Dirk Depoorter

Friday, February 6

It's been a year since we were in Gambia. In 2025, we were able to achieve a lot with Gammol again, thanks to all our loyal sponsors and Omar and Lamin on site!

We traveled with a clear agenda:

• Monitoring the (now 5) Gammol schools. The goal was to make progress with the "Gammol School Committee" (GSC). Each school was informed of our visit, so they could prepare.
• Making two large water installations installed by the EU 30 years ago fully operational again.
• Setting the other priorities for 2026.
• And, as every year, almost obligatory, visiting a number of new installations.

We landed at 7:20 PM, after a short stopover in Dakar. We were happy to see Lamin and Omar again, who picked us up and took us to the "Mama Africa" ​​lodge.

Ensa Sanyang - Gammol School Committe

That same evening, we had our first meeting with Ensa Sanyang, the man we'd like to appoint as coordinator for our school committee (GSC). This committee's primary goal is to improve the quality of instruction in our Gammol schools. It serves as a learning platform where the different schools can learn from each other.

Ensa provided us with an update, which revealed that the Sanchaba school still lacked the necessary motivation to actively participate in the GSC. This initial meeting also revealed that the priorities for our schools are finding and paying good teachers, providing sufficient materials, and organizing exams. In the long term, Ensa considers the benefits of a shared portal, as well as greater coordination in student monitoring.

It became clear to us that a great deal of work remains to be done to make progress with the GSC.

Saterday, February 7

Faala Village

Faala Village is the first school we visit. We meet with Sainabu Jawla and Ousman Bojang (GSC leaders), Muhammed Faye (head teacher), Malang Bojang (village chief), and Isabou Jannel (English teacher). The goal is to understand their most important needs, how they view their role at the GSC, and whether there has been any progress in education.

It quickly becomes clear that the biggest problem is finding and paying good teachers. The children's parents contribute, but this isn't always enough to pay for a good teacher. The monthly cost: 8,000 to 10,000 Dalasi, or between €95 and €115. Something we'll hear in practically every school…

We also notice the enthusiasm, both from the children who welcome us and the teachers who make the most of the resources they have.

Other priorities: an extra toilet, finishing the kitchen so the children can have a meal, learning materials, more classes (they currently have to merge two classes because there are too many students wanting to come to the Gammol school), and a teacher's room.

At each school, we also explain in detail the purpose of the GSC and the responsibility we will place on it. We want the GSC to determine priorities across the five schools. This forces them to look beyond their own school. Based on these priorities, which the GSC will determine, a budget will be allocated. This will be a significant stretch for the five people who will represent their schools in the GSC. And this also entails a significant responsibility.

Gammol headquarters

We pass by our Gammol House to see the renovations Omar has done to make it more pleasant for the students who stay there every year. There's now a walled terrace that ensures privacy. A success. What still needs to be done is clearing out the garage, which is full of clutter.

Sanchaba School

Meeting at the Sanchaba school with Lamin Bojang (GSC representative), Saikou Tijan Bojang (internal affairs officer), Yankue Saidy (head teacher), and Fatoumata Jallow (English teacher).

Like Faala, this is an Arabic school. Our other schools are English schools. The difference is the amount of English the students receive. Our long-term goal is to have the same tests in all our schools so the GSC can monitor this. We certainly haven't reached that level yet.

We discuss the role of Amanah, the Gambian umbrella organization for Islamic schools. It's important for us to know that education here offers the same opportunities for children to continue their studies later in life.

179 students, 5 teachers, 2 of whom teach English, but only 1 is officially qualified. The first priority and greatest need: teachers. Motivated teachers! And Dalasi to pay them better. Because now they're losing their best teachers to private schools. In addition, there's also funding to feed the children in the afternoon. This is the second school we're visiting, but it's enough to get a sense of the needs. We suspect this will also be the case at the other three schools.
Here too, we explain the GSC's objectives. And again, we realize this isn't straightforward. Explanations are given from various perspectives, and Omar also translates them into Mandinka or Wolof (local languages).

Wait and see... Ensa gives us the impression he's "got it" and seems well-placed to play a role. We're clearly not yet at the level we want with the GSC. We realize it won't be easy, and ideally, someone will coordinate this. And then budget for it as well.

Sanyang Village

Meeting with the Village Development Committee: Botto Gaye (chair), Yusupha Jassey (secretary), and the VDC members.
This visit specifically focuses on the problems in their (very large) community garden. After some small talk and a thank you for the extra taps we installed at their fish market on the coast, we get to the heart of the matter. A large number of the reservoirs in the community garden are no longer being filled with water due to a faulty system. On June 10, 2025, we sent them an M.o.U. (memorandum of understanding) to be signed by the VDC and the Alkalo (village head). For each installation or building, we draw up a similar contract outlining the obligations of all parties involved. Eight months later, the Alkalo still hasn't signed it. A full explanation is given, while the essence is that the VDC and the Alkalo are abandoning the population (especially their women). They promised us that everything would be signed the next day!? It later turned out that wasn't the case.

Sanyang Garden

We go on-site to assess the situation and see that the reservoirs in the front of the garden are indeed still not receiving water. The result: women and children are back to hauling impure water up from wells in buckets, using the old-fashioned method. It's sad and appalling to witness, but after all these years, we've learned that we have to stand our ground if we want to change the mentality of some of these men.

Rice project

In the evening, a meeting with Almamo Touray, the person responsible for the rice project we launched last year. It wasn't an easy meeting. We had to conclude that continuing the project based on the current situation isn't feasible. The stumbling block is developing the land for rice paddies. These old rice paddies are now forested and need to be cleared. There's also the need for equipment (tractors, plows, water pumps, irrigation canals, etc.). Moreover, the government is interfering, making the entire project unaffordable for us. At most, there are 10 to 15 hectares left where the costs are manageable. And even that's too small to make it a worthwhile project.

