Grimm Family Visits The Gambia

The Grimm Family Visits Sarah	Dec18, 2004 - Jan 7, 2005
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Independence Plaza in downtown Dakar, Senegal.	Dinner with the Thomsens in Dakar. This is the evening that Sarah fainted and joined us late.	Dinner with the Thomsens in Dakar	The Grimms take the ferry to Goree Island.
Goree Island	The family and PCV Nate on the way to Goree.	On the ferry to Goree Island	Goree Island family shot
Isaac and his painting	Monkey faceoff	At the top of Goree Island is a memorial to the many slaves that passed through Goree Island.	baobob tees where we bought Isaac's painting
Alley on Goree Island. The houses were pink and yellow and orange.	1Goree21.jpg	A drummer was playing as we climbed on the cannons at the top of Goree Island.	Dancing on the cannons at the top of Goree Island.
Goree Island cannons	Door of No Return	Door of No Return	Door of No Return
Door of No Return	Door of No Return	Goree Island	Goree Island fishing boat
Sunset at Goree Island with Dakar in the background	Sunset Beach at Sunset	Sarah at Sunset Beach at Sunset.	The Acrobats
The Acrobats perform	Isaac joins the Acrobats	Christy joins the Acrobats	Lying in the sun at Sunset Beach Hotel
Isaac's Sunburn	Playing with his sunburn	Ouch!	Sunset Beach Hotel
Sunset Beach	Sara Hoffman and her friend Robert join us at Sunset Beach Hotel.	Friends	Sunset on Sunset Beach
Sunset Beach Lunch	King Fisher	Together	Family in Abuko Nature Reserve
Hanging out in Abuko Nature Reserve	Abuko Skulls	sitting with monkeys	Imitating the monkeys
Greeting the monkeys	Monkeys	Abuko Trails	Lizards
Parrots	Jeep taxis	Tortoises	Hyenas
Wildlife	Wildlife watching at Abuko	Abuko crocodile and monkeys	Christmas Eve Dinner at the Peace Corps Hostel
Christmas Dinner	Christmas Dinner	Christmas Dinner	Sarah and Sara
Proud to be Human	Waiting for transport	Riding in a jeep taxi	Bakau Fish Market
Boats return to the Fish Market	Breakdown	Breakfast in Farafeni	Breakfast in Farafeni
Breakfast in Farafeni	Arriving with the Thomsen's at Bansang crossing after a long day of travel.	Large Silk Cottonwood Tree	A traffic jam
Sara Hoffman	We wait for the van to be declared fixed enough to resume tranveling.	Large Silk Cottonwood Tree with Michael at the base and a mosque in the background.	Street vendors
A long day's ride in the dust.	Dust, dirt, hot and uncomfortable.	Crossing at the ferry	The polic stop us and demand a bribe.
Our rental van breaks down	Local transportation	Sarah's hut	Sarah's family
Sarah and Njitie, a friend.	Sarah's bathroom, kitchen, shower, private area.	Michael played guitar every day.	Village street
Inside Sarah's hut	Karen swings in the hammock in Sarah's back yard. Modou pushs.	Villagers	Villagers
Sarah and Njitie	Karantaba Health Clinic	On our walk to the Health Clinic, these people were so well dressed despite the dust and heat that when complimented on their appearance, they replied "Then take our picture!" So we did.	Sarah and Fatou, a friend
These three grains are the basis of the diet for villagers. Millet, cous and rice make up 90% of their diets.	Aji and Dowda, children in Sarah's compound.	Isatou, Kadijatou and Isatou, three students in Sarah's Peer Health Educator Group	Sarah loves her little brother, Bachi Kah
Pounding with Kumba	Sara Hoffman pounds with Kumba	Sarah's two families in her compound	Making pesto
Cooking for 200 in Sarah's compound kitchen	S'mores	S'mores	Family in Sarah's hut
Mustapha learns to roast marshmallows	S'mores	S'mores	S'mores
Isaac roasts s'mores too	Lumo (Market) in Karantaba is on Wednesdays	Karen and Dowda Jobe, Sarah's brother.	Children
Sarah with her host parents	Sarah with her host parents	Kumba and Sara Hoffman	Momadou Jobe
Upper Basic Students	Cooking a feast for the village in our compound. Sarah bought a goat and a 75 lb bag of rice to provide the making for a celebration for the arrival of her family	Sarah carries water from the village pump.	Inside the kitchen hut
Inside the kitchen hut	Cooking	Cooking in Sarah's compound kitchen	Nyama makes pottery
Sara Hoffman and Kumba make Attaya. Making Attaya Tea is a significant daily ritual involving alot of pouring back and forth to create foam. The tea is strong and very sweet. The same tea leaves are used three times.You drink it in tiny glasses. The men drink it together and the women drink it together. Rarely is it shared between men and women.		Nyama is a potter	Grinding peanutbutter
The compound kitchen	Sunna, waiting their turn to dance. She runs the local nursery school.	Sarah dances	Sarah dances
Dancing at the Concoran	Dancing	Isaac and Sunna get down at the Kankoran	The boys wanted to braid Christy's hair but really they were just playing and pulling it.
