemed to make a difference. One lady had been in discomfort for a long time because of swelling around one knee from continually kneeling down to do housework. Because I had the luxury of time to talk to her I was able to give her simple advice like using a cold compress and elevating her leg at night as well as the paracetomol she had been taking regularly. A couple of days later the lady came running up in the street and was excitedly telling me that her leg was much better than it had been for a long time.
A more unfortunate case was that of a lady with heart failure who was going pretty much untreated despite there being appropriate drugs available in a batch of tablets sent by a UK donor. The nurses were not familiar with the names of these drugs and had not realised they would be useful. After we realised this Jammeh and I went through all the boxes of drugs and identified them, using my formulary, so hopefully they will be able to make full use of what they have available in future.
I could go on all day about the incredible time I had living near Kwinella. Highlights included going to Serrekunda for a big family celebration in honour of the naming ceremony of a newborn; attending the village get-together, almost like a fete, on May Day; and being invited to share dinners, like one of the family, in almost every house I visited in the village, sometimes even if I was just spotted walking past.
The most generous and friendly people I met were of course Fallijeh Daffeh (Lamin’s Dad) and his family but the moment that summed up my Gambian experience for me was when I was watching a football match between the school students and a group of adults and found myself feeling really dizzy and dehydrated in the heat. I asked Alieu, the clinic’s ambulance driver, if there was anywhere nearby I could buy a drink but he shook his head. I carried on watching the game and was then surprised when a motorbike pulled up and the rider gave me a chilled 1.5 litre bottle of mineral water. It turned out he was the owner of a shop in the village and had overheard me asking for water so had driven off, got a fresh bottle and brought it back. He absolutely refused to let me pay and then wandered off back into the crowd.
The Gambia is a wonderful, friendly place, particularly out in the rural areas, and, even though they are under-funded and resourced, the health workers are making brave efforts to treat and help the local people. I would absolutely recommend that anyone who has the opportunity of working with the FSF, be it in a health centre like me or perhaps in a school, should seize it as they can be sure they will be well-looked after and have a thrilling, fascinating, rewarding time.
Thank you all for supporting the Fresh Start Foundation.
ReplyDeleteLamin
We currently have four volunteers in the Gambia, I can't wait to receive feedbacks from them. Lamin Daffeh
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm John & my account of the past two weeks at Tendaba Lower Basic School vanished into the River Gambia when I tried to post it! I'm giving it another go!
ReplyDeleteWatch out, there is something about The Gambia that gets into your blood & leaves a fizz in there which won't go away.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing time Clair, Lille, Sammy & I had at Tendaba Lower Basic School for 7 days & a weekend. We worked with the children, playing parachute games, rugby,made musical instruments, told stories, participated in impromptu dancing to rhythms drummed out on 25 litre plastic drums with wooden sticks, flew kites & boomerangs, talked about the history of flight, made paper aeroplanes, built a clay oven, made bread & last monday evening set fire to the oven & cooked, to the sound of more drumming and dancing.The little hot air balloons caught fire & never made it into the sky.
We drove 2 hours to Soma on the saturday, bought paint, brushes & rollers, returned & by sunday evening had painted 3 classrooms - gave the children a cracking suprise on the monday morning!
We ate fish from the river with rice, from a communal bowl at lunchtimes,provided by the school cook. We learnt about the Baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) the 'upside down' tree.If its circumference is 30 metres it is about 4000 years old!You can get a drink from the pulp of the fruit. We took a long boat with outboard across the gigantically wide River Gambia, into the Mangroves on the far side & saw birds & crocks.
The community was so very welcoming, the children a pleasure to be with. The dedication & committment to the learning process by the staff - Mr Alie Boye, Mr Babu Fatty & Miss Mariana Bajo, with precious few resources, is to be congratulated. A big hug & thanks to Nyima for co-ordinating our stay so well.A great big thank you to Lamin for making all the arrangements,to his Mum & Dad for making us so welcome at their home party at Kwinella, & total gratitude & appreciation to all the children, to Alie, to Babu, to the beautiful Mariana for their help, their support & their kindness.To them I say 'Hello everybody', 'Abaraka!'
Saying goodbye was very hard. The fizz is still within me.
John, I am glad that you've had a great time. Well done for doing all that hard work within 10 days. The FSF appreciate all your support and your work will benefit the children and the entire community. Feel free to return, I am sure that they already miss you! Lamin
ReplyDeleteWell I think that John has covered everything!!
ReplyDeleteThe trip was fantastic the most breath taking experience ever. I have been so inspired by all the people that I met there and haven't stopped talking about everything since I got back. Working at Tendaba Lower Basic School was a culture shock for me as it is completely different from teaching in England. The children are so enthusiastic and eager to learn new things. Being greeted by the community as warmly as we were made everything such a pleasure, seeing the children's faces as they came into their classrooms on the Monday morning after Sammy, Lil, John and I had painted them and fixed their desks over the weekend was fantastic, and worth every minute. From the minute we arrived everyone was so very welcoming and helpful, and made us feel like we were part of the community. The ladies of Tendaba organised and invited us to a cultural dance. They had done this to show their appreciation to us for working with the children at the school. I thought that this was a kind gesture and they were so giving, I felt that they gave more than I ever could as I have gained so much from this experience it had been a pleasure for me to involved in such a wonderful project I didn't need to be thanked for anything. But I have many thank yous to make, I would like to thank Nyima for her support and guidance throughout the trip she is a fantastic coordinator. Thank you to all the staff at Tendaba Lower Basic School for making my experience so rich and being so willing to help, get involved with the activities and helping us to make the time there so successful. They are all amazing people that do a fantastic job with limited resources, they are positive and hard working they are a credit to themselves and all the children they teach I feel that I have learnt a lot from these people and I am truly grateful for this. I want to thank Lamin and Rebecca for there hard work in arranging everything and checking we were all OK throughout the trip, to his parents and family for making us feel so at home and welcome at their celebration in Kwinella. And most of all to the children and community of Tendaba for making my time there so very special. They will stay in my heart for ever and I wish to return as I am missing them already and saying goodbye was the hardest part of the trip.
