Published: 20 May 2009
Sue's Latest Gambia Trip - April 2009
It’s so hard to believe that a year has passed since I last visited The Gambia. And upon my return last year, it was only a matter of days before I realized that I had to go back. A year seemed such a long time to wait, and at first the time dragged.
When we were arranging Am's and Saul’s visit to the UK, the last six months flew by. The original four from last years trip were to be reunited; Tim, myself, Tom and Sam (who me). I felt sure we were in for another good visit as we all got on so well before. Tim did warn me that no two trips were ever the same. I have to admit I had mixed feelings once again; what if I didn’t enjoy it this time? What if I didn’t have that same bond with the boys? I tried to put these thoughts to the back of my mind but it was a concern!
When we landed at Banjul airport the excitement started to kick in, we didn’t have to wait too long for our luggage and we were soon charging through with our cases to see who had come to meet us. Abu, Mido, Licky and Assana were there waiting to meet us, and as usual we received a warm welcome. Straight away my concerns disappeared, I feel so at ease with the Gambians, they are very special people. We had a nice surprise for them as they were only expecting three of us, they were so happy when they saw Sam.
We soon got on the bus and made our way to the hotel, quickly unpacked, got changed and headed off to Youna to meet up with more of our friends. We made our way to Lincs, which is now at Modu Boys compound, and it wasn’t long before a few familiar faces surfaced. We had a quiet first night due to the fact that some of the boys were attending a program, which is some kind of ceremony. We sat round a fire, which Tom had made and chatted with our friends.
The next morning, it was straight into our daily routine of getting up, showered and down for breakfast, bag packed for the day and ready and waiting for Abu at 11am. It's about a twenty minute journey to Youna, some of the players were there already. Once we entered the hall the boys soon came over to greet us. Che, the newly appointed captain produced a training record that he has been keeping on the players. He had done an excellent job with this, but we did notice that some of the players had missed a few sessions. When questioned it was apparent that some of the players now have to work at weekends to help support their families, this is how it is in Gambia, everyone has to muck in to help the family. Ams and Saul also have not done much badminton, due to the fact that since their return from the UK, they have had to catch up on school work and prepare for exams. It was suggested that training could also take place on a Friday evening straight after school, giving the players the choice of when they could train.
Over the week I watched a lot of badminton, and there are some very good players coming through. The boys are very competitive and get a lot of enjoyment from the game. We ran a doubles tournament to begin with to enable us to see how the boys had progressed but unfortunately witnessed our first accident in the hall. Mido and Bilaly were playing doubles and both went for the shuttle at the same time. This resulted in Bilaly getting a nasty cut to his brow. Therefore the emphasis on the training was mainly doubles tactics, Tom and Sam were a great help with this. We took out a few new rackets, and t-shirts kindly donated once again by Caroline at Running Imp. And I must say the team looked great in their yellow shirts. We also had some other t-shirts donated by Steve Butler at Forza, which were used as prizes.
We spent a day with Tamba, the previous master from the school. He is such a nice man; the boys were pleased to see him too! He suggested that he would like the badminton introduced into his new school, which in time could then mean inter school tournaments, certainly something worth considering, if at all possible.
I spent time visiting the boys at their compounds, and meeting their families. I even sampled the green tea, very sweet! I was made to feel very welcome by all, and felt privileged to be accepted into their homes. Tim was right, this trip was very different to my first visit, but I can honestly say equally as enjoyable! We spent all our evenings in Youna with the boys, and just generally having a nice time with them. We watched some of the boys play in a local football match, once again very competitive. And no shin pads, ouch!
I would like to thank Tim, Tom and Sam. I really enjoyed my week with them but sadly this will be our last trip together. The two boys have there GCSE exams next year and understandably wont be going to The Gambia.
I look forward to May 2010, when I intend to return.
Sue