Day 8- home time :(

Today is home time :( we got a bit of a lie in today as breakfast wasn't until 9am. Once we had finished breakfast, we all stayed seated as Alagi (one of the directors of the gunjur project) wanted to do a speech for us all. The speech was very emotional. He said what a big impact we had made to the Gambian community and that we should all be very proud of ourselves, individually and as a group. He said we were also his favourite group to work with (well obviously!). Then he got all the staff from the gunjur project to hand out certificates to each of us for all the hard work we have done over the last week. After countless amounts of tears, it was finally over. We filled our bottles of water for the last time, and got on the truck with Alagi. We went into gunjur to deliver bags of clothes and toiletries to the compounds where people live. All the people we saw were extremely grateful for these. Lastly, we delivered clothes to Alagi's mums compound. We got shown around and she made us all very welcome. Then it was back to the gunjur project to get our last things together. We put our bags in a pile ready for them to be loaded and headed outside. We had a final photo with all the staff by our mural. We got on the truck ready to go. As we left the gates for the final time, all the staff were waving and throwing flowers onto the truck. It was lovely. We got to the airport and it was a pretty forward run from there. We checked our bags in and got through security fairly promptly. When we got to the gates, Live bought us all a bottle of water and some pringles, to go with the sandwiches the gunjur project had made us. We boarded the plane and took our seats. Thankfully, we didn't have to get off the plane and go through security again like the last time! When we finally landed in Manchester airport, we got off the plane, got through customs and waited for our luggage, and waited, and waited, and waited! It took ages for the luggage to come through the carrousel, but eventually we got everyone's luggage! Drums n all! We then went to meet all the parents to pick us up. Everyone was leaving so we all went round hugging everyone and thanked every one for making the trip so special.
#tripofalifetime

Day 7- final working day!

Hey guys! It's our last day to cram in anything else we want to do before we come home tomorrow! :( we were up, had breakfast and on the truck ready to go disability Africa again by 9.30am. We got there and said hi to all the staff. We took loads of resources to the centre so we left them in the staff room when we signed in. We went to the craft room first. All the children were showing us there colouring books. We got out  our activities- friendship bracelets and lolly pop houses. All of the children enjoyed the activities. Next we went outside and played cricke,  connect four and boccia. They all loved learning new games and apprieciated our company. Some of us got a bit emotional when it was time to say goodbye... however it won't be goodbye, just see you soon. Live! Now have a link with disability Africa so we can still support them from the UK. On the way back we stopped off at a local compound. It was different to what we expected. It was a wealthy compound so they had electric and proper beds. The family were really nice to show us where they sleep, cook and live. Next it was lunch!! Which again, was a very delicious spread! After lunch, a small number of us went to the batik factory. We saw how they made all sorts of batiks and tie dye. There was a lot of things to buy there too... jewellery, baskets, clothing and wooden carvings. We had to whack out our bartering skills to get the best price!! The rest of the group stayed at the gunjur project to finish the moral and to have a walk around the local fishing village. We were all shocked as to how long and hard they have to work in the Different stages of gettingg the fish to market.
2 of the boys in the group (Adam and jordan) went into the kitchen to do some cooking. They helped make The Gambian dish for tea as well as pizzas. They did an excellent job!
When we got back, we had tea, which the boys made, and then had yet another disco. Much to Nicky's surprise, she wasn't made DJ!
#thelastday

Day 6- back to school

so today, it was back to school for us! After breakfast we got on the truck to go to the local pre school. As some people thought that today was a bank holiday (due to the Independence Day), there were a more manageable sized class to work with! We were shown around the school by the head teacher. After that we got all three classes (aged 5,6 and 7) into a big circle to do games and singing. We did the hockey cockey, if your happy and you know it, banana song and everywhere we go. Then,  we went into the classrooms to do craft activities. With the younger ones we made dreamcatchers, and with the older ones, we made houses with lolly pop sticks. After they had finished the activities, we handed resources to to head teacher and had a photo with all of the pupils. Then we headed back to the project for lunch. After a short chill by the pool, we headed off to The Gambia college (which again, was 45 mins away). We took our video to show the students, however, we went when the students were meant to be finishing! The teachers managed to gather some of the teaching pupils together and we did our presentation. Some of us also spoke about the disabilities they have. They had a lot of questions to ask, however we were all getting hungry so we drew the Q&A to a close and headed back to the project. After a busy day at school, we got in and ate all the bread! Then all our tea! I can assure that none of us will be loosing weight over this holiday! Time to relax and play bingo before we all hit the hay. Night!
#alwayslearning

Day 5-disability Africa!

Hey guys! It was again an early start for us! Ready and rearing to go by 9am. We met the people from the inclusion centre at the lower basic school. There was a big field (we'll patch of sand) so we got the cricket set out to play cricket. We also did games such as duck duck goose, hula hooping , and tug of war (but we broke the rope...oops!). We headed back to the gunjur project to get out of the sun. After a game of dodge ball in the pool, we went to the field (again, a big patch of sand) to do drum and dance. The we did the drumming first, and the staff did dancing, then we swapped. We performed the dance to the staff as they played the drums for us to dance to. After the dancing we got ready to leave again. We were off to meet the people from the disability Africa group in gunjur. They were putting on a drama for us and the village to teach the locals about disability. Unfortunately, the Gambian people love a speech! Because if this, it meant the drama started late so we couldn't stay until the end. We went back to the project to have tea. After tea came the entertainment! The teachers from the drum and dance session came back with there band to show us some traditional music and dancing. They had beautiful costumes and there skills on the drums were amazing (much better than ours)!
#disabilityisok

Day 4- the new Gambia!

