Hotel Palm Beach Kotu

So, for three weeks I was in the UK, the first time I have been back since I left in September 2006. I had a wonderful time at home spending time with family and friends. I ran around like a headless chicken and didn't get to see everyone I would like to, or enough time with the people I did see. I was repeatedly touched at the efforts lots of people went to, to meet up with me despite the face I have been absent for the ...

... Child Protection Alliance is a UNICEF-sponsored organization promoting child rights in different countries through improved government policies and educational programs. There is one very interesting part of this organization - Voice of the Young - which has emphasized that it is the children themselves who should be empowered to speak for themselves against child rights violations. I was immediately attracted to this concept, it seemed like a great way to encourage leadership and ...

... able to copy it off of the blackboard.) Something interesting happens when students reach higher levels of education, especially those who score high enough on standardized tests to go on to senior secondary school,(10th to 12th grade) and maybe even (though rarely) have the test scores and money to attend college (which focuses more on practical training for select professions) or university. Students are at this point encouraged to begin to speak with the same confidence and ...

... nothing is moving particularly fast, on a bike it is a simple matter of weaving you way through this mayhem. Checked into the Campment and set off to explore the boat yards. Watched huge planks of hardwood being hammered into large boats, I toured the backstreets and discovered some good homemade entertainment. It was a wedding celebration and I was invaded to take a seat to watch the spectacle. Instruments consisted of a ...

... that time is precious and efficiency is necessary has slipped in, and greetings will not last too long. To be on time yet still keep with the relaxed Gambian conception of time it is best to leave very early. It is a struggle to keep your shoes clean while maneuvering your way around puddles, goats, sleeping stray dogs, trash, and cars that decide to swerve randomly off the road, but you are more than used to this. Once at school you will take your seat in a classroom ...

... circular conversation trying to explain this fact to the nurse, who simply kept pointing out that no one had marked down giving him the fourth shot, and so he had to give it. Bryan, after finally bluntly refusing to accept the shot, was able to convince the nurse. We found out later that if he had gotten the shot at 9am it would have had a FATAL REACTION with the dose he'd had just over an hour earlier. We also found out later that this was the nurse's first day when he ...

... almost all of us found something we loved, even though the calm browsing style we were used to when shopping was completely impossible (the second you show indecision people tend to jump on you - either the shopkeeper themselves, or, even worse, bumsters who try to act as intermediaries and bump up the prices). Personally, I was quite proud of myself for bartering a vendor from 375 dalasi to 150 dalasi for a very pretty floor length skirt. One of the Peace Corps volunteers we met here ...

... way the colours of the spectrum reflect light and the ability of our eyes to see colour means that we see feathers which make birds appear to be blue. So my budgie, Blue, has been living a lie his entire life; he's still coming to terms with it. In addition to birds, I encountered many other wonderful creatures including dragonflies, monkeys, hyenas and crocodiles. The hotel I was staying in actually had a family of monkeys living in the trees right outside my room! Every ...

Good day all, wherever you are and whatever mischief you are up to. I write to respond to those of you who emailed expressing surprise that I had made it to yet another anniversary of my glorious entrance to this world. My 26th Birthday was a memorable one - spent with other volunteers on a deserted beach under the stars, dancing around a campfire with the musical backdrop of West African drumming. It sounds idyllic and it was although in truth our fire-building skills drew ...

... I'm fretting. Sanna finds us and his joy at the shirt and shorts is hard to take, he immediately dons the clothes and tells us how he can't wait to show his Mum, even though she is blind. We ask him about the rest of his family. He has one sister who has a child, and a brother who "Is not right in his head". Sanna himself is very child like so how ill his brother must be, I can't imagine. Adam and I share a look that say, how much bad ...