Going to The Gambia!

Well, we hope we'll be going, and if we are, these are some of the things we've been given to take with us! As you see, mostly medical equipment for the clinics we support. Scary looking stuff some of it is!

The last picture is the usual shot of the spare bed - mainly a few reference books, children's clothing and bags and bags full of reading glasses! We usually manage to take out a few bits and pieces for ourselves - a change of clothes, that sort of thing; sadly, Thomas Cook haven't managed to extend our baggage allowance this year so if we want spare clothes we'll have to wear them on the journey out!
All in a good cause.
Best wishes to all of you,
Tom

GOES keeps going!

What have we been up to lately? Well, the Gift Aid arrived - thank you, UK Government! Quite a lot of it has been used already because we don't pile up money in the bank. If we have money it's our duty to send it to people and places in need.
We've helped a small school by paying the wages of a couple of members of staff.
We're paying for a young woman (her education had to pause while she had a couple of children) taking a crafts course at Brikama.
We sent support to a family when their mother died.
We paid the registration fees for a nurse who studies to become a midwife.
We have helped a couple of people develop their market gardens.
We have paid for the medical care of several people between the ages of 18 months and 80 years.
We have passed money on to a friend who is building a school.
We have paid school fees for young children to attend nursery schools.

We are running out of money again!
Please help - I noticed that 3 of you bought Malinding ebooks yesterday - or did one of you buy 3 books?
This is a good way to support GOES - and GOES supports people in need in The Gambia.
Thank you!

Another busy day

Well, busy if you include waiting as an activity! Waiting for a cheque from HMRC, that is.
Lots of interest in the latest book, 'Chasing Freedom Home' - please will some of you who now have a copy post a nice review on Amazon? If you do hopefully that will increase interest in other books in the 'Malinding' series and so make a welcome contribution to GOES funds!
 The next, and possible final, book in the series is now into its second chapter - about 3,500 words so far. We went to Gladstone's Library for the day - I took 4,000 words with me but I had read them aloud, in private, thank goodness, and I was far from happy with the result! So the scissors came out and there was a severe editing session this morning.
 After lunch, with cake, the muse was a bit kinder and I've re-written several passages - hope they'll sound better.
 Best wishes to you all, and thanks for your interest.
Tom

Chasing Freedom Home!

Chasing Freedom Home is the title of the latest 'Malinding' series of Kindle ebooks. I've just downloaded the text to Amazon and, fingers crossed, it should be available to buy ( $3) from this time tomorrow. As usual, income goes straight to the GOES bank account, where I hope it will soon be joined by the Gift Aid income from HMRC.

Where does the money go? To the Gambia - recently providing support for a very small boy to have an eye operation, to a young woman who, with your help, needed proper medical attention to discover that the lump she had found was not cancerous, and to support the family of a lovely old lady who died recently.

 We have just taken a little time off to play with our latest grand-nephew in the park, and enjoy singing nursery rhymes at full volume in the back of the car.

 I'll report again soon!

Tom

It's a 24/7 job!

Twenty-odd years ago, when we retired from the day jobs, I wondered how I would fill the rest of my life. J was already settled into her new life as a full-time student and I turned to voluntary work. Voluntary works means you do something you want to but don't get paid for. I enjoyed it immensely. The I lapsed into running GOES. The enjoyment increased by 100%, as did the worry about not being able to do more! J joined in too, having reduced her study a little after the third degree ...
 But there are no office hours - which is brilliant. For example, having finished the latest 'Malinding' series book, we thought we would have a relaxing visit to Gladstone's Library. Great idea; good food, good company and lovely surroundings. Quite true, but GOES was still with us! We left with a car full of beautiful clothing donated by a Library friend who had listened to us talking about The Gambia, and decided to help. Some will find its way to West African villages, some will be sold and the money raised will help to stock medical supplies for clinics.
 Still determined to relax we decided to get a new set of wheels for J. We've both been cyclists from the age of eleven (quite a while ago!) and J decided she might be safer on 3 wheels now. So, we toddled along to another beautiful location, the Juicybike showroom in New Mills. We played with an electric trike in the car park and decided to give it a new home. We also were given a set of panniers and a trunk bag (goes across the top of a set of panniers), all superb quality, to help raise funds for GOES. Many thanks to Bob Wales and Sarah (and all the Juicybike staff) for their support, and for the fact they are excellent people who know their trade and how to look after their customers properly.
 Back to work on Tuesday with the Gift Aid claim, the cover design of the book (Chasing Freedom Home) and selling the donations, probably on eBay, the gifts we've been given. None of the money we raise goes into our pockets - every penny and pound will go so improve the health or education of some one in The Gambia who needs help.

All in a week's work!