Hey guys! Happy Independence Day! As the whole of Gambia are celebrating the new president, all the shops were shut and nothing was open. This meant that this morning, we went for a leisurely walk in the local conservation. It was a very interesting and we all learnt a lot about the different wildlife here in Gambia. I think the highlights of the walk were seeing LOADS of crocodiles in the lake, and holding the bread fruit to make our boobs bigger (well, the girls not the boys!)! We headed back to the  project to get out of the heat and wind down. After lunch we painted African drums. We had all different designs and lovely bright colours. We also started the mural for at the gunjur project... we have made the design and painted the background yellow ready to get the design started tomorrow. After decorating the drums we went to a reptile farm. Thankfully this was open. They had all sorts of snakes, it took 5 of us to hold it the big one!! They had other animals such as baby crocodiles, tortoises and cameleons! The tour guide we had around the snake farm gave us a very detailed description of each of the species on the farm and answers any questions that we had. Oh, I forgot to mention that he was 10 years old!!! He was incredible! When we got back, it was time to get ready to party!!! We had a BBQ for tea and a disco to celebrate the new president. Nicky thought she'd try and get down with the kids and put 'cool' music on but this didn't go down well! The gunjur project staff put there music on instead!
#gambiahasdecided #thenewgambia

Day 3

Hi again! It was an early start for us all this morning. Up and ready to go by 8am, then time for breakfast. There was again a wide variety of food for breakfast, however most of us stuck to pancakes and chocolate sauce! the bell went on the gates... the transport had arrived! There was an upheave as we all charged to get a seat on the open top Range Rover! We all got comfortable and off we went to disablility africa at the inclusion centre. When we arrived, we were greeted by all of the staff at the centre. Unfortunately none of the service users were here today as they don't come on a Friday. The staff showed us around the centre, then we all took our seats. The staff at the centre welcomed us and we introduced our selves. Then we showed them the video that we had made of live and the things we do.  They talked about there centre too. It really hit home to see how similar live and disability Africa  are but how the 2 cultures vary so much. We are going back there on Sunday and they will be showing us a drama piece that they have created. We got back on the transport and headed back to the gunjur project. It was time to have some lunch, relax and have a dip in the pool. At 4pm we headed to   A local market in the town near by (well 45 minutes away... again!). This was eventful to say the least. The market was very busy... it was difficult to keep up with the hussle and bussle of the market. So much so we managed to loose debi and some other members of the team! We waited for them and eventually they appeared! We carried on walking and finally reached the one part of the market everyone was antisipating.... the fabric shop!! we went in and it was packed with stacks of wonderful, colourful fabrics! We all bought the amounts we wanted and headed back to the trucks. On the way back, the group that were on the truck had a sing song on the way home! I'm sure all of the people we passed thought we were mad!! We waved to passers by on the way home... however, when Rick bellowed hello everyone got a shock!  The tailor was waiting for us when we got back to the project. We all raced wth the fabrics we had just bought to be measured for tops, trousers, gowns, dresses... anything we wanted!
Once we finished tea, it was time to sit by the campfire and have a chill (or a game of darts, which the boys preferred).
#equalopportunities

Day 2-

hey guys! Today has been an enjoyable day. We woke up and were met by some... MONKEYS!!! Lots of monkeys! Some were... having lots of fun were each other.... after obsessing over the monkeys, everyone got lathered in sun cream and deet spray to head down to breakfast. We took our seats and ordered breakfast. I don't think the waiter was very impressed when we all ordered a full English... this may sound weird however, it was my full English I don't want this, and I don't want that! When they finally got hang of us fussy teens, our breakfast arrived, and it was delicious! Once we all finished breakfast we headed to the pool for a morning swim. The water was freezing but you got used to it after a while. It was quite nice to relax and enjoy everyone's company (whether or not it will be like that at the end of the trip is another matter). The staff came to pick us up from the hotel to take us to the gunjur project (where we will be spending the rest of the week). It was a 45 minute journey to the project and we were greeted by singing and dancing from the rest of the gunjur staff. FOOD time again! A delightful lunch was provided when we got there, then we were shown to our rooms to sort our things out. At lunch, we realised a few members of the group had become victims to sunburn.. Already! And some weren't in the best of places (sorry Jordan!)  Next on the list was getting all of the resources together. All hands on deck to get everything together and sorted into piles (Kathy got the best job of sorting through the underwear!). The staff from the gunjur project took us on a walk around the village. This was eventful as joe needed a donkey and cart to get around the village as the road isn't accessible for the wheelchair!!! There was a wedding taking place in the village and all the children came running to get sweets! It was madness, but one of the best experiences ever. We got back to the project and it was time for tea. And again we were provided with a beautiful array of food... and pudding!

We are now all sat (or dancing!) to the banana band, who are providing us with Gambian drumming.

#therealgambia