Day 1- Sutu-Sanjang/wells

G2G raised funds for ten well to be dug in Gambia this was the first

The plans for the first full day were to travel to Sutu- Sanjang a small village south of Gambia 1 kilometre from the Senegal boarder.

Along the way we stopped by a village to see two of the ten wells G2G had raised funds for. Prior to our departure from the UK we transferred funds (see account post) to Noor-Aid-Manchester to start the well digging work before we arrived in The Gambia. Noor-Aid-Manchester is a charity, like G2G operate a 100% donation policy. We were overwhelmed by the hard work undertaken by the labouring Gambian brothers; well drilling in the scorching sun was not a task for the weak. With a pickaxe, shovel, a bucket and rope these amazing men were heroes. How different it would be if they had a boring drill. Two volunteers were brave enough to go down the 30ft well only to find that it was hotter at the bottom then it was at the top.

Giving a hand digging 30 feet down under

         in search for fresh water

Meeting young people that will benefit from the wells

 

Having been satisfied with the work and locations of the wells, we jumped back into our hired mini-vans (City Boy & Big Boss). To our astonishment one of them had clocked up more the 460,000 miles! we'll come back to the van story later. 

We hit the road and made our way to a market to purchase rice. Due to the lack of space in our vans we were only able to purchase 20 sacks of rice weighing 25kg each to be distributed in Sutu Sanjang, we also purchased books, pens & sweets for the children.  

 Jamal Mapara (left) & Zakaria Sharif Ali (right)

Yusuf Ali-taleb  (centre), Ismail Adia (right) & Maaz Haffesji(left)

On arriving into Sutu Sanjang we were greeted by the locals and taken to a school in which Sister Khadijah from Noor Aid Gambia had invested a lot of time and effort over the years.

Sister Khadija far right 

Sister Ayesha 

Sister Khadijah was a former employee of NLMCC who has spent most of her life living in Hackney. She and her daughter Ayesha had been a great help in all aspects of this project.



Sutu Sanjang one of the sites for putting up football goal frames. We were informed that each year they need replacing as the rains destroy the feeble wooden stumps. The new goal posts were made of metal and were sturdy. The foundations were dug deep then cemented into the ground.

A picture taken with the school kids in front of the old wooden goalposts.

A few of the group volunteers were former students of Jubilee Primary School. They were pleased to see table and chairs used by some of them many years ago, still going strong and being utilised by students in Gambia. These were donated to Sister Khadijah who had them shipped over for the school.

Suhail  next to a blackboard used for teaching in the school 

Although we were pleased to see facilities available for these children (albeit not in the best of conditions), the true fact was, many of the young people in the village were not in education. Of approximately 1000 children and young people only 90 odd were attending school. Many of them were waiting patiently at the entrance of the village for the food and gifts we had brought for distribution.

The children were very excited and the 

village adults were overjoyed with what they had received.
It’s important to mention, that although there is huge poverty in The Gambia, we never experienced any forms of begging or harassment, this speaks volumes about the patience and virtue of the people of Gambia.

A small group went to visit individuals and families that were living in severe poverty and were therefore eligible for Zakah. These people were identified by the head teacher of the school we visited earlier in the day.

By the end of the day the reality of the situation hit home. We were seeing poverty and its related issues first hand. Many of us had never experienced anything like this before and it was both an eye opening and humbling experience for all the youth and volunteers.