Sukai

Well, another week has nearly come and gone! It has actually been quite a busy week; I was kind of dreading going to work on Monday because I figured that it would be another week of me sitting around playing cards, begging people for something to do but it actually turned out to be quite the opposite. When I arrived on Monday there was actually work to do!! And it took me almost all day to complete; I did sit around for the last two hours or so randomly helping staple presentations but by that time it was soooo hot in the office that it was virtually impossible to get much done anyway. Musu, one of the program officers, had a training for Local Government Administrators and Officials that started on Tuesday and finished today so I've been there at the training for the last three days. It was an enlightening experience to say the least!! The training was supposed to start at 9am on Tuesday and having been in The Gambia for 3 weeks now, I should know by now that everyone is always late; but they were 2 hours late!! Most people finally showed up around 11am with people trickling in until about 11:30; I could not believe it! Apparently that is always the way it goes with government officials...they always show up when they are good and ready! The Secretary of State was supposed to be delievering the Key note speech and he arrived at about 9:15 but no one was there so he went back to Banjul and came back when people finally arrived at 11am!

But probably my favorite part of the workshop was people's cellphones...they are constantly ringing and people actually answer them right there in the middle of the workshop!! So not only do people have the audacity to show up 2 hours late but when they do finally arrive they sit on the phone while someone is trying to present!! I have not really experienced any culture shock...i never really do but i have to admit, this style of working is extrememly hard to get used to and is VERY frustrating at times! But i guess something I will get used to with time. Other than that, the workshop was a really great experience; it got me out of the office for 3 days, it gave me something to do, i finally feel like i have a purpose and I ended up getting paid for going; $1500 dalasi!! Now in real money, that works out to be about $65 CND, but in The Gambia is ALOT of money! And I learnt alot; the presenters were all really good so all in all it was a really good experience.

Tomorrow is the Children's Bantaba; the Bantaba is a event that CPA and Voice of the Young organize bi-annually. Voice of the Young is a youth group, with all members under the age of 18, sponsored by CPA; they put on events and do radio broadcastes to create awareness about issues that are facing the children of The Gambia. This Bantaba will include a March down one of the main streets followed by a series of presentations on this years chosen topic; the theme for this Bantaba is "Children and Communities Unite to Fight Child Sex Tourism". It should be a good day, all the major media houses will be there but it will definately be a long day so I should probably wrap up my rambling.

But before I go, I think I should inform you all that I have a new name. People have been telling me that I need a Gambian name; it will differentiate me from the tourists and it keeps me from having to give random people my real name. So today I let Lamin, the president for Voice of the Young, give me a Gambian name; he decided on Sukai. Ahmad (Amat) decided that I should not be given just any family name so he has given me his; so I am now Sukai Dibba. I feel a bit like a have an alter-ego but i like it!

Well that is all for now...from Sukai Dibba