We're currently somewhat stuck with this project. The first pilot project we set up only cost us a few thousand euros, and the second broke even, but we don't want to take risks that could impact our other projects. We ask Almamo to further develop the business case based on all the data currently available, and then decide what we will do with it.

Sunday, February 8

Kuluro Nema

One of the many new projects completed in 2025. A village of over 3,000 inhabitants, which will expand to over 5,000 in the coming years. The exact number is always difficult to determine. It depends on the number of residents per compound. So, a rough estimate. We are welcomed by Edrisa Saidy (brother of the Alkalo), Abdoulle Bojang (VDC chairman), Omar Bojang (village elder), Momobou Bampha (responsible for the water tower), and Isa Fanta Seyai (women's representative).

After the usual words of thanks—"First time we have pure water in our village, water is life, happiest people in The Gambia, we are going to pray for Gammol, God bless you..."—the questions follow: repairing a leaking school roof, toilets for the school, food for the children at the school, extensions for communities next to Kuluro. With this last point, they demonstrate their desire to show solidarity with other villages. They are also willing to invest, if resources are available, in additional water supply in their village.

Regarding the school: an English school with 300 students and six teachers who are underpaid, absent in some months due to a lack of funding. The parents contribute what they can, but their contributions are far from sufficient.

Dirk thanks them for their hospitality and explains how Gammol operates. He emphasizes that we can and want to be partners, but that this depends on them. The extent to which the village itself takes initiatives, takes action, and invests in development, such as creating a community garden and building a marketplace, which will provide them with resources (read: Dalasi), partly determines what Gammol does.

Kuluro Tunjina Garden

We visit the community garden, where we discover a problem with the controller. It turns out to be broken, and repair costs 162,000 D, or approximately €2,000. This isn't a Gammol system. We say we want to look into it, without any promises. If we want to maintain this with Gammol, a Memorandum of Understanding (M.o.U) with clear agreements must first be in place.

Faraba Kariaba

We are welcomed by a large delegation of about 25 people. This village is home to one of the two EU projects we visited last year, which is no longer functioning properly. We're considering taking it over with Gammol to guarantee its continued operation. A water system, installed in 1995, with an 80,000-liter tank, metered taps connected to 91 compounds, and 76 street taps have been disconnected. The reason: the system no longer runs on solar energy, the panels are defective, but on electricity. As a result, only compounds that can afford the electricity still have clean water.

In total, there are more than 300 compounds in Faraba. In the surrounding area, there are even 2,000! The electricity cost is 260,000 D per year (approximately €3,100). They urgently request assistance to repair the system. Costs approximately D800,000 (€9,600): control box D175,000, pump D400,000, and 20 to 25 solar panels D200,000. This is the price of one of our standard installations, except that the water tank here is eight times larger than ours.

We want to discuss this with a small group, a maximum of five people. It takes some effort to make it clear to the twenty others that they are no longer welcome to discuss this. Our reason: we know that otherwise everyone will want to share their opinion, which would waste a lot of time. We agree to carry out the repairs and place the water installation under the care of Gammol. In exchange, they will pay Gammol D130,000 (half of the annual electricity bill) for four years. This is Dalasi that we can use for other projects in Gambia. It takes some time and explanation to convince them, but they ultimately agree. Once back home, a Memorandum of Understanding (M.o.U.) needs to be drawn up, clearly documenting all agreements. Just like we do with our other projects.

Tumani Tenda

We are welcomed by Emoula Manga, head of the VDC. A village with about 50 compounds, each with a water system on Emoula's private land, but with the promise that the entire village can benefit from it. Each compound has a tap, for which they pay a monthly fee of 10 D (12 centimes). Their water system is a tanker truck container, I estimate about 25,000 liters, which they've placed on concrete poles. Creative. How they did it is a mystery to us. According to them, the problem here is that the pump isn't powerful enough, because the outermost compounds aren't getting water. And the water tastes of iron because the drilling was done too deep.

Here too, they're asking for our help to drill a new, shallower well and install a new pump. However, we're not sure whether that's the solution to their problem. First and foremost, they need to regularly clean their panels, which are covered in dust. In addition, the water quality must be tested before and after it enters the container. Perhaps the container is contaminating the water? Finally, they must test whether the furthest compounds receive water once the tank is filled. There's a persistent belief (and not just here) that a more powerful pump will provide the compounds (or public taps) with sufficient water. However, it's the height of the tank that creates the pressure to distribute the water. Therefore, it must first be determined whether the water tank fills and whether the pipes are suitable.

Once this is clarified, we are willing to help them and turn it into a Gammol project as well.

Kafuta Village

One of the new projects, completed in 2025. We are welcomed by Lamin Jadama (area chairman), Musa Kanteh (borehole manager), Lamin Bojang (Alkalo), Sheriffo Camara (village elder), Ebou Jobe (VDC chairman), Bintah Bah (regional councilor), and Nyima Kanteh (Woman's representative), along with a large group of villagers. This, despite them saying that this is only a limited group, as a circumcision ceremony is taking place.

The usual words of thanks are given, along with the equally usual request for more water. We then give our usual speech, emphasizing that additional interventions will only be considered if the village can demonstrate that they are also taking action to make progress.

Dirk Depoorter

Monday, February 9

Fuffor Village

Visit to our school in Fuffor Village. We made an appointment with Samba Sowe (Headteacher), Ousman Bah (Regional Counsellor), Dawda Jatta (school representative on the Gammol School Committee), Alieu Jarju (Head of the VDC), and Sulayman Jatta (the Alkalo).

