Final workshops at the school and major football match

A final emotional trip was made to the primary school in Bafulotu this morning, where all the final workshops for the school were to take place.  Our journeys consist of two taxi vans (not in the best of condition) which take us through the very busy streets before a dusty terrain.  Lisa's taxi stopped off at a market to purchase some string and a football (come to this later), while we made our way straight to the school to set things up for everyone else to arrive.  Believe me, you get such a welcome from the people that live here and the children were so excited to see us again.

Two parachutes were set up, and stations were created for the groups to do some craft work.

Once the other bus arrived, the children got into their groups (Tigers, Elephants and Monkeys) and did their 'warm up' songs before moving to their stations and working on their finger puppets.  Using colours and glitter, the children are now really expressing themselves and seem so much more confident than when we first arrived.

We had also brought with us some masks for the children, so they could wear them for when they return home.  Imagine our disappointment that we had to cut them all out using a template with children's scissors (at rapid speed).  However, a few of us got to grips with it and in the nick of time, the children were able to wear their masks proudly.

Once the children had finished and left for the day, we were invited into a classroom where a presentation by the committee and the chief of the tribe was delivered to us.  They thanked us warmly for coming to the school, and for educating them and the children.  Quite a few emotional speeches were thankfully captured on video.  Whilst the presentation was in place, the local village women were cooking us up a good feast and in a true Gambian style.  The food they prepared for us is called Benachin, a popular Gambian meal, which is eaten in a large bowl and by your hands.  Each one of us had our hands washed, before we took our places in groups of three and tucked into our feast.  Lisa and I were very proud of the students as they all really enjoyed the meal, lots of very nice comments from all and very little food was left.

After our meal, we made our way to the village football pitch were we had been invited to play Bafulotu village team.  The pitch is basically sand covering what felt like rock.  So in parts it was a very firm surface but in other parts it was basically beach football.  The goal posts were made out of wooden poles, with a crossbar (also a wooden pole) placed on top.

The Bafulotu team were all smartly dressed in the Leigh Rugby tops that we had handed out a day earlier and Winstanley had our select eleven including our new family members Lamin and Michael, plus a couple of villagers joined our team.  The Winstanley select eleven, had been discussing tactics the night before at The African Queen restaurant, so it was all very serious. 

It was a close game under the very hot sun, and thankfully thanks the help of Lamin and Michael, Winstanley won the game 3-2.

After the game, we said our goodbyes to the villagers. The students were crying a lot and asked us on many occasions if they could stay for longer. It was extremely heartbreaking to see them like this. The visit has really touched the hearts of the students and all the hard work was totally worth while. We  made our way back to the hotel to relax beside the pool.  However the boys also had the final water polo game to play, which they won also.
Tonight we are having our final meal together and saying goodbye to all the friends we have met here (and Laura is saying goodbye to the dogs that have followed her everywhere!

What a remarkable day and what amazing students we have been blessed with on this trip x