Sunday, May 20th, 2007 (arrived June 22nd)
The first of the rains arrived today! Albeit, a very light, short rain, but nonetheless, the rainy season has arrived! Unfortunately, the rains also brought the humidity – sweat is dripping down my body as I simply sit at the desk. The Gambians don’t seem to mind however. I’m pretty sure they have genetic tolerances to heat that those of us from European descent do not. The rain is early this year – which promises to be a good thing for the farmers, as the rainy season’s been getting shorter over the past few decades. It remains to be seen however, whether or not this is just a freak incident, or if more will follow. Typically, the rains don’t start until the 2nd or 3rd of June, and don’t really get cracking until mid’June, when the planting usually takes place.

As I’m sure you’ve realized by now from our conversations, life here is an unending roller coaster of emotions: one hour you’re having a great time, the next: you’re hating everything about this God-forsaken semi-desert strip of sand along a muddy river. I expected these ups and downs to phase out as I settled in to life here, but I’ve come to realize there isn’t ever going to be any true “settling in”. This is due, mostly, to my own choosing – I’ve found I don’t really enjoy simply sitting around “chatting”, especially on the backless wooden benches everyone sits on here. (I’ve been meaning to ask other volunteers how they sit on those things, as they absolutely kill my lower back if I have to sit for more than 15 – 20 minutes). Consequently, I don’t really fit into the culture here – I’m either always working, riding my bike to other villages for work, fiddling with my garden and tree nursery (Page 2) or reading. As I said, this is by my choice mainly, and I’m fully comfortable with my lifestyle, it’s just not what I had pictured the romanticized “living among the locals”, life to be like. This is not to say I don’t interact with people – on the contrary – I can’t ESCAPE them, but my leisure time I view as my own, and it’s spent doing my own thing. I think people in my community have come to understand me, however, and I no longer have 20 little pairs of eyes watching me whenever I work in my garden – thank God.
( From Page 3 of letter)
Actually, now that I’ve managed to unload all that on you (and as a result, probably worry you to death1), I feel much better. The temperature has also dropped a little bit (maybe it will rain again and I’ve found that my moods are inversely related to the temperature. High temperatures equal angry, depressed Rob, cool temperatures equal happy Rob. Never fails. I still haven’t a clue as to what I want to do after Peace Corps is over – there has been no magical inspirational moment yet, and I’ve stopped holding my breath for it. What I do know is that I will NEVER, under any circumstances, live in a hot climate. I simply cannot stand the heat – especially at night. I think my body is naturally hotter than most people’s, as it seems to bother me more than most. Other than friends and family, cold is what I miss most. I now no longer think twice about walking around the compound with my shirt off. My staple dress is a pair of flip-flops (now that my Charo” are out of commission) and one of the 2 pairs of nylon Columbia shorts I got from you Dad. Nothing else. My clothes are constantly dirt covered and culturally inappropriate, but I REFUSE to wear anything else – too DAMN HOT!!!

Whenever I think of something that I might like to do after Peace Corps is over, I write it down on a piece of paper for later perusing. So far I have: going back to school for a Master’s or PhD, maybe in environmental issues, maybe in alternative energy, ie solar power, etc, the Earth Institute at Columbia University: going back to Alta Lodge: getting an around the world plane ticket: a biking/climbing trip across Africa or Asia: med school: some sort of skiing adventure during the winter followed by the summer working in Antarica (to make up for my missed winter) : and who knows what else…..
(Page 4 of letter
I finished TaiPan last night, (the semi-sequel to Shogun) what a good read! It kept me up too late many nights and helped me get through the brutal 3 – 5:00 PM sweat fest that inevitably comes every day. The BBC on my short wave has also been an invaluable companion; especially while I’m cooking breakfast or working in the garden, or filling polypots. I’m stuck in a remote village in West Africa and I am more knowledgeable in world affairs than when I had the Internet, TV, radio, and newspapers.