The Kankoran	The Kankoran	The Kankoran	The Kankoran
The Kankoran	Sarah boogies	Isaac struts his stuff	Christy dances
Getting down!	Kankoran Dancing	Sleeping in Sarah's backyard	Sara dances at the Concoran
Kankoran	Kankoran Dancer	Kankoran Drummers	Street scene in Karantaba
Children	Children	Village children	Gymanstics in the compound
Karen's Toma Baby Isatou Karen and her mom, Sunna. Karen was named after this child (Isatou Kante) just as the child had been named after Karen. Toma - means namesake	Sarah's family and friends	Sitting in Sarah's compound	Sarah and her two fathers
Momadou Job and Michael	Momadou Job and Michael	Village children enjoyed frisbee and gymnastics with Isaac.	The children loved Isaac (Babukar) and waited outside for him to reappear and play with them.
Karen pounds cous by the compound kitchen.	Pounding	Sarah helps pound	The Grimms watch the action
Sarjo and Sarah's host mother	Sarah enjoys the show	Sarah's friends entertain	Children watch the drumming
Enthusiastic show of welcome and affection from Sarah's village friends	Funny faces and silly dances	Friends drum and dance	Nearby Health Clinic
Village children wait outside Sarah's hut for Babukar to play with them.	Baobab Grove on the way to the Health Clinic	Village elder pages through the new set of encyclopedias.	Students carry their new encyclopedia set to the school from Sarah's house. They liked the National Geographics better than the encyclopedias.
The Upper Basic School gets a full set of encyclopedias and a stack of National Geographic magazines.	We put in some playground equipment at the lower basic elementary school. Two swings and three sets of gym rings. The kids had never seen swings before.	New swings	Playground for K-6 students
Two new swings	consultants	Drilling the crosspieces with the brace and bit for the swing hangers.	We brought the tools and the hardware. They provided the wood and the ladder.
Pretend steering wheel so they can play taxi	New swings	Lower Basic (K-6 grade) School with new swings	Christy and Sara hang out
Chimpanzees shook the branches and howled at us from shore.	Christy's Manhattan shirt	Michael's concern for modesty in carvings on the boat	Jake hits the water
Sarah Hoffman Splashdown	One front flip, one back flip	Diving into the Gambia	Sunset on the Gambia River
Cold drinks at Janjang Buery	Cold drinks at Janjang Buery	The ferry across the Gambia	Janjang Buery early in the morning
Sarah and Sara	Sarah hanging out	Michael on the prow	Janjang Buery boat trip on the Gambia River
Leybatos Hammocks	Leybatos	Leybatos Hammocks	Beach Walk
Beach Walk	Marie Bennet Skill Center We sponsor 30 of the 100 students that attend this 2 year secretarial training program. We have been sponsoring students for 25 years, but it's the first time we have met our Christian Children's Fund sponsored students.	Students and Staff Although the Skill Center has been running for many years, electricity was just connected to the school the month before our arrival. For the first time, they have 5 workingcomputers . Previously they taught typing using only manual typewriters.	Local primary school children going home
Students and Staff There is also a sewing, embroidery and tie dye training program at Marie Bennet with 20 students. They use treadle sewing machines and create beautiful tie dye fabric.	Learning to use the computer	Typing	Supportive parents
Learning to touch type	Sponsored Students	Fixing Computers at Marie Bennet Skill Center	The Grimms with Solayman Jobe and Adama