The biggest problems are the teachers' salaries and finding teachers. What they can pay today is not at the level of a qualified teacher. The same applies to the headteacher. Additionally, there is a need for all kinds of school supplies. Currently, all operating funds from the village go to the school to pay the teachers' salaries. They have put all other projects on hold because they want to retain the good teachers. But they are still not succeeding. To such an extent that they may have no choice but to close the school, according to Samba. They are seeking a solution by transferring the school to the government.

This is not entirely unexpected for us. Omar had already informed us that they are facing a problem here. However, before we decided to build the school, there were discussions with the VDC and those responsible, who assured us at the time that they would honor their commitments. One of the most important commitments is being able to pay the teachers. They now admit that they miscalculated the costs to achieve this. For us, this is a confrontation with reality and a lesson in making better calculations and agreements in advance. While we can state that we execute what we promise and do what we say, this is clearly not always reciprocated. Not out of ill will, but due to a genuine lack of resources.

For Gammol, independence from the government remains important. We will have to examine how we can achieve this. It seems clear, and a requirement, that more of our resources will have to go towards the operation of the schools.

Giboro Koto

This is one of our new water installations. Large community. According to Peter Mendy (Secretary of the VDC), our installation covers 5% of their water needs. After a warm welcome and the usual expressions of gratitude by Amadou Saidy Barry (Alkalo), Abdoulie Jallow (Chairperson of the VDC), and Oumie Saidy Barry (Women’s Representative and sister of the Alkalo), they take us to their community garden, where they are facing problems: insufficient water capacity with their installation (not installed by Gammol).

The first obvious problem, easily solvable, is removing the 2cm of dust from their solar panels. The panels are mounted on the tower, at a height of about 4m. There is a reason why we place the solar panels on the ground: they are easier to clean. Additionally, we ask Omar to check if the pump is powerful enough.

We indicate that we are willing to take on the major maintenance, but only with clear agreements included in our Memorandum of Understanding. We will then act as guarantor for the solar panels, the water reservoirs, and the pump; they must take care of the day-to-day maintenance: cleaning the panels, replacing defective taps, making and keeping the water reservoirs watertight, and painting the tower to prevent rust.

In addition to their words of thanks, they share their other needs with us: more water installations, a school (75% of the children do not attend school), a marketplace, fencing for our installation… They do not explicitly ask for help with all of these; they are going to take action themselves as well. They simply state that any support is welcome.

Goboro Kuta

Right next to the previous village, also a new installation, and once again a large delegation waiting for us: the Imam leading the prayer, Ousman Bah, the counselor who is always happy to be there to receive some of the praise, Sheriffo Jatta (Alkalo), Maimuna Kolley (Head of the Ladies Committee), and Habibou Drammeh, one of the young people from The Water Committee.

Maimuna takes the floor for the numerous women present, who are overwhelmed with gratitude. They had never imagined they would find themselves in this position. Gammol arrived just “in time.” In the past, they had to lug large buckets hundreds of meters to get water; now, the furthest compound is barely 30 meters away from one of our taps.

“We will never forget what Gammol did for us” and “This is the first support we ever received”… with great thanks to ‘our’ Omar for what he has done.

And then come the most urgent questions:

• 30% of the community is now served by our installation. One of the speakers even requests 10 additional installations, given that Giboro Kuta is one of the largest ‘kabilos’.

• Further extensions to our installation.

• An extra nursery school (there is already one, but it is too far away for part of the village).

• A marketplace to sell their surplus vegetables and earn some money.

• A shop where the poorest in the village can buy rice at low prices.

We immediately make it clear that we do not provide certain services (marketplace, shop), and that for the other services, they are one of many applicants. We also explain that the actions they take themselves will help determine any potential additional investments.

Tubakuta Village

Masanneh Bojang (Alkalo), Lamin Saidy (Water Committee Chairman), and the women’s rep welcome us, along with a large group from the village. This is the third new installation we are visiting today.

One of the few communities that does not overwhelm us with additional questions and needs. The focus here is primarily on the actions they take themselves: how they ensure that the water installation and the surrounding area remain clean and well-maintained, and how they even started a ‘health’ center themselves using their own limited resources… Naturally, the question arises, albeit in a more modest way, that any help would be welcome here.

In addition, they are mindful of the needs of others: even though there is still a need for more water, they realize that other communities do not yet have access to clean water and that our priority must go there first. But the gratitude is immense: they set up a tent with seats, especially for us (no chairs), we receive a traditional shirt and a performance with singing and dancing women, Gammol receives a “certificate of appreciation”, and of course the obligatory speeches. “Until recently, there was only 1 (private) compound that had a water installation with clean water, and the village waited 10 years to have clean water as well. Only God can thank us for this.”

Time and again, the confrontation that what is so normal for us is not the case in Gambia!

Tuesday, February 10

Sotokoi Village

We have a facility here. When we passed by here last year, we “discovered” another 40,000-liter facility on the other side of the village, funded by the European Commission. Installed in 1995, it now runs solely on electricity. And therefore incurs costs. The EC only funded the installation and nothing more since then. Over the past few months, Dirk has tried to find out who is responsible for this today. Through the EC and the embassy, ​​but no one knows anything anymore.

We had asked Omar to arrange a meeting here with the community leaders to see if Gammol could be of any help. This is on a different scale than our facilities, but with the expertise we have built up in the meantime, we might be able to help a large and growing village. I did not write down all the names, but those present were: the Imam, Alkalo, the elders, the VDC secretary, members of the “borehole” and “health” committees, the regional counselor, and the auditor of the Sotokoi Village Committee, a certain Lamin Samateh. All together about 25 men (and 1 woman). Anyway, after the formalities (prayer, words of thanks), we ask to sit around the table with a limited group, a maximum of about 5 people. This is to avoid too much repetition or a situation where everyone feels the need to say something.