Speaking of breakfast – mango season is in full swing! I eat at least 3 a day, and they are constantly falling to the ground with dull thuds, sparking a race between goat, sheep and child as to who can reach it first. I think 15 must fall every day in our compound alone! Due to all the mango eating, the last thing I want in the morning is a sugary bowl of oatmeal (and because I’d been eating it every day for 5 months) so I’ve been cooking eggs every morning that I buy from the poultry project at the school. The eggs are never more than a day old, the tomatoes are from my garden, and the onions and amaranth ( like a tropical spinach) are from local gardens. It makes quite the tasty breakfast – with a cup of tea, of course.
(Page 5 of letter)
My work and projects continue to go exceptionally well, and I am ever thankful that I have so much to do – it makes the days much more enjoyable, and they pass quickly. Time here passes differently than at home, the days go by slowly ( sorry for the sloppy writing, my cat is rubbing itself on my pen). But the weeks and months seem to fly by: it’s hard to believe I have almost been here 8 months! Tree nurseries and tree planting have been my main focus of work – specifically with the tree nursery competition at area schools. We’ve planted 1000 trees at the Jali school alone, and I’m working closely with 2 other schools in my area. I also helped start a nursery for livestock fodder-producing trees at ITC – the livestock center in Keneba, and have my own personal tree nursery for fruit trees and other popular species to plant in compounds. Lamin and I are going to plant cashews around the perimeter of peanut and coos field to act as a windbreak (protecting the soil from wind erosion) and to produce the nuts, which he can then sell – for considerably more than peanuts. We’re also doing the same around the compound. In the middle, interplanted with the crops we’re going to plant Acacia albida, which is an excellent tree for soil enrichment, in that it drops its leaves right before the rains and they act as fertilizer (since it’s a nitrogen – fixing tree). The pods also are fantastic for livestock fodder – which adds more fertilizer since the animals sit and wait under the tree for the pods to fall, all the while depositing manure under the tree. We’re e also going to graft a few different mango varieties onto his trees so their mango season can be extended, and I’m going to transplant 2 avocados and a jackfruit into the compound as well. Assuming all goes well, they should have fresh fruit for half the year!
(Page 6 of letter)
I’ve laid the necessary political and paper groundwork for the village to start a woodlot in an abandoned field near the village, so the women won’t have to walk 5 km. To get firewood. The Department of Forestry is going to supply the fencing materials and seedlings, and we already got the seeds to be planted. Not it’s up to the community to do the work they said they would….

I’m still trying to write a grant seeking funding to install wells in the women’s garden in Jali. Why the garden was ever built without wells is beyond my comprehension, but it
is essentially a useless, fenced in area now. Unfortunately , the man I’m writing the grant with, is never in village, so the work hasn’t progressed very much.

I spend a considerable amount of time at the school in Jali, working in the nursery and discussing other possible projects. We secured funding to expand the poultry project there to 100 laying hens, which will provide even more money for the school. We’re also going to plant a mango, cashew and citrus orchard in the school‘s abandoned field to generate even more income. Luckily, the headmaster at the school is an incredibly motivated, forward thinking man and without him all these projects would fail. It’s very refreshing to meet such a Gambian – most simply aren’t educated enough or don’t see the point of working to improve the community.

I’ve also got seven live-fencing projects established which will be out planted during the rains. The idea is essentially to plant a large number of closely spaced thorny bushes around the area to be fenced, eliminating the need to cut down trees for fencing. We’re trying a couple different species to see which will work best.
(Page 7 of letter)
My garden, despite a myriad number of setbacks is coming along rather well. I harvested a bunch of cucumbers in April and the tomatoes are now finally ready. Granted, the amount of work I put into it, in NO WAY was reproduced in harvest amounts, but I’ve enjoyed the work immensely. I’ve begun work on my rainy season nursery and will have butternut squash, tomato, pumpkin, okra, bitter tomatoes, eggplant, watermelon, cassava, green pepper, and zucchini. Well, at least that’s the plan. I’m hoping all the termites, ants, lizards and birds that have wreaked havoc on my garden have plenty other things to eat when the rains come, and will therefore leave my poor garden alone! I’ve also got mango, mandarin oranges, pomegranate, jackfruit, pigeon pea, moringa, and Indian blackberry trees planted for food and fruit production. Within 3 – 5 years my family should be living it up!
Monday, May 21
So, my mood has completely reversed since yesterday, ha ha, and life is good again! Today was a lot cooler, probably putting me in a better mood as opposed to the stickiness of yesterday. This morning I had a nice ride to Tankular to visit the Chief of Kiang West to get his signature for our village’s wood lot project. It’s actually a pretty scenic bike ride through the forest, takes about 40 min. (15 km) and I had the pleasure of watching as an immense wart hog trampled through the undergrowth upon my arrival. Which reminds me – yesterday morning I went to the forest to cut poles to make a new garden door (termites ate my old one). Along the way, I spooked a HUGE troop of baboons that were hanging out along the path. It was like watching a stampede of monkeys – the speed with which they hurtle along the ground is amazing! There must have been at least 200+ baboons in the trees and a couple of the big ones stared me down until I was about 100 feet away. (Page 8 of letter)
Tuesday May 22nd, 2007 – 8:30 AM
Well, the mail run truck is probably going to show up in the next couple of hours, so I want to finish this letter before they come. Your letters are usually filled with a bunch of questions about life here, so I’ll try to answer them now.

