Trips and Visits

October half term will see Mrs Phillips take a group of Year 11 students to The Gambia.  The group will live in a village with a wealth of opportunities to learn from and exchange experiences with those from a very different culture.

The Gambia is very wet and humid in October. By half term it will have stopped raining but will still be very hot and humid, with temperatures between 85-95°F both night and day.

Gunjur Village is a mainly Muslim community whose official language is English and has a population of 12,000 people. There are no proper roads, no running water and no electricity. Bathroom facilities consist of a hole in the ground and a bucket of cold water!
The most striking feature of Gunjur is the inhabitants. The people are so friendly, welcoming and helpful. Extended families live together in compounds, which vary in size and number of buildings. Some have just a single building divided into rooms for each family. Others may consist of several buildings, with the main one having tiled flooring, a generator creating electricity for lighting and a television operated by a car battery. There are more car batteries in the village than there are cars. The main forms of transport are bicycle and on foot.

The most common way of eating in The Gambia is from a communal bowl. Hands are washed before and after a meal from a communal basin. Even if one is left-handed, the right hand is used for eating.

Essential Mandinka
Salaam aleku (Peace be with you)
Response: Malekum salaam (and with you)
I tondi? (What is your name)
Response: N tomu [name] (My name is ...)
I bota minto (Where do you come from?)
Response: N bota [town] (I come from ...)
Abaraka / Abaraka baaki (thank you very much)
Adiata baaki (It was delicious)
Ha/Hani (Yes/No)