We are given an overview of the situation:

• 100 compounds, each with its own tap. 50 compounds without a tap. 50 new compounds under construction. Growing community.
• Electricity supplied by NEWAC, the electricity company, which does not always provide power, resulting in no water. Moreover, they expect nothing from the government.
• The compounds pay based on their usage. Total annual cost D168,000 (+-€2,000), of which D96,000 is for electricity. The rest is maintenance.
• The installation was transferred to the village after 15 years, without further support.
• It also ran on solar energy, but the panels are 30 years old and no longer meet the requirements, or if water was needed in the evening (doubtful with a 40,000L tank).
  A few years ago, lightning struck, rendering the solar panels completely inoperable. Before that, the installation worked to everyone's satisfaction. The taps located on public land have been shut off, because every user must contribute financially to cover the total cost.
• Additional taps in the compounds are being installed by the village.

And now they are asking if Gammol cannot help make the installation 100% operational again. The total cost is estimated at D555,000 (+-€6,500). After discussion, we agree that Gammol is willing to cover the repair and major maintenance, provided a number of important agreements are met.

• Every compound must be able to receive a tap. To be paid for by the compound itself.
• The public taps must be made accessible again to people who do not have the means (money) to install a tap in their compound.
• The community commits to paying D84,000 to Gammol for 4 years. A sum that we use for other projects in Gambia. This is half of their income, which they receive from the compounds. And it is limited in time.
  All of this is laid down in a Memorandum of Understanding, with clear agreements on what happens if the agreements are not adhered to.

Once back in Belgium, we will draft the Memorandum of Understanding, send it to Omar to have it signed by the Alkalo, VDC, Woman Representative, and Regional Counsellor.

Faraba Suutu

A ‘mandatory’ stop when we are in Gambia. Alieu Sanyang, the young Alkalo, is the driving force behind the evolution of the community in Faraba Suutu. A primary school, a marketplace, the construction of a mosque… all made possible by Alieu, together with enthusiastic young people who want to move forward. Gammol has supported them by installing two water systems and building a kindergarten last year. After all, one of our approaches is to invest extra in those villages that show us they are taking action to grow.

They had problems with the government regarding their school because more and more children wanted to attend, which led to an exodus from surrounding schools. But that did not stop Alieu from continuing to invest in quality education.

We discuss with him the objective of the Gammol School Committee, in which every Gammol school is represented, with the aim of bringing the quality of education in our various schools to the same level and raising it. Something Alieu fully supports.

Niggie Village

A funeral is taking place, so we are received by the Alkalo's brother, Ibrahim Bema. Furthermore, Malah Saidy, responsible for the community garden, and Amadou Jallow, chair of the Youth Development Committee, are present to welcome us.

One of our water installations is already located in Niggie. Their request last year was to build a new school and provide additional support for their community garden. Regarding the school, we did not approve their request. The application was simply a copy-paste from Faraba, without any input of their own and without any clarity on how they could guarantee its operation.

As for the garden, we had asked them to take action themselves first. To ensure the garden was fenced so that it could be further developed. And they kept their word. When we asked how they achieved this, the answer was that they sold wood and used the proceeds to buy the wire to fence the garden. Impressive! The next step they are now going to take is to expand the garden so that more women can get to work. The problem here is that they need to install water reservoirs so that they have enough water to irrigate all the plots. Currently, there are 3 reservoirs (costing approximately 25,000 D or €100 each). We agree to pay for the necessary 6 additional reservoirs. The water installation in the garden itself is not the Gammol one and does not meet our standards. For instance, there is no water return when the tank is full, meaning the system constantly has to be switched on and off. Or the water simply overflows. Perhaps something we should look into at a later stage. First, the reservoirs.

As for the school… Their dream is a school with 3 to 4 nursery classes for about 200 children!? With the limited resources they have, they have started making concrete blocks to build the school. But it is clear that they will be busy for years if they want to finance this themselves. On the other hand, given our experience, there are doubts about how they are going to run this operationally. They do say that they are going to ask for a contribution from the parents, but we seriously doubt whether this will be sufficient, and whether the parents can actually afford it. Too many unanswered questions to make a commitment. Something to revisit next year. We have invited them to visit a few of our other schools to get a concrete idea of ​​what it entails to run a school operationally.

Gammol HQ

We conclude the day by visiting the students of Thomas Moore University of Applied Sciences, who are currently completing an internship as part of their studies.

Wednesday, February 11

Our last day already. Time is flying…

Brufut Tintino

We start the day with a visit to one of our new water installations. A sprawling community, more than 200 compounds, over 3,000 residents. Brufut was the last installation to be placed in 2025. We are welcomed by about 30 villagers, including the Alkalo, Bawda Sowe, his sister Kumba, Woman’s Representative, the regional council Kamoro Camara, the VDC Chairman Omar Bah, Haddy Bojang, executive member VDC, Mustaph Kullan, installation manager and youth leader, and finally—interestingly—the president’s representative, Yankuba Sanno. Impressive titles…

Furthermore, the usual formalities: everyone takes turns expressing their gratitude, and they share their further needs. Community gardens, a health center with 2 doctors, fencing for the installation. And they ask for potential support. Dirk explains how we work, emphasizing the action we expect from them before further action on our part. We also have a conversation with Yankuba, who might be able to help us find the places in Gambia where the European Commission has installed water towers. He promises to check this with us. Wait and see…

Abuko Water Project

We pass by our Gammol Abuko school, where the village has applied to install an additional water tank at our school due to a water shortage. Although this is a region where the water company NEWAC is present, they trust “our” water more than Newac’s. The pump already standing here is one of our old installations that still runs on electricity and is therefore expensive. The village has already financed the tower itself; the request is to install solar panels here as well. Just as with other installations we carry out where we install solar panels to save on electricity costs, we agree to charge half of the savings and spread them over a period of 4 years. We are including this in our priority list.