Honestly, we really do more than sit around chatting to our friends and eating delicious Gambian food. Sometimes we really are quite busy! But yes, we do sit around and chat! The art of conversation is alive and well and living in The Gambia. Everybody has a turn to speak and it's rare to be interrupted. I love this country; the eagerness for education, the kindness to strangers, the politeness of children and the gentle sense of humour.

 I'll deal with the work GOES did on this visit but for now I'm just enjoying memories and wishing I was back in the sunshine.

P.S. If you're waiting for a text from me I had better tell you I've lost my 'phone. Hope to find it soon ...

Best wishes, and thanks to all my friends for their help.

Tom

Do I want to change the world?

Sounds a bit ambitious! This question was asked at a recent writers' meeting held at Gladstone's Library where most of the Malinding series of books were written. It gave me rather a shock at the time but I've thought about it and I've decided that, yes, I do want to change the world!
Think back to your days at school; the bullies picked on what they thought were differences between children - red hair, perhaps, or perhaps some one who wore glasses or the 'wrong' type of clothes - and made their lives a misery. It occurs to me now that in fact people all over the world have far more in common than is usually thought. My friends of whatever colour or creed want to live in peace, provide their families with a home, enough food, and to manage to keep them healthy and educated. They want to be able to greet each new day with a smile and know where the next meal is coming from.
 It seems that our politicians want something different - power. Yesterday's paper - The Guardian - had a centre-page spread showing that Britain has been at war, somewhere in the world, every year for the last hundred years. Surely that's a record to be ashamed of?
 My books try to show people in my two favourite countries living at peace with one another. 'Empty Bananas' has an old, sad, white man finding love and a reason for living in Malinding village (which, as I often point out, does not exist but it might do!); 'The Mechanical Girl' is a story about an uneducated girl who achieves great things and sets about improving the world in her own way; 'Mussukunda' is a story about a middle-aged, unemployed white woman who changes the world (and her life), by volunteering to work in a refuge for women; 'The Alkalo' is the story of a woman - the lady who married the sad white man mentioned a few lines above - and rises to a position of great responsibility in her village (no prize for guessing the name of the village ...).
 The book I'm working on at the present is intended to show the truth of the saying "for evil to flourish it is only necessary for good men to do nothing" and tells the story of how a tiny nation saves civilisation by acts of kindness. I like my books to have happy endings!
 Rant over. Thanks for putting up with me for so long.
Best wishes,
Tom

When do we say 'Good-bye' ?

Been thinking (yes, I know it's dangerous!) about how and when we cease to work with GOES. The charity is, in a sense, our baby - we conceived the idea, cherished it, watched it grow, became quite proud of its achievements ... and then we grew old and it became hard work!
 We have to accept that at some time we will be physically unable to travel out to The Gambia a couple of times a year, and I feel that now is the time for us to decide what to do! Our main concern is the future of the many children we support - and the living conditions of their parents. Only this week we have heard of the deaths of a very young child and of the father of a young woman whose education we sponsored. These people have become part of our extended family and their lives are interwoven with ours. I don't know the answer; I do know we must try to find it. Sometimes being 77 is great; sometimes it's not!
Tom

Commonwealth and Lampedusa

I've enjoyed watching my friends celebrate Commonwealth Day in past years, and as a visiting Englishman it has helped me reflect on the wrongs that have been done to this tiny African country which I love so much. To witness the proud and friendly citizens of The Gambia celebrating Independence day has emphasised that the country has moved on from the days of exploitation and slavery with a good grace that many Europeans would have difficulty emulating.
 GOES will still help Gambians with emergency support whenever possible. We're a small charity and sometimes we sadly have to say 'Sorry, we can't help this time.' For example, we can't buy you a sheep to help celebrate Tobaski or other festivals. But recently we've helped a families cope with invalidity, house fires, rebuilding after the rainy season, school fees and dental expenses. Like hundreds of other small charities we do what we can.
 So, back to the title. Where does Lampedusa come into all this? Well, once again there's been a terrible disaster off the coast of that small Italian island. A boat crammed with refugees has caught fire and sank, causing the deaths of hundreds of men, women and children. I have always admired the courage and determination of people who leave their homes and set out on a journey of thousands of miles across unknown country to try and find a better life in Europe. I doubt I would have the courage to undertake such a journey. So many of those people meet with robbery, sickness or death when they undertake that journey. Some, a few, do make it and bravely look for employment so they can send money home to their families. Sadly, more do not; even if they survive the journey they may be arrested, interned, then returned to their home land poorer but perhaps wiser.
 GOES tries, in its own small way, like many other charities to help improve life for people in their own villages.

Still trying!

