Of Updates and Baby Pictures

Time continues to move oh so quickly here in The Gambia.  The second term at school has already reached its half way mark, mango trees are starting to blossom with mangoes likely to be ready by next month, and "cold" season only has a few weeks to go.  My work at school continues to go smoothly.  I am so thankful that I have a quality staff that I get to work with day in and day out.  My language learning has hit a plateau, but I have been told by several volunteers in country they experience a similar plateau during the same period in their service.  My older host brother Sambaya and his wife had a baby boy last week.  The naming ceremony will be on Monday (will update this post when I know the name).  This past month I began my work as a committee member on the anti-malaria task force.  Yesterday, we conducted a malaria survey and follow-up discussion with the grade 3 students at school which, inshallah, was very informative for both staff and students.  This upcoming week I'll be headed to Massembeh for a week of training, of which two of my teacher counterparts at school will be attending over the course of the week.  Local fundraising for the Community Library and Learning Center is in full swing this month.  The efforts of my head teacher and Village Development Committee chairman in coordinating follow-up visits to the fundraising letters sent out last December have been amazing to see.  Hoping that all is well for you all wherever you may be reading this from.  Enjoy the baby pictures!!

Nene Carol (named after my mom in the U.S.)

Sembaya's baby boy (born 2/8; to be named 2/15)