Abuko School

The Abuko school is owned by Gammol. We had a meeting with the headmaster, Omar Jarju, and his right-hand man, Pierre Jatta, a teacher and the school's accountant, regarding the school's operations and our expectations for active participation in the Gammol School Committee. It is clear to everyone that Pierre is the most suitable person to participate in the GSC, more so than Omar.

Regarding operations, we have drafted a document that should allow us to gain a better insight into the school's finances, along with a number of other expectations. The intention is to involve “our” Omar more closely in this, so that he can help monitor it, as the accounts they explain to us (verbally) are not really clear.

Regarding needs: here too, we receive feedback that paying the teachers is a problem. The school has 147 students, and not every parent can afford the tuition fees. Moreover, they also admit a number of orphans who lack the financial means. In addition, a number of urgent repairs need to be carried out, and we want to upgrade the school to the level of our new schools. This is also a priority for this year.

Meeting Ensa Sanyang

The final visit is to Ensa, the man who will chair the GSC. We have been invited to his home. The objective is to discuss the functioning and the next steps of the Committee with him. There is a representative from each school on the committee, and each school has its own priorities. What it comes down to is that we expect the GSC to determine the overarching priorities for the 5 Gammol schools. Not an easy task. This means that the participants must be able to look beyond their own school and establish a priority list based on that. This will require a serious effort from the participants, something they are not accustomed to. Depending on our budget, we will then determine how many of the priorities can be included or completed. Ensa will coordinate this. We are curious about the outcome of the exercise. One thing has already become clear after all our visits to the Gammol schools: paying teachers is a problem everywhere.

Goodbye Omar en Lamin

Time to head to the airport. We stop along the way for a drink with Omar and Lamin, during which we ask Omar to provide a brief evaluation. In summary, we can conclude that 2025 was a very fruitful year. Omar and Lamin were able to realize many projects. As for 2026, there are quite a few requests, too many to fulfill in a single year. Finalizing the priorities based on all the needs and requests we captured during our visits, plus the requests Omar will receive on top of that, is the first thing we need to do once back in Belgium. We immediately schedule an appointment to go over this at our next Teams meeting.

Back to Belgium… The farewell is heartfelt, just like every year, and with regret in our hearts…

 

 

Dirk Depoorter

Wednesday January 29th

We (Hedwig, Dirk and myself) have left for The Gambia again. In addition to visiting the new water installations, our new school in Fuffor Village and determining the priorities for 2025, our priority is mainly to further shape the Gammol School Community and our rice project. You can read more about it later in the report.

Our journey goes smoothly, via Dakar to Banjul. We land exactly on time, at 19:10 in Banjul, the national airport of The Gambia, where our permanent Gammol employees Omar and Lamin are waiting for us. It is always a pleasure to see them again. A warm hug follows!

We stay in the same lodge as last time, the Mama Africa Art Residence, a short hour's drive from the airport. It is nice to see a number of people who still work there.

We eat together with Omar and Lamin, and briefly discuss our program and the approach for the coming days. The first meeting is planned for this evening.

Rice Project Janjanbureh – Meeting Almamo Touray

Almamo is the man we met last year during the visit to one of our water installations, and with whom we started our rice test project. He has a paid job as an IT specialist, but works on this project entirely voluntarily.

The purpose of the meeting this evening is to prepare our visit to the city of Janjanbureh, where we started our rice project. A city right on the Gambia River in the middle of The Gambia, with small private rice fields adjacent, owned by the many families on site. With hundreds of hectares of uncultivated land adjacent with unlimited possibilities for growing rice.

Our first test was a failure: the harvest did not yield what we expected, the test turned out to be much more expensive than budgeted and the organization was not up and running due to unclear agreements. Result: a loss of around 6,000 euros. An expensive lesson, but fortunately we were able to learn a lot about the operation on site.

During our conversation with Almamo, we get more clarity about the reason why the harvest and productivity were so low. To summarize: the rainy season and a lack of machines, which made the labor costs far too high. Our follow-up also left much to be desired, due to unclear agreements. We go over the financial picture again with Almamo and make it clear how we see a possible follow-up, in which the involvement of the local population is an essential part of our plan.

We also agree on what we expect from our visit on site on Friday. Of course we want to see the rice fields on site, but we expect to get an explanation of how the Rice Committee of Janjanbureh sees the follow-up: what are the practical problems? What are their needs? How do they plan to organize themselves? And of course we also want to share our vision on this with them.

Ultimately, our intention is to make this a profitable activity, in which 80% of the profit goes back to the local population who grow the rice, and the remaining 20% can flow back to our other projects in The Gambia. In any case, all profits will be reinvested in The Gambia.

Almamo is motivated in any case. I myself am skeptical, emphasizing to Almamo that we should make better accounts for the next test.

It is late when we crawl into bed.😊

Thursday January 30th

Faala Village

We start our tour at our school in Faala, which has been up and running for almost 2 years now, where we get more information about how the school works. There are 4 classes with room for 128 students, 32 per class. However, they currently have 160 students, between 4 and 10 years old, with the result that they divide the lessons into half days, morning and afternoon. There are 3 teachers and 1 nursery teacher. Something we have emphasized before is the need to test the students, to monitor their level. In this school this is done, with the teacher determining the level.

