A Visit to Ida's Compound

Ida and her mother

Today I haven’t done much of anything. I got up and watched a few movies and then had a steak baguette for lunch. The American soldiers that we met came by to check on me. They said they just wanted to make sure I was doing okay for the day and to see if I needed anything. It was refreshing to see people of the military living up to their titles. They only stayed for 5 minutes because they had to go back to train their troops here. Later on Ida came by to take us to her compound. I was a little nervous because I didn’t know what to expect, but I did

Ida's girls and their friends

realize that I was about to be immersed into how Gambians live first-hand. When we got to the compound her family was really excited

to see us; everyone was sitting outside because it was cooler, but when we came everyone came inside. Walking inside I was a bit surprised,

With Ida

there were leather couches, a TV set, and pictures on the wall. I was expecting to have to sit on the floor when we got inside. Due to the cost of electricity, they wouldn’t turn on the fan until we started to sweat. It was so hot in the compound; I really don’t see how they stand it on a regular basis. We met Ida’s two daughters, her nephew Ya-Ya, her mother and father, her sister, and her brother. Her two girls were 9 and 6 years old. Her 9

Me with the girls

year old, Fatjawo (pronounced Fa-joww) opened her mouth to speak and I was completely blown away by how intelligent she was. When she shook my hand she did a

Us with the girls

small curtsy bow and introduced herself with the proper spelling of her name. Upon meeting her daughters, Ida asked me which one did I think was the prettiest and which one was the ugliest. I was caught off-guard by the question and I told her not to ever tell one of her daughters she was prettier, smarter, or better than the other. I told both of the girls they were pretty, but Fatjawo told me that she is always called the prettiest one of the two. She talked the whole while that we were there. She talked to me about school and living in America. She said she wanted to be the President’s wife when she grew up, but I told her

Oh and there's Ya-Ya

she could achieve much more than that. Ida’s mom or sister couldn’t speak English too well so they didn’t say much until they wanted to take a picture with us. Ya-Ya, Ida’s nephew, was a stubborn little boy. He cried

Fatjawo was my girl!

Ida and her sister

most of the time and when he wasn’t crying he was fighting or eating. At one point he kept trying to snatch my camera out of my hand. Fatjawo was a little show-off; therefore she danced for us and showed us that she could speak several languages, including French, English, and Mandinka. Ida informed us that

The little one

she had her children in private school and it was $68 a month, which was really expensive for schooling. She asked us for help when we returned home to keep her children enrolled in school. Apparently

Us and Ida

public schools don’t teach you as much private schools in Gambia. As smart as her children were, I want to help her, but I don’t know if I can afford to pay her children’s tuition. I stayed at the compound a lot longer than I thought I would, but it was a great experience. I felt like I had an African family, I even took their address to send them clothes and supplies when I return home.