Hi, my name is Greg Packer and I’m a 23-year old final year medical student at the University of Birmingham.
ReplyDeleteIn April I spent six weeks in The Gambia, most of it at a rural nurse-led health clinic in the village of Kwinella just south of the River Gambia. In UK medical degrees a period of the course is kept free in which we are encouraged to go abroad and work in a different healthcare system to get experience outside of the NHS. I chose The Gambia as I knew it was going to be very different from what I was used to; from what I had read it seemed like a really interesting, friendly place; and because I thought I might be able to make myself useful as the healthcare system is under-resourced.
Lamin and Rebecca at FSF were extraordinarily helpful in organising the trip. Lamin is originally from Kwinella and went out of his way to put me in touch with the staff. Lamin’s father lives in Kwinella and was kindness and generosity personified. He provided a delicious meal for me each day as well as introducing me to many different very welcoming people in the village and generally looking after me.
At the clinic I frequently accompanied staff on visits to outlying villages to vaccinate babies and young children. Everyone I spoke to was unfailingly friendly and it was fascinating to visit the different communities, and thrilling to be bouncing down the dusty unpaved roads in the back of the 4x4 ambulance in the oven-like heat of the dry season.
Most days I helped Jammeh, the head nurse, in the morning outpatients clinic. At first I found it very difficult to communicate but after a while I learnt a few words of the Mandinka language and, with the help of another nurse translating, was able to run a clinic myself under Jammeh’s supervision.
The clinic was well-supplied with some drugs and treatments, for example anti-malaria drugs, and the staff were committed, enthusiastic and those who had been to the nursing school in the capital were obviously well-trained.
Unfortunately there were quite a few problems as well: it was impossible to get tests that would be routine in the UK, such as X-rays or blood tests. Pain relief was limited, for example paracetomol is not really good enough for a man who has accidentally slashed his foot deeply whilst cutting wood with a machete. Worst of all referral to a distant hospital for treatment of more seriously ill patients was just not an option for some poorer people and others had to suffer with severe illness until the hospital had room to accept them. Seeing the plight of some patients really made me realise how lucky we are in the UK to have a free (at the point of use) health system available for all.
I like to think that I made a bit of a difference whilst I was at the clinic. Having two people running the clinics instead of one made things much faster and enabled us to see more patients. My training and the nurses’ training are obviously very different and we were each able to learn from each other. When I left I gave the clinic some really useful textbooks that are favourites of every UK junior doctor and a drug formulary that will help them use the unfamiliar medications they sometimes receive from UK donors.
One way I think I may have helped some people was by offering a slightly different perspective to patients. Splitting the clinics enabled me to spend more time with patients than they were usually able to have with Jammeh and in some cases I was able to offer little bits of advice that seemed to make a difference. One lady had been in discomfort for a long time because of swelling around one knee from continually kneeling down to do housework. Because I had the luxury of time to talk to her I was able to give her simple advice like using a cold compress and elevating her leg at night as well as the paracetomol she had been taking regularly. A couple of days later the lady came running up in the street and was excitedly telling me that her leg was much better than it had been for a long time.
A more unfortunate case was that of a lady with heart failure who was going pretty much untreated despite there being appropriate drugs available in a batch of tablets sent by a UK donor. The nurses were not familiar with the names of these drugs and had not realised they would be useful. After we realised this Jammeh and I went through all the boxes of drugs and identified them, using my formulary, so hopefully they will be able to make full use of what they have available in future.
I could go on all day about the incredible time I had living near Kwinella. Highlights included going to Serrekunda for a big family celebration in honour of the naming ceremony of a newborn; attending the village get-together, almost like a fete, on May Day; and being invited to share dinners, like one of the family, in almost every house I visited in the village, sometimes even if I was just spotted walking past.
The most generous and friendly people I met were of course Fallijeh Daffeh (Lamin’s Dad) and his family but the moment that summed up my Gambian experience for me was when I was watching a football match between the school students and a group of adults and found myself feeling really dizzy and dehydrated in the heat. I asked Alieu, the clinic’s ambulance driver, if there was anywhere nearby I could buy a drink but he shook his head. I carried on watching the game and was then surprised when a motorbike pulled up and the rider gave me a chilled 1.5 litre bottle of mineral water. It turned out he was the owner of a shop in the village and had overheard me asking for water so had driven off, got a fresh bottle and brought it back. He absolutely refused to let me pay and then wandered off back into the crowd.
The Gambia is a wonderful, friendly place, particularly out in the rural areas, and, even though they are under-funded and resourced, the health workers are making brave efforts to treat and help the local people. I would absolutely recommend that anyone who has the opportunity of working with the FSF, be it in a health centre like me or perhaps in a school, should seize it as they can be sure they will be well-looked after and have a thrilling, fascinating, rewarding time.