However, there is no follow-up of what happens to the students once they have left school. There is control of the schools by the government, but without any follow-up. When we ask about who can ultimately go to university, the answer is: those who have money, those who work, save and are ambitious, or the very best students who get a scholarship. Cost of uni: 90,000 dalasi per academic year. 1,200 euros, which doesn't seem like much, but it is the annual salary of a teacher on site...

So the teachers also play a very important role. And it is one of the limitations. To find a good teacher, you have to be able to pay them. And who provides the money: the women who grow their vegetables, often in community gardens. Initially for their own use, i.e. the whole family, and what they have left to sell on the markets. When we ask: "and what do the men do?", we get the laconic answer "making babies".

The needs in Faala: more water, so that they can work the gardens better and increase their yields. We are talking about a yield of 20 to 30,000 dalasi per year (270 to 400 €). They still have land in Faala that would be available for cultivation. It would be about 70 acres, good for 35 workable plots. With the possibility of a 2nd plot. This needs to be mapped out.

Apart from that, we decide that the old water installations (small water tank, low tower, concrete block construction) need to be replaced by our new installation, which will already solve the water shortage. In addition, only 1 toilet is working in the school, and this needs to be fixed, as well as building a chimney in the kitchen. These are things we had already discussed last year.

Leetulor - Gammol HQ Sanyang

We have an appointment with Mien and Liesbeth, the 2 nurses of our Leetulor wound care project. What they do is train people in the villages, so that they know the basic principles of treating wounds. We have seen photos of unkempt, festering wounds that make your stomach turn. Wounds that have not been treated for years. And those same wounds, after treatment! Saving limbs – and sometimes even lives.

Mien and Liesbeth arrived at the beginning of November and are leaving for Belgium today. During that period, they have done follow-up in 6 villages where there is at least 1 person who has received the training and can now get started themselves. And training has been given in 4 new villages. We had agreed with Omar that he would follow this up, and also choose the villages based on where we place our water installations. Clean water and clean wounds go hand in hand.

They explain to us how they work, from finding volunteers, training, delivering the right material, how many people they help with this... I asked them to also make a travel report, to share their experiences. Really very beautiful and special what Mien and Liesbeth realize and the personal investment they make for this. 3 months on location...

The reason for our meeting is to make a number of agreements together with Omar on how we can further coordinate the operation of Gammol and Leetulor.

Sanchaba School – Sanyang Village

There is no school today, but they still gathered the students to welcome us. 8 students give a speech with the most important message being the importance of education.

Gammol School Committee (GSC)

But the reason why we came to Sanchaba School is because we made an appointment with the people in charge of the 4 Gammol schools (Abuko, Sanchaba, Faala & Fuffor) to make progress with another important project for us, the Gammol School Committee (GSC). Something we launched earlier, but has not really gotten off the ground yet. Our medium-term goal is to improve the level of education.

And we have a number of questions:

• Last year we had a similar meeting, where a well-developed plan was presented to us. Where are they now with that?
• What do they need to really get started?
• What about the curricula, the tests, the exchange of experiences?
• How can Gammol support them additionally?
• What infrastructure is still missing?
• Who is prepared to take on the necessary responsibility here?

It has become an animated meeting. Present: a number of ‘teachers’ from each school, the ‘headmaster’ of Fuffor and Abuko, the ‘chairman of the school committee’ of Fuffor and Faala, and the secretary of Faala, who is also a VDC member of Sanyang. Yusupha Jassey, who does the talking, often to my annoyance.

I am not going to explain the entire discussion, but the essence is that this is not a ‘team’. The explanation we try to give initially meets with quite a bit of resistance, but rather from incomprehension. Until the Dalasi (€) of the chairman of Fuffor Village, Ensa Sanyang, falls. After which a passionate plea follows that is completely in line with what we want to achieve, together with them.

We conclude the animated meeting with the agreement that, based on what we have discussed, they would draw up a plan of action together:

• Working together as a team.
• Making a syllabus from grade 1 to 6.
• Creating a development & delivery plan for what teachers should teach in the different grades.
• How to exchange experiences.
• Fine-tuning the exams.
• What is the place of Arabic in our English Gammol schools?

Wait and see... Ensa gives us the impression that he has “got it” and seems to us to be well placed to play a role in this. We are clearly not yet at the level we want to be with the GSC. We realize that it will not be easy and that ideally there is someone who coordinates this. And then also budget for this.

Fulakunku

Our last stop for today. In Fulankunku we have installed an extension of the water capacity. From an old installation with a water container of 4,000 litres we have gone to 2 x 10,000 litres, so that there is now also clean water after sunset.

We are welcomed by the usual large committee, who thank us from the heart: “we cannot pay you, but we will pray for you for a long life”. In addition, we are asked for ‘more’. As the Alkalo vividly puts it: “a begger never has enough”. Confrontational, but for us “very honest and close to reality”. Or: “You found us hungry and you gave us food, but on the other side of the road they are still hungry”. To make it clear to us that more is needed. But they also take the initiative themselves: for example, they have bought 200 metres of pipes, possibly thanks to asking a small contribution from the community, with the aim of distributing the water more widely in the village. The problem here is that they would have to pull the pipes over a large track, which is not possible. We note the request, without making any promises. One of the many requests for ‘more’ that we expect.

Nine (!) people have taken the floor to thank Gammol and his sponsors and to make it clear that there are still needs. Dirk then takes the floor with the message that there are still many requests, that we have to set priorities and cannot promise anything. But also with the message that the expansion has come about because they have always maintained their installation well and because they have taken the good initiative to ask for a contribution within their community.

We say goodbye, but not before we are invited to become a member of their community, after which we are given soft drinks and fruit and a certificate to thank Gammol. We conclude with a prayer and song.

A first full and long day is over, to be continued...

