A guest post by Caitlin Phillips-Ennis (age 11) – reproduced with permission of ‘Drumbeat’, the newsletter of the charity Fotga (Friends of the Gambia Association).

Dear Drumbeat,

This Easter I visited The Gambia for the 3rd time. There were 9 of us – 6 grown ups and 3 kids and we all had rooms next to each other at the Senegambia Hotel. We had a fantastic holiday enjoying the hot sunshine, the beach and swimming pools, the lizards, birds, monkeys and vultures, long lunches at Ali Baba’s and great nights out (Jo Jo’s, Scala, Tao, Kora) Our Gambian friends made us very welcome and I was so happy to see my sponsored child (Mammy) again. We had 4 years of news to catch up on so we had lots to talk about!

Of course our holiday went far too quickly. Mum and Dad had to go home on Tuesday but I was staying on with Nanny and Grandad for 3 more days. I waved to the plane as it flew over the Senegambia and shouted “See you on Friday!” then I jumped in the pool again.

But I didn’t see them on Friday. Because of the volcano in Iceland we had to stay in The Gambia (what a shame) and we didn’t know when we would be back in England (oh well, never mind!) We kept in touch via e-mail and on Sunday Mum reminded me that I was supposed to be back at school in Ashtead on Monday morning. When Nanny suggested that I went to school with Mammy in The Gambia instead, Mum and Dad assumed she was joking, but I thought it was a brilliant idea!

Caitlin and friends in class

So at 8am on Monday morning I arrived at Serrekunda Lower Basic School and was welcomed by the Headmaster. When Mammy arrived she took me to her classroom and I met the other 49 children in her class and sat down at my desk. The first lesson was Science (the skeleton and muscular system) followed by Maths (fractions and percentages) The teacher was very strict and expected everyone to work very hard. Anyone who talked during the lesson had to go to the front and put their hands out so that he could hit them with a stick. I was definitely on my best behaviour in his lesson! At break time Mammy looked after me and we shared our food with each other. After lessons in English (writing sentences) and Quantitive (reasoning) the afternoon pupils (another 50) started to arrive and my Gambian school day was over.

What an amazing experience! Thank you to Mammy, her mum Binta, everyone at Serrekunda Lower Basic School, Doudou – the best driver in The Gambia, Mr Bah’s nephew for the art lessons and all the staff at the Senegambia Hotel and The Gambia Experience. But most of all, thanks to the Icelandic volcano for the extra fun I had and to my Nanny and Grandad (True Friends of The Gambia) for showing me this amazing country and its people.

Jerejef
Caitlin (aka Khaddy)

Caitlin and Mammy

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