This sounds crazy, but lots of people just turned up to help and loads more stopped to ask if we had jobs, but only a few stayed the course and those are now the original staff at Dardeema.

Cham our original head chef had been working at Uncle Nuah's and we always thought he was one of the best chefs in Kololi, so when we heard that Nuah's was closing down, we were delighted to take Cham on board. (Unhappily, in circumstances beyond our control, Cham had to leave at the end of May 2002 and has been replaced by Bunja)

The chef who cooks our local Gambian food, Fatou Bojang was also known to us, she had worked at the original Dardeema before GTS took over, Fatou is petite, but makes up for it with a massive personality.

Foday, our official bumster also known as 'Watcha'. He came from Lamin, where I had met him before - he turned up after hearing we were starting a restaurant and painted and cleaned and then stayed on to promote Dardeema to tourists. (With the seasonal fall in business, Foday left us in April 02)

Rasta Lamin or 'Little Lamin' as I call him, was a friend of Kirsty who has provided so many pictures for the GTS site. He arrived and stayed to help, when he started he was suffering from malaria but as he got better he became Mr Fixit, he could turn his hand to anything so he waits on table, he checks the generator, he washes up, he chats to guests about the work GTS does, he is the character of Dardeema, charming and friendly.

Towards the end of the season Lamin moved across to GTS and has been working all rainey as a support hostfor visiting tourists.

It was obvious we would need a kitchen helper and Cham suggested Sherif, a young man he knew and was willing to train. At the time we had no idea that Sherif had no previous kitchen experience, but within a few weeks Sherif was acting as the second chef and we had to get another helper.

We needed good waiting staff, our own Foday Suso knew Lamin who had been a head waiter and had been unemployed for two years after the restaurant he was in was taken over and all the staff laid off. He turned out to be an excellent choice.

We still needed a waitress. A Dutch lady we met at Nuah's, overheard our conversation and said she knew a young girl who would be perfect as our waitress and Fatou took the job and has fitted in brilliantly. At the end of the season, Fatou started an adult literacy course in the mornings but still comes into Dardeema on a voluntary basis in the evenings.

We started with an eighth member of staff - Halimatou Bah, our maid but with 5 children to bring up alone, she was unable to come in each day and sadly she had to give up the job which she so desperately wanted to supplement her income selling fruit.

It was through Halimatou that I discovered how so many people in The Gambia really live. It was quite a shocking revelation, that behind the bright and happy smile, there was a very precarious 'hand to mouth' existence for her and her 5 children aged between 14 years and 18 months. If GTS couldn't employ Hali, then we had to do something.

Happily in May 2002, Halimatou and her family moved into GTS Brufut 2, where she has started the garden project to provide the restaurant with frsh produce.