Dirk Depoorter

Friday Januari 31th

Janjanbureh

Janjanbureh also called Makaty or Georgetown, was the first British city in The Gambia. Situated on MacCarthy Island in the Gambia River. Today a city with about 400 compounds, plus the ‘suburbs’. An estimated 4,000 inhabitants.

We leave at 8:00 am, 300 km drive, generally good road, but a few times through a busy city. About 4.5 hours of driving, but there was clearly something wrong with the car: lack of power, which often made overtaking impossible. Omar was not aware of this, probably because he always drives so slowly.

We are welcomed by about 150 inhabitants on the edge of the city, after which we continue on foot through the main street, accompanied by music and dancing, so that everyone knows we have arrived. We are used to it by now, but it is still a surprise that so much attention is paid to our arrival. It is their way of thanking us and probably also a matter of setting the bar high in terms of expectations. For the welcome speech we are in a room with about 70 attendees. In addition to the spectators we are sitting together with: the president of the Rice Corporation Society, the vice-president, the technical advisor, the lady counselor, 2 men from the Elders Advisory Committee, the person ‘in charge of the money’, the ‘in charge of the machines’, representatives of the Rice Filed Committee, the woman representative of the vegetebale gardens, the secretary of the RCS... Almamo explains the purpose of our visit (see the report of our first meeting with Almamo when we arrive).

And then... there is prayer, lunch, rest. And we are left alone in the reception room. Quite a long time, which gives us time to prepare further. To get clarity about the test, which did not go as expected and desired. But with the emphasis on how this project can be profitable in the future, so that we can make the right decision.

Before the meeting starts, we make it clear that we want to discuss with a limited group, not with 15 people. After which, 7 remain. It promises to be a difficult meeting, according to our Western standards: a lot of palaver, no clear decisions. We start by presenting the bill for the test project and explaining that this is not repeatable. That we cannot justify this to our sponsors. Just explaining the bills is a challenge. Also how we see it further, because they assume that this is a profitable activity, if only they had the machines. However, the cost of this is not included in their calculations. How we want to divide the profit does not really get through to them either. They assume that the profit is the amount they get for the rice, again without taking the costs into account. Difficult to explain.

We do not quite get it. So we visit the rice fields on site. But first we pass by 2 community gardens, which are fairly well maintained, but where they suffer from a shortage of water. The installation here is part of a JSF program, ‘founded by the EU’. The pump that pumps up the water is said to be not strong enough, which means they have too little water. However, we also notice that the solar panels are dirty and not in the best place. From a certain time in the afternoon, a tree is in the way of the sun. Janjanbureh is too far for us to follow up on this.

As for the rice fields: the field we visit is about 25 hectares in size. On this rice field there are 127 plots with 83 ‘farmers’. Most farmers have 1 plot, some have several. These are all relatively small fields of about 2,000 m2, each worked by 1 family/farmer. A second rice field is 52 hectares, 205 plots with 100 farmers. All the land is owned by the government, but they have permission to use it to grow rice. And it is the president of the Rice Corporation Society who allocates the fields. Concrete canals have been made so that water can be pumped from the Gambia river to irrigate the fields. In one field there are 2 pumps, powered by electricity, that no longer work. They have installed a third one, powered by petrol. Not by solar energy. So it is a costly affair. In the other field there is also a pump that is broken. In the rice fields we get a lot of explanation about how rice is grown, so that we can at least get an idea of it.

On the island there are about 5,000 hectares that could be used for growing rice. It remains remarkable to note that the government does little or nothing with this. But they do support every initiative to develop new fields. Passively supporting, not actively. However, expanding means building new irrigation canals and then we are talking about different amounts, without any certainty today that this can grow into a self-supporting, let alone profitable, enterprise.

We do want to do a second test on a plot of 2 hectares, provided that clear agreements and invoices are made.

The way back to our lodge is long and dark, literally. Where you have to pay extra attention when you drive through villages where people are still walking around on the streets. Moreover, the low beams do not work, which does not make driving more comfortable. So I use the fog lights.

First lack of “power”, now the low beams that do not work, indicator lights that are on, the air conditioning that does not work... Urgently need to get the car back in order! Omar is very caring and does not want to spend money unnecessarily, so we have to make it clear to him that the jeep in perfect condition is not an unnecessary expense. We are back at the lodge around 22:00, after which another beer and a short debriefing follows.

Saturday Februari 1th

Faraba Sutu Village

We have been passing by here repeatedly in recent years. This is the village with the youngest Alkalo, Alieu Sanyang, an enterprising man who does not sit still. The Alkalo has also followed the training of Mien and Liesbeth to be able to treat wounds himself. Where in the beginning 15 to 20 treatments were needed per day, this number has now dropped to 4 to 5 per day. Which shows how useful that training is.

The market place, which was under construction last year, is finished and is used by the women to sell their vegetables and fruit. In addition, Alieu has started a form of microcredit for women who paint clothes and bed sheets (I bought a very nice one for support) to earn some extra money. The second water pump that we installed in 2024 near the market place serves the second half of the village, on the other side of the busy street.

He now wants to expand the existing nursery school with a primary school for children from 7 to 12 years old, after which Dirk explains to him how we want to build a school community, and how we want to raise the level of education, partly by exchanging experiences. Alieu is all for it. Before he was Alkalo, he was a teacher. And he tells us what they are already doing in the existing nursery school (for children from 3 to 6 years old): assessment of the teachers, curricula per year group, clean water and food for the children... He also has sponsors for this, who also ensure that the teachers receive a salary. And of course he would like the children of the nursery school to continue to receive good education in a new primary school to be built. Alieu will submit an application to motivate his request.