My village is, as far as I can tell, 100% Muslim and yes, I’ve had many people ask me to convert to the Muslim faith – every day almost, I am asked to come to the mosque and pray. They don’t have the same ideas of religious tolerance here – in their eyes, if one isn’t Muslim, then they’re wrong.

The moringa tree does produce edible leaves that are very nutritious, and can be dried and pounded into powder form to be sprinkled on top of food. In fact, Nick and I plan to work with the National Nutrition Agency to promote the use of moringa leaves in this area. The seeds also have uses in traditional medicine.

Peanuts are planted every year – and it used to be a huge export crop from the Gambia, but the global price of peanuts crashed some 20 years ago, leading to the poverty the Gambia now faces. It’s still exported but the farmers no longer get much money for it.
(Page 9 of letter
They do use a few spices in their cooking, mainly salt, MSG, pepper, onions and oil. The sauce and rice combination is very similar to Indian food; it just doesn’t taste nearly as good. I don’t think they can afford any other spices really. They are definitely open to other tastes, on the few times I’ve given them part of my breakfast, they’re enjoyed it, but I still think they prefer their own cooking. There are some fat Gambians, - but they’re almost always, well off - you can tell by their clothes, or the fact that they’re driving a vehicle. Obviously, the Gambians are in real trouble if they ever become sedentary, because their diet is very unhealthy – all the salt, MSG and oil.

My family definitely thinks yoga is a bit strange – they usually watch me while I do it, so I’ve started to close my curtain to block out the stares.

Jali’s size. I really don’t know because I get very conflicting answers, 1000 – 3000, but I think 3000 is way too high. There are about 60 family compounds, and 5 male surnames: predominantly Drammeh (me) Samatee, Diba, Dafee, and Dabo are also somewhat popular. Men marry between 25-30, usually, women 13 – 18 in village, older in Kombo.

I’m not sure what they teach in the schools, I don’t usually spend much time in the classrooms at school, but I do know that little knowledge is retained, due to their teaching methods, which involve writing a long paragraph on the board and having the students copy it down. It’s in English, usually, so many don’t understand what they’re even writing. (Page 10)

My garden produced about 20 cucumbers, and the tomatoes are now finally ready – I pick 5 – 6 a day to eat. The pumpkins are growing nicely, and they should be ready soon. I harvested my moringa trees a couple times and Bintou, (one of Rob’s two mother’s) made a tasty green sauce with it. The green ? sauce is my favorite, and can be made with any leafy green: moringa, baobab, or amaranth, and is mixed with pounded peanut, onion, hot pepper, MSG, and palm oil. But, yeah, the garden harvest was pretty sad.

The Gambians don’t eat vegetables in the same way we do – they are all pounded and mixed together to form a sauce, so there’s never the enjoyment of tasting the different flavors and textures. Onion is the most common, by far, followed by sorrel leaves, amaranth leaves, okra, tomatoes, baobab leaves, pumpkin, etc. They don’t use many vegetables however, mostly oil, rice and peanuts and fish (if we’re lucky). Hopefully the fishing rod will come today and we can start eating lots of good fish!!! The fish in village gets trucked in every day all the way from Kombo, and while tasty, is small and very bony.

It sounds like things are going very well back at home: bridge, golf, and fishing – Dad, congrats on winning the tournament!! That’s really impressive to have won at all 3 clubs. Thanks for all your notes of encouragement – they help a lot, especially when I’m feeling down. I’m glad you have had a lot of time to spend with the family – it’s definitely what I miss the most – and I can’t wait for you all to come visit!!



Note from Barb ----Rob’s address is:
Rob Tidmore, PCV
US Peace Corps
PO Box 582
Banjul, The Gambia
West Africa
The PC truck delivers the mail the 4th Friday of every month. Letters are best to receive, they arrive in country in around 10 days and will be held for the truck. . An air mail letter costs about $1.00. He can get e mail, but please limit it to personal correspondence, because he has a limited amount of time he can use the computer when he is in Banjul. The e mail address is robtidmore@alum.bucknell.edu