I came to Kubunah Village to see Wide Open Walls but came away with a lot more. Modou Lamin, our town guide, provided us with glimpses of different aspects of life in Kubunah.
We visited women oyster fishers. They gather the oysters in small boats, boil them to open them and take out the meat which they sell. Then they pile the shells in big mounds allowing them to dry. Vultures pick them clean. Then they burn and crush them to make lime for cement.
Kubunah has been aided by a Danish NGO, Seniors Without Borders, since 2008. The NGO provided the women with 4 boats so they don’t have to rent them. This has made their work more profitable. Our guide from Banjul, Alieu, asked me if I knew what the men did while the women worked. Without missing a beat I said.
“Sit in a café and drink coffee.”
He paused for a minute, with a surprised look and then said; “Ten Points.”
Modou took us to the center of the village. There, original murals from 2010 were fading and flaking off the walls.
We visited the health clinic with urgent care, a consultation room and pharmacy.
Then we visited the school. Kubunah is fortunate to have education up to 9th grade. In 2008 a member of Seniors Without Borders visited a partially completed school building. The NGO raised money to finish the first section of the school and then did more fund raising to provide a wireless internet router and computers.
When we visited the headmaster, he talked about the problems of running a school without computers. I was polite and told him that I worked my first 40 years without a computer on my desk and completed my formal education without computers. I allowed how they were important, but you could get by without them. As I left a woman came into his office carrying a laptop. We made a small donation to the school.
We also saw the internet center and sewing room. This was another project of the Danish NGO. They bought the sewing machine and hired someone to train people working the machines. The sewing room was originally set up to make school uniforms but has now branched out. Alieu told us that school uniforms were important nationwide because they masked economic differences between kids and promoted equality.
“After school” we went to a family compound in the village where we were treated to drumming, dancing and good fellowship.
We visited other places in the village, for instance people who made palm wine. I asked about the market for wine since the country is mainly Muslim. The folks assured me that there was a Christian market, but that Gambian Muslims may also be among the consumers. This is similar to what I found working in Albania, Bosnia and even in Egypt.
Our day was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. Suzi and I have worked in international development for a long time, some of it in Africa. It is good to see what others are doing.
