Pilot- check!!

YEAH! The pilot has been conducted and my questionnaire is ready for use! I met Baba this morning to go to the rural health facility, and I was so happy when I saw him that I gave him a hug! (I don't think it is a good idea to hug a muslim (married) man- at least not at the open street..) But he accepted my hug and off we went!

Baba and one of the patient participants. The women here are eager to be interviewed, they waited up to three hours in line.. Some volunteered to participate even though they were not asked. I am humble to their effort, they are poor women that need to work to get food on their table and several of them have many kids  waiting for them at home. I don't feel like I have much too give them back..

The walls at the health centers I have visited are full of these paintings. Some of them are very illustrative, so illiterate people can understand the message. The whole country is decorated with posters with statements like: "Equal access to education", "The president does not tolerate any use of drugs", "plant a tree for every child that goes to school.." With "the secret-mentality", this country will be a paradise in a little while!

Afrikanskje

Organising the pilot has been problematic and I haven't been able to conduct many interviews. I have been here for two weeks now and my time schedule is not on track, which is frustrating. I am totally dependent on others which is a challenge. Being used to Norwegian circumstances is a privilege, and I am spoiled. Misunderstandings and other unforeseen happenings has stopped the whole process for a little while. Luckily Baba (my Gambian classmate) is my savior and has agreed to help me interpret. He has been going with me to a health facility twice, but we only met one woman that filled my criteria. Tuesday will be the day when we will make success and conduct the interviews needed for the pilot! We will be going to a more rural population, which fit my criteria better. The timing is not very well as it is the end of Ramadan now. End of Ramadan means public holidays and the start of my project will be extended at least another week, which I can say has been worrying me a lot. I have the 400 interviews in the back of my head all of the time.. (I feel bad for Mona, Christina and Hege for my complain- I know you face greater challenges than I do.) And I guess everyone that are fasting for Ramadan these days think that the end of Ramadan is great! Trond-Olav and Binu saved my worst day by calling while they were just about to order tickets. They will be here in the end of November! Trond said something like "Priya, I can not order a ticket every time you are depressed". I am glad you did this time anyway!

I had this little fellow on my balcony the other day and he also cheered me up! Johanna: alle bilder av dyrene i Afrika er til deg, -som jeg lovet :)

For those of you that are in the process of trying to decide if you are coming here. This is the place to be in October-November when it is gray and rainy at home:)

A picture from my street, for you Ane! (Since you always get exited when you see red soil..!)

  This weeks big happening was a soccer game. Went to see Gambia play against Namibia together with the VSO group (Voluntary Service Overseas). Gambia won 2-1 and the atmosphere was amasing! It was raining heavily throughout the whole match and we were not covered, so we got soaked. And the sight could have been better.. I saw a couple of Gambians in Brann football shirts and Peppes Pizza rain cover. I also saw a bus the other day that obviously has been taken here from a folkehøyskole in the West of Norway with a Norwegian slogan on. It seems like some charity works!

Game over, find the shortest way out. 

This is how wet it was at the soccer game. We were sitting in the water you can see below. As I was sitting there with water all over me I got to remember my classes of water borne diseases and I wondered if parasites could enter my pants. As they do enter human skin, I guess a pair of pants will not be too tough. Hopefully the shoes of the people behind me were not carrying any parasites with them! When it rains heavily, the streets gets really muddy and it is not easy to get around with slippers. They sink into the mud, and I walked out of them a couple of times. I really appreciated my shower when I got home.

A good thing is that I am now confident in traveling around this area by my self. It seems like I was very unlucky with my first trip, cause I haven't experienced anything scary since. I can cancel my burka-plans! I also have to emphasise that I do spend most of the time in my room preparing for field work, and with Annas family. So that is why I don't have the most exiting happenings to brag about in the blog.

Hopefully the next update will be from Farafenni!

Finally, here are some pictures (Thanks to you, Janne!!)

