The closing date for the National Volunteer Teacher applications was 31st May and over 50 people applied! It took me less than 2 hours to arrange 50 interviews. I got hold of nearly everyone I called the first time I tried and everyone agreed to come on the day and time I asked - a vastly different experience than I am used to in the UK and evidence of how difficult it is to get a job in The Gambia. If I couldn't get hold of someone I left a message with their m...

Our radio shows went well by Gambian standards. We broadcast 8 shows on different radio stations to promote the national volunteer teacher programme. The level of professionalism of the radio stations was varying. There were quite a few sticky moments. Mr Mboge's phone went off on air several times and one time he forgot we were on air and started negotiating changes to our talk show times. On one occasion the host incorrectly read one of the questions we had giv...

The new VSOs have arrived in The Gambia all bright eyed and bushy tailed. Showing them around and giving them the low down on life in The Gambia has made me realise how much I've learnt over the last 6 months and how much my life has changed. Who would have thought that my name would now be Fatoumata Ceesay and I would be practically living with my Jola boyfriend Abdou Gibba?! So much has happened since I last spoke to you I hardly know where to start. For one...

Never mind that there's no work to do because if there was I probably couldn't cope. I have enough to deal with just trying to cope with everyday life. On Saturday night I went to a local club near Manjai with my Gambian friends. It's a ghetto club where the young people who can't afford to go to Senegambia go to dance. The music's really good, it's cheap, it's outside under a canopy in the dark; it's definitely my kind of place. Everyone was Gambian and I was ...

With the excitement of trek and the volunteer awards over it was time to get back to the office. This was no simple task as our office had moved to the capital city Banjul and in true Gambian style no-one had told me where it was or how to get there. I don't actually live that far from Banjul but it's difficult to get there in the morning as so many people head that way to work. Instead of a 10 minute walk to work in the morning, I had to take 2 buses and trave...