Monday 25 May

Background to villages – Abene, Albadar and Dianna

Several tribes live in the same villages together, mostly in separate residential areas with smaller mixed areas. Mandinka is the most prevalent tribe and the principal language spoken. Many local people speak several languages, including Mandinka, Wolof, French, English, Jola, Fula, Karoninka, Mandjako and Balanta. Families are large, with women having many children. The concept of family is wide, including extended family, neighbours and even one’s peer group.

There is a natural link between the three villages of Abene, Albadar and Dianna – which sit on the three points of a triangle – as families are spread out between the three. Dianna is 2km from both Abene and Albadar, and there is just 1km between the two later villages. Local people from all three villages also frequently tell me all three villages are in the same situation, with the same problems. There are also strong links with communities in the Gambia. Some local people travel regularly between the two, with family members living in both areas. Farming is the main source of income, followed by fishing. The Imam in Abene said to me if you want to know our culture, pick up a hoe.

Karoninka is the poorest tribe in Abene. They are the minority in number and religion, as Christians in a predominantly Muslim area. They keep pigs which (amongst many other animals) roam freely in the village and cause annoyance. Tiny worm like parasites that come from pigs are picked up in people’s feet from the sand in the street.

Local people are very poor and lack opportunity. Women work hard, and long hours, both in the fields in farming rice and vegetables and also at home in the compound in cleaning and looking after children.

Many local people’s hopes are pinned on going to Europe to make money and some of getting a European wife who will bring money in to the family.

Many men are locally seen to be lazy. Their time working in the fields in concentrated in the rice planting months during the rainy season in August to October.

The climate is dry until July when it rains heavily and the ground is waterlogged and the plants grow well and almost uncontrollably. By November the rain stops and it is suddenly much cooler. This is the coolest month of the year. With the rain comes opportunity to grow crops and for the wells to fill again after drying up at the end of the dry season when well water can become undrinkable. There is also a higher prevalence of illness with mosquitoes breeding in the puddles of stagnant water and incidences of malaria high from July to October.

The three villages are predominantly Muslim with Christians living along side. Most women observe the Muslim custom of covering their hair by wearing a tikoo (head scarf), although it is not obligatory. Both African dress and Western-cut clothes are worn by men, women and children.

The belief that God is great and will provide is deeply engrained in the culture. Generally local people can find a way to meet their basic needs of food and shelter somewhere, usually from within their extended families. It is common for compounds to be busy with many people staying from outside the immediate family and food is generously offered at meal times.

The responsibility of looking after young children is passes on to and shared with children only a few years older very early on. Children can be seen walking and playing in the street barefoot and wearing torn and dirty clothes. The health advisor at the clinic in Albadar told me children grow up under-developed and lack adequate nutrition.


Communication problems

I’m so busy with meetings now that I don’t have much time or energy left to study Mandinka (the main local language and also the language we are using to communicate in for the assessment). It is definitely a disadvantage not being fluent in the language and thus reliant on others to translate between Mandinka and English. This has led to much mis-communication. But thankfully I think we have been able to work it out most of the time – if not during the same meeting then at the next one.

Experience and achievements

At this stage now with only a few weeks left before the conclusion of the participatory needs assessment (PNA) I find myself reflecting and evaluating our progress. The assessment is a hard task to do without support from a colleague from outside the local community. However I think we have achieved a lot. The assessment process is providing opportunities for people who are poor and powerless to become involved in making real choices about their own lives. Local people are participating in gathering and interpreting the information in the needs assessment, as well as in identifying problems and prioritising them and finding solutions.

I previously lacked experience in International Development and PNA. My team also lack key skills in carrying out such an assessment. The process would greatly benefit from all involved having training in PNA techniques. That would also provide greater opportunity for empowerment as lack of skills and experience are barriers to empowerment.

Even still I feel the partnership is a success in meeting the objectives of generating useful information and involving local people. We have taken a systematic approach whilst being flexible and adapting our plan according to the needs as they arise. I hope local people involved in the PNA would also agree that I have shown respect for and valued the views of local people. I have certainly gained much insight into and understanding of the local culture on a level I hadn’t previously expected to achieve. This past week I have been in the homes of two village chiefs – the most influential person in a village here. It has been a humbling experience to explain myself to them whilst sitting on their sofa on a sand floor with children running around and screaming in the next room. They have been very warm and welcoming and said prayers for me in front of me. An experience I won’t forget as I thought to myself how lucky I was to be there.

Current self-help projects

There are a number of self-help projects in the three villages. The communities have organised themselves to fund their modest health clinics (in each village) and maternity facilities (in Abene only), by collecting money from each compound on a quarterly basis to pay for health advisors (locally known as doctors, although they lack adequate training and qualifications). In Albadar and Dianna the community works together to produce and sell palm oil used in cooking, with the income funding the building and repairs to the local primary school in each village.

The educational provision provided by the government for children is limited to paying for teachers’ salaries. There are frequent teacher strikes due to conditions and infrequent payment. The primary schools in the villages were built by local people. There is a strong history of self-help and participation.

Kafountine

9km from Abene and Albadar (2km less from Dianna) is the small town of Kafountine. There is a large area by the beach used by fishermen in smoking and processing fish on grass mats elevated from the sand on sticks, and in the town a busy market area selling vegetables and other goods with a more choice and at a cheaper price than in those available in the villages.

Secondary school

The secondary school which serves a large area including the dozen villages on the islands off Kafountine was built on the road between Dianna and Kafountine, about 2 km out of the town. It is a long way to walk and takes about half an hour to cycle there from Abene. Classes are staggered with some children attending in the early morning and others later in the day. At various times throughout the day children can be seen walking and cycling up and down the road on their way to or from home in their uniform of blue shirts and beige trousers or skirts.