We've been away from home for a couple of days. I needed a break - this stupid business with the Co-op Bank has really been getting me down. We took refuge at Gladstone's Library, where the first Gladfest of Poetry and Prose was being held - a great success and a good opportunity to try to forget the hassle of failing to deal with the Co-op Bank and the USA's IRS for a while. Great food too!
A fellow poet (Annie, many thanks) made a kind donation to GOES with the condition it should to used to make a child smile. Will do, and thanks. 
 Mention of money brings me back to the problem with the Co-op Bank a/c - slight progress; we now have a form to fill in which, after we have posted (post? Not fax or e-mail???) back to the bank may enable us to receive a new debit card so we can withdraw money from the account and send it to people who need it! So, we may be back in business sometime next week. Possibly. Perhaps. 
 While we were at the Library I managed to fit in a few hours work on the latest Malinding book - the word count is now over 30K ! 

Still banging my head ...

Yes! Still banging my head in despair at attempts to regain access to the GOES bank account. The 'Co-operative Bank' are being totally un-co-operative, and we're now into the third week of trying to operate without a bank account. I've been able to use some of our own money to help the most needy people but we can't keep on like this. Telephone calls to the 'customer support' line offer no help. and visits to the local branch reveal that workers there have no more success then we do. Oddly, I can deposit funds - I just can't make withdrawals!
 Happier notes: the tilt-top table sold for £26 and went to a good home (the money is buried in the vaults of the Co-0p Bank ...
 'Stories for Gambian Children' is now available on Kindle - free!
I'm going to try my hand at registering with The USA IRS so they won't deduct tax on the $1 that each of the Malinding books sells for over there.
Maybe tomorrow will bring a positive result from the Bank - you'll be the first to know if it does!
Thanks for putting up with me again!
Tom

The sun shines but I go to work!

You might think that at my age I'd have more sense! Still, there's another book to be finished. In it Ed's eldest son, Ed-Lamin, has finished Uni in England and has settled down to live happily ever after with Jane, his beautiful girlfriend. There was a General Election six months ago but the people of England were either too lazy to vote or too disillusioned to care. So, as a result, an extremist party - the Purity People's Party - gained power and set about ridding the country of 'undesirable aliens' by rounding them up into concentration camps. Ed-Lamin is captured by manages to escape by  -  well, that would be telling and I need you to buy the book and support GOES! Anyway, it may or may not end happily!
 So, that's why I've spent a sunny day indoors. The pile of reading glasses donated by kind people in Cheshire for use by short-sighted people in West Africa grows - more please. We're not sure that we'll be able to take heavy stuff like reference books out this time because we've not heard from Thomas Cook about an extra baggage allowance yet. Fingers crossed. Light stuff we can manage in our pockets - mobile phones (always welcome), memory sticks, spectacles and such like, please !

Thinking about another free promotion for two of the 'Malinding' books ...

The first of the books, 'Empty Bananas', and the third, 'The Mechanical Girl' could be put on Amazon's Kindle ebooks free offer again. I thinking about what to do.
'Empty Bananas' was the book that started it all off. The first chapter, about an unhappy little girl, was a short story I wrote many years ago. I read it to my local writing group - Vale Royal Writers' Group - and put it back in the drawer. I kept thinking about the old man in the story and he grew into Ed, the anti-hero of the first book. I was concerned about the little girl, and she became Jodie, a world class wheelchair athlete.
I wrote the book and decided to publish it on Kindle. I was so keen to put it on sale that I published the wrong version; it contained all sorts of mistakes, and made a generally poor impression. Col gave it a very fair write-up and I was encouraged to wrestle with the technology and publish a better-edited version.

I wrote 'The Mechanical Girl' as a fictional autobiography of a youngster in one of the villages who enjoyed making toys out of scrap materials for the smaller children. She showed great ingenuity, making tools to help her in her task. I gave her a different name and wrote a fictional account of what her life might have been. She is the only one of my characters based on an actual West African. All of my other characters, and the village of Malinding itself, are pure fiction.

Right then; decision made. I'll put 'Empty Bananas' on free promotion, some time next week. Probably. I'll let you know! It won't bring any money to the charity (GOES, in case you'd forgotten) but it might encourage the sale of the other books ... hint, hint!

Back to packing!

Managed, with the help of Michelle at Thomas Cook, to find a short trip to Badala Park that fits the pocket. She even tolerated our (well, my) shameless attempts to scrounge extra baggage, children's clothing, reading glasses, medication - all the things that are worth their weight in gold in Sub-saharan Africa. We'll be able to see how the building work at the school is going and to visit the students we sponsor and inspect their college and school reports.
Most important of all, we'll visit the many friends we've made over the years and enjoy their hospitality and swap chat about our families.
Not been to The Gambia? Please consider a visit - yes, it is a third world country but it can teach us a lesson or two about respect for other people, and how to enjoy life.