And Alieu is motivated, without any doubt. He also sees himself as a member of the Gammol Community. And what we have already done there is clearly bearing fruit. Moreover, he is good at networking, and if he puts his shoulder to the wheel, this would certainly be an asset to Gammol. But there are also other villages that have needs. So we do not promise anything, although we discuss afterwards that this would really be a good investment, just like the other investments we have made in Faraba. It is simply more interesting, but also more profitable and motivating, to invest in a village where an Alkalo and the population are fully committed to making the best of it. Initially, we will respond to his request for an extension of the existing water installation, so that we can meet the demand for more water. There is 1 solar panel that needs to be replaced. We do the work, but they will bear the costs themselves.

This visit also makes us reflect on the construction of our water installations. We have already made serious progress here: from small constructions in the past, with small barrels of 4,000 liters and at a height of 3 meters, to (our latest) installations of 2 x 10,000 liters at a height of 6 meters and up to 1,500 meters of pipes in the villages. We ask Omar to investigate later what the cost would be if we were to put up towers of 8 or 9 meters, and how many meters of pipes we could then lay. A todo!

Niggie Village

We also visited this village last year. We installed a water system there two years ago and found that it is perfectly maintained. We also advised them last year to work on fencing off a large piece of community land to grow vegetables. And they did! It is wonderful to see how they have transformed a piece of wasteland into a beautiful garden. Heartwarming. And they want to expand even further. However, they do not have enough water for the garden. What needs to be done here are reservoirs to store the water. We agree that they will provide the reservoirs and that we will install the pipes.

In addition, there is a small school. At least, if you can call it a school... 2 small classrooms, an even smaller teacher's room, a kitchen and a materials room. All dilapidated. Bats have made their nest in the kitchen and the materials room. The roof of one of the classrooms has collapsed. The Alkalo financed this, but when the government came to check it, it was rejected because of “unsuitable” classrooms. And yet, 19 students are still being taught by a motivated teacher. No wonder they ask us if we want to help them build a new school. The village is expanding, partly thanks to the water that is now available, and children now have to walk for miles if they want/can go to school. The choice of where to build a school this year is not getting any easier. And then we know that there is a third request...

When we leave, the Alkalo thanks us: “Thanks to Gammol, our lives have changed. We now have clean water. We listened to your advice to fence our garden, so today we have a garden on which we grow vegetables and can earn something and feed our children”. Our answer: “we provided clean water, gave advice, but you took the initiative to make it happen. We can only encourage you to take further initiatives”. It remains confronting when you hear this, from the environment where we come from.

Sotokoi Village

We visit Sotokoi, because they have applied for an additional water installation. On site we receive the classic warm welcome and thanks from the many speakers, with the request for: more water, a market place, a fence for the garden and a school. Nothing new, but when we ask them what initiatives they have already taken, what their action plans are, the answer is that we will be able to see the changes in 2026. They have started making the concrete blocks for the market place, but we immediately make it clear that we are not going to help them with this. Our focus is and remains: water installations and schools (and maybe rice later?). In addition, they are building an Arabic school and they are also asking for help with this, which we also reject, since there is an English school nearby. And in the schools that we build, we focus on English education, because this gives the children more opportunities for the future. This has nothing to do with their faith. We also explain this to them.

As for the water; there are about 300 compounds, a rapidly growing population, probably now between 2,000 and 2,500 inhabitants. With our tower we only supply a part of this with water. In addition, there is a very large tower, 40,000 litres, installed 27 years ago by the EU. However, only one street with nine taps is connected. They ask if we can provide extra pipes and taps? The solar panels also appear to no longer function, so they connected the installation to the electricity grid, which of course is a much higher cost. It is terrible to see how that installation has been neglected. Installed by the EU, and then abandoned. We need more clarity on how we can optimise this again!

Faraba Kariaba

This is a new village where we have installed a water installation, not far from Sotokoi. When we go from Sotokoi to Faraba we come across a second EU installation, 30 years old, even bigger than the one in Sotokoi, 80,000 litres, very high tower. Apparently 100 taps are connected to it, but the solar panels no longer work, so they have to connect to the electricity grid, which costs them 10,000 dalasi per month. Absurd situation: there is capacity, but it is not used because of defective solar panels and too expensive electricity!? We should map this: where are there still EU installations and are they still being used, and in what way. Maybe we can make a big difference here, with relatively small investments.

We visit our installation, which is perfectly maintained. Right next to the installation we see a large garden that is being worked by several women. This turns out not to be a community garden, but owned by a private person who makes his garden available to the community. He also gave up 10 m2 at the place where the installation is located. In return, he received a tap in his compound. This is not the agreement we make, but is of course sensitive. By “giving up” a tap, about 50 women can now work the garden and provide food and an income.

A whole ceremony awaits us again. They start by saying that they find it a shame that we cannot celebrate as usual, as our time is limited, but we get speeches from the Imam, the Governor, the Alkalo, the lady councelar, the council, M/F users, someone from the VDC... and at the end they have provided a meal. 😊 The council, Binta Bah, is put in the spotlight quite explicitly, which is not so clear to us since she is never involved in the decision-making process where we place our installations.

In summary, we are thanked, the community hopes for a partnership that can evolve further (read: additional help), with the immediate request for an extension of the water installation and help with building a school. Our installation now helps about 200 compounds, but we can see that the village is seriously expanding. We speak to them about the EU installation that is there, but according to them there are very high costs to make it fully operational again. They promise to provide us with a ‘feasibility study’, so that we can make a well-founded decision whether we should invest in it. As far as the school is concerned, Dirk has been able to determine that there is a school with 4 classrooms and a teacher's room. So not a priority. Dirk concludes with our usual question and expectation about maintenance and initiative.