This news item is tinged with some sadness, my Aunt Eve who shares my mothers birthday but is two years younger, recently had a stroke, she is recovering slowly in Cannock hospital. She has been most generous to GTS both financially and intellectually. I wish her a very speedy recovery and look forward to her making a trip to the Gambia as soon as she is well enough.

Earlier in October, I made a very expensive Flight Only visit with The Gambia Experience, to check out the GTS Telecentre in Kololi, Fodays leg after his motor bike accident and the Compound in Brufut that I had not even seen when Lamin bought it and the arrangements for the arrival of the container.

I need not have worried. Lamin's choice of site would be hard to better. Only yards from the path to the cliffs and beach over looking Kololi bay that Lamin and I discovered the first time we went out in the Nissan Patrol in 1998.

The team of builders have all but completed the wall, this is a fantastic task. First, all the water has to be hand drawn from a neighbours well, this is used to fill large containers that can be carried through a field of maize to a wheel barrow that has a 50 gallon drum secured in it. Once full the barrow is wheeled 400 metres to the compound.

The sand and stone lorries had to tip their loads 200 metres further away than the water, so all of these materials have to barrowed on to the site and finally the bags of cement are stored in the builders compound, where all the workers are staying while the construction goes on.

Every block has been hand made, this is really has been a massive task.

Foday tells me that the well on the compound will be started this week, it is expected to be 14 metres deep by 1 metre wide, all hand dug by local experts.

The container drama continues - now over the paperwork needed at Banjul harbour and the threat of a 1300 dalasi charge £65 for each day it is held at the docks as well as an arbitary customs levy that may be applied - we just all keep our fingers crossed.

Once it is installed at Brufut, the builders who constructed Lamin Lodge will start the building of the first GTS reception centre, which we now think may open before the end of this season.

There will be more news on this front soon.

5 Top For information on sending a container to the Gambia contact us by phone or email