The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month ...

Tomorrow is the 11th of November. I will go into the town centre and stand for a couple of minutes in silence, surrounded by other townspeople as we remember those who died as a result of war.
No war is ever over. After the ceasefire has been declared people still mourn, lives are changed for ever. To my mind it is not a time to think of victories and defeats, of glory or disgrace. It is a time to think of mothers, fathers, lovers, children torn apart by violence.
As I stand in my hometown I will be thinking of war graves three thousand miles away. Fajara War Cemetery in The Gambia. White stones, inscribed for the most part, with the names of young men. Young men who died in the service of a country they had never seen but were willing to give their lives for. A tiny, Third World country, the size of Yorkshire gave the flower of its youth for us. There, in blistering tropical heat people will stand in silence as we do, though we most likely, will stand bare-headed in the rain.
Fajara graves carry the memories of 200 or more West Africans, 63 British people, 15 men from other Commonwealth countries, and a French Foriegn Legion Colonel. The crew and passengers of flying boat G-AFCZ 'Clare', which took off from Banjul (then Bathurst) harbour then crashed into the sea are remembered there.
The killing, the dying, goes on. Why is peace so difficult?

Chance encounters

Really nice how things work out. We chat to someone on the way home from The Gambia last April, then, a few weeks ago, a 'phone call offering help, today, a meeting in the car park of a local hotel and now - a car boot full of reading glasses/mobile 'phones & children's clothes, all of which, thanks to Thomas Cook, will be finding new Gambian owners before Christmas!
You know who you are - many thanks. Sometimes words aren't enough!

Respect!

Respect!
Football isn't one of my great interests in life nowadays. When one player can 'earn' more in a couple of months more than many people (me included) earn in a lifetime of work I begin to think that something has gone sadly wrong. I love to see the game played by youngsters who play because they love to play. The boys in this picture play with great enthusiasm and skill and good humour.
Maybe they do dream of playing for Man United or Chelsea or ... and there's no harm in that. Meanwhile, they play with great energy and enjoyment and that I can and do respect, greatly. It's something a lot of the richest players in the world could learn from them.
Rant over! Just a thought though - Joyce would love to watch a team of Gambian girls playing in the Cricket World Cup on day soon - how about it, girls?

Slowly getting there!

We've booked! Next stage is writing the Thomas Cook to see if they'll allow extra free baggage - they usually are very good because we're a registered charity, so fingers crossed. We've been offered educational and medical supplies together with some clothing and we've made to usual requests for mobile 'phones, laptops and reading glasses. We're also taking out a few tin and bottle openers - seeing friends opening bottles of Malta with their teeth is frightening!
Paul and Jenny have been working on the new web site and we'll let you know when it's up and running.
We sold the old broken outboard motor for scrap and the money is in the charity a/c - thanks to the generous buyer.
I'm working fairly hard on the next book but it's not flowing very well - must lock myself away somewhere and put nose to keyboard ...
Each time we go into town we buy a few tubes of ointment, bandages, plasters, skin cream and that sort of thing. We get great medical advice from the travel clinic at out local surgery and from T. at Superdrug.
We've renewed our travel insurance and we have permanently crossed fingers to avoid any of the illnesses that put us out of action earlier in the year - crossed fingers make typing very difficult!
Looking forward so very much to seeing our Gambian friends again