Updated
March 20, 2004

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Julie has emailed me well before her visit with her husband and friends, it was only at the end of her stay - when i took her to the airport and we had an hour to chat waithing for the delayed plane, that I realised that she wanted to help GTS in a longer term capacity and that the week had been 'undercover'

Julie has worked for almost 20 years for a major UK charity and would now like to get involved in something smaller and different.

Her husband Bryn and her have visited Gambia a few times & Julie hoped that GTS had the Gambian infra structure, ethos and committment to make the difference that is needed here to break the 'hand out charity grip' that is destroying the people ability to work.

Two months later & Julie is steering GTS into a new era of UK charity status.

It had to happen and it just needed the right mix of people in place in The Gambia and in the UK to make it work.

Over the next couple of years, I will be spending more and more time in Gambia, so a keen and enthusiastic UK GTS team is coming about at exactly the right time

If you would like to help GTS create employment and support education to help Gambia move into the future - please contact us by using the link at the bottom of this page

The backup well at GTS Kololi, water in Gambia is generally on but tyhere can be cuts if repair work is being carried out

Comments to GTS

FRIDAY 16th JANUARY

Dear Diary, Today I left the Combo Beach Hotel following a two-week, wonderful holiday with Bryn, Sue and Dave. The others flew home at 6p.m. and I finished my Combo Beach Hotel stay with a second and truly lovely massage by a young man called Lamin. He has asked me to e-mail him, they all do, it is just a way of gaining contact with Europeans - for we all have so much and they are dirt poor.

It is heartbreaking at times but you cannot help realising how happy, relaxed and generous they are with their time and smiles despite their abject poverty. I shall not e-mail him of course for a one to one sponsorship commitment is not for me - I prefer to give practical help via GTS if all goes well this week and also any financial help that I may be able to provide in future will also be guided via GTS to where the need is greatest.

I just hope GTS is all I anticipate it to be - we shall see.

I then took a taxi (not Yaya our previous driver who was busy returning from the airport) to the GTS restaurant and bar where I met Francis briefly and Kabs the Manager who I shall meet later to talk about how and where I can learn more about GTS, and to enable me to offer practical support in the future if I so wish and if they think I am the right sort of person with something of value to offer.My main wish is to visit and perhaps help support the teachers in the new school for infants about to be opened by GTS.

I then made my way via a GTS driver to my compound and was met by Adam the young son of Francis the GTS director. Francis is the man with whom I made contact via the Internet and met briefly today. A nice, kind man with great sensitivity is my first impression, but cautious and in no hurry to form an opinion of me I suspect.

He suggests I rent a room within the compound rented by his son, I agree. I have just unpacked, handed over a bottle of whiskey for house consumption during the week and feel 100% relaxed and at home in my basic but charming room in which there is a fan - (it is very hot today.)

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I cannot fully explain how I feel - a sense of adventure certainly, a growing respect for the few GTS volunteers and staff I have met and a sense of release, of space for just me alone - although I have the best man in the world I still needed this time alone to help me consider the next phase of my life as I enter my 60's.

Few men would willingly encourage and support their wives in such a venture, particularly in a country where the men are very charming and they target the older European woman. (It is actually very flattering of course but I am too long in the tooth to be taken in. But it makes me smile and that can only be good!) Bryn is special and I will always be grateful for his encouragement even though he knows it may lead to longer-term stays for me in the future working for GTS.

I am too tired to wash and change; the water is drawn from a tap in the garden incidentally and carried into the bathroom in a bucket. You must then boil a kettle or two if you want to warm it a bit then pour it over you. I don't mind at all but I am too tired to worry about how I look at the moment - it is of no importance, it feels good.

Sue has just phoned, the delayed flight is now scheduled to leave at 6p.m. I feel Sue too will offer something in the way of support in the Gambia in the future - and she too will experience personal growth which must surely go hand in hand with new experiences. My only concern is whether David will find this acceptable - we must both remember our real lives are here in England. I will stop writing now and will use the GTS taxi to take me to the GTS Bar to meet Kabs later.

A good start to 'My Week.' In GTS bar now and have met Kabs properly. He is Gambian and the manager of the charitable branch of GTS (not the bar and restaurant, that is Adams role.) He is gentle, intelligent and genuine. Is nice to talk to without sexual undertones. He has discussed a wonderful programme for me to sample the work of GTS for the next 5 days, which brings me up to Wednesday.

I shall then see how tired I am and how well I have coped with the heat. I consider I am very lucky to be shown around by Kabs and I look forward to it. The programme to date is:

• Saturday 11p.m. - African carnival in Serenkunda.
• Sunday 4p.m. Visit to Bakoteh Infant School for little ones.
• Monday 8.10a.m. 3 school visits of various ages and size and an assembly.
• Tuesday 10a.m. Attend a Task Force Meeting with community representatives of the GTS Bakoteh School building project funded entirely by GTS and labour provided by the community. Also to meet a Member of Parliament and leader of the Opposition Party. Also to visit a paper mill - the only one in Gambia.
• Wednesday 10a.m. - 7p.m. Join 10 other GTS tourists on a tour organised for the first time by Francis. Will include a variety of visits to places of interest. So you can see it looks very interesting and I am excited and am enjoying my own 'personal space. I do not feel threatened or intimidated in anyway and can now firmly deal with the most persistent 'bumster' without giving offence.

Saturday 17th January