By the crocodile pool. There are about 100 crocodiles in the pool and there were no fence around. When we walked in the village close to the crocodile pool (which is a museum), one of the crocodiles had run away, and was enjoying the sun in the village. It seemed to have a good time beside the sewage that was running in the street..

This is my new friend Charlie. I was told that the crocodiles were not hungry. By looking at the belly I felt safe as there is no way I would fit in!

The fishermen just got in with the catch of the day. As you can see, The Gambia has got a very nice beach!

 

The view from my balcony. The living conditions at the moment are fantastic. I am now situated in Bakau (there is a map further down on the page). Next Sunday I will be moving to Farafenni where I will stay for the rest of the period.

My first trip to town by my self

The taxi system here is new to me. The taxis have fixed routes, so I have to take the taxi from home to one place, then walk to the right part of a road where the taxi or bus (bus=toyota hiace..!) take me further (and it is not obvious where the right place is). The taxis are filled up with as many as they can take. In my experience the streets are not marked well, and I haven't got hold of a map, so I have some trouble in getting to know the surrounding areas. Until now I have had a boy following me around to fix everything. Today I figured it was about time I tried to get around on my own. I was going to meet some British volunteers that I have met on the internet. I made it home, but the return trip wasn't the best I've had. Most people here are very nice, but some are annoying. I have been told that I have to pretend that I have been living here for a long time, and that I am here working. I have to be very direct and honest and set my limits.. That is what I am practicing these days. It was very nice to meet the British guys though, they even invited me to a bbq on Saturday!

Annas husband just taught me what to say when I meet boys that are bothersome: "soma djekar mongifi" which means "my husband is here". I can't wait to test that line!

Oslo-Brussels-Dakar-Banjul

Some starting-problems. The guy in check-in in Oslo said I had to call Kilroy travels to change my ticket before I could go. It was Sunday morning at 6 am, and obviously no travel agency were open.. The guy wouldn’t let me on the plane, and he told me to go home. According to him my stay in The Gambia was longer than permitted without visa (even though the Gambian consulate assured me that I didn’t needed a visa). Luckily I found a girl at the travel office that was a bit more problem-solving-minded and service oriented. She called the airline and my ticket home was changed so I could go. HURRA!

I am now at a nice resort close to the main city (Banjul). Anna, a former student at my school, own the resort and she and her family take very good care of me. I have my own room with WC and air condition, which is very nice in this heat. I will stay here for about one week before I go in to the country to the town Farafenni. One of the boys that work in the reception is my guide and he follows me around town to fix everything. I have bought internet so I am now online on my own computer!!I have been here less than 24 hours and I have already had a short meeting with the Minister of Health. Hopefully I'll be able to start the pilot study in a few days. If things continue to go as smooth, this will be a dream!

My Gambian phone number is (00220) 78 52 758. My user name on Skype is priyamiriam. I am looking forward to seeing you guys online! Please comment and let me know how things are back home!

I just figured out that I have forgotten the USB cable to the camera so I will not be able to post pictures in a while. Sorry about that!

Preparations

The preparations started as soon as the semester was finished with buying the travel guide. Unfortunately there has not been much time for reading it. Most of the summer has past by spending time at work as a birth assistant (which is pretty exiting), a long-weekend in Köln, traveling in Lofoten (awsome!), and biking Rallarveien. The therapy to get read of my rat phobia did not work so I will have to face my biggest fear. I just read a travel blog from the country, describing the presence of rats on the roof every night.. This will be way too exiting.

All the vaccines has been taken, music and movies has been installed at my computer. Shantaram, the secret, Afrika en vakker dag, my grandaunt Ida's bible and SPSS survival guide is my company. I am getting ready for 4 months overseas:) Some work left on preparations for fieldwork though. Need to finish the questionnaire and SPSS which is the most challenging part. Besides statistics, saying goodbye to people is my main task these days, and saying goodbye is what makes me realize that I am actually leaving pretty soon!