Friday 27 July 2012

2012 Olympics

Welcome to the Gambian Olympic Team - Suwaibou Sanneh and Saruba Colley, both 100m runners. I'm sure they will compete hard and wish them both success. Hope they enjoy their visit to London and that they make many friends and have happy memories to take home with them - and maybe a medal or two?


We send the same message to wheelchair athletes Demba Janu and Ida Nyang who will be competing in the Paralympics. 


We will be watching your progress with great interest and hope - well done to all of you for making it this far!

Thursday 26 July 2012

Free Book!

The second book in the Malinding series, 'Mussukunda' is available, free, on Kindle ebooks for five days from 26/7/2012

I'd be happier if you bought it but it's your choice! All profits go to GOES ...


Tuesday 24 July 2012

Home again and back to work!

We're home from our first holiday for years - practically on doctor's orders! Running GOES and trying to raise funds by writing is turning into a full time career - just when other people are settling into easy chairs and listening to Radio 4. We were put to shame though by another member of our holiday tour group; a gentleman of 95 years of age who certainly isn't settling down to pipes and slippers just yet! There were other people who, having overcome serious medical conditions, were getting on with an active and interesting life, and  who provided true inspiration. GOES followed us about on holiday - one of our young Gambian friends was reported to be ill and we were able to send a donation to cover his care costs. 

We use a money transfer system called BAYBA which is very quick and reliable. Money is deposited with them via any branch of Barclay's Bank (there was one two doors away from the hotel we stayed at in Bergerac.) A 'phone call is then made to BAYBA in England to arrange a transfer to a selected location in The Gambia, and a code number is given. We then send the recipient a text message containing the code and the money is available, sometimes even on the same day. We're waiting for a message to tell us how our young friend is.

Our friend in the local coffee shop greeted us today with a bag full of beautifully made baby hats - we'll just have to go and give them to deserving babies! 

In the meantime I'm working on the fourth book in the Malinding ebook series. Long coach journeys are a good place to work out a plot!

Best wishes to all of you; please consider The Gambia for your next holiday and please, please buy the books! All proceeds go straight into GOES for immediate use in Gambian schools, clinics and homes.


Wednesday 4 July 2012

Back in Business!

It's been rather quiet on the GOES front recently, largely due to a shortage of funds. Being a very small charity means we don't keep a large balance in the bank! We receive money, somebody needs it.

Recently our friends in the Vale Royal Writers' Group, together with members of Liverpool's Dead Good Poets, staged a Summer Wordfest at the Blue Cap pub in Sandiway. Some excellent poets and storytellers performed and the 'profits' from a raffle and sale of books, together with some very generous donations made GOES' bank balance very much healthier - for two days! By then the money was in The Gambia providing medical care for a very sick young man and providing mosquito nets to protect families from malaria (which kills far too many people in sub-Saharan Africa).

So, we're out of funds again! Hope our e-books ('Empty Bananas@, 'Mussukunda' & 'The Mechanical Girl') sell well!

Best wishes to all, and an especial 'thank you' to VWRG and Dead Good Poets!