houston, we have TEACHERS!

i´ve come to brikama for a 2 hour internet session - because it´s something to do on a very hot friday afternoon that would otherwise be spent under the mango tree. my friend who runs the internet cafe is kindly letting me surf even though the cafe is closed because he´s currently teaching a class of gambians how to use control+b to bold words and other formatting tricks in word. sometimes being a toubab comes in handy.

we had the interviews today for the nursery teachers and have found two teachers and a nanny! i thought the interviews almost wouldn´t happen today because there was another death in town and around the time we were meant to hold the interviews, the entire village processed through the center of town carrying the deceased man in a blue wooden casket. but apparently the burial only lasted a half an hour, so we were able to interview after all.

i´ve interviewed quite a lot of people for positions over the last few years - but somehow ´so tell me who you are when you´re not at work´ just didn´t seem an appropriate question here. actually i wish i could have gotten them on film because it was just fantastically gambian. four of us interviewed the 5 candidates one-at-a-time. each interview lasted about 5 minutes, with the potential teacher explaining in very broken english why they wanted to work in the nursery. two boys were far too young and hadn´t gotten further than grade 10, so were pretty much disqualified immediately. (plus they were wearing african red/yellow/green necklaces and sweatpants and the alkalo (village chief) didn´t think their appearance was professional). one of the men applying is a man who has been working on the nursery every sunday, [robably ebrima´s age, so i knew him fairly well. and the other two girls had at least graduated from grade 12 - the highest grade before going to college here. so seeing as we needed 2 teachers and an assistant, the candidates remaining chose themselves, with the more timid girl, it was decided, being offered the assistant position.

this means that we will be able to get them to the jolly phonics training next week - which was part of the reason for rushing the hiring. itś hard to tell whether these are going to be serious candidates. but frankly, they are the ONLY candidates, so we have to hope that they are serious. thatś the part that is hard for me to control - so i can only do what i can with the teachers and headmistress in my remaining time here and hope that the momentum continues, and that mondo continue sending volunteers who can work with them.

in any case - another huge item checked off my list, which is getting smaller and smaller since i leave three weeks from today!

i managed to bargain with the fabric seller and got the uniform light-blue gingham fabric down to 30d/meter! so i bought enough material to make 150 uniforms - which should see them through 3 installments of kids. and the fabric is now with the tailor who should be finishing them next week.

AND the men are back, at least until their trial on april 22. so the carpenter is back and can continue the benches, the masoners have returned to the job onsite and i think sunday we´ll be able to paint inside and out so that the muralist can start the artwork next week.

a big thank you again to everyone who has donated! it´s really coming together!

sandra and i are going to visit the abuko nature reserve tomorrow - something i´ve been meaning to do since i got here because gambia is known for their birds, and apart from HEARING them in the morning, i´ve hardly seen them in their best light. apparently there are monkeys and crocodiles too. what fun!

more next week when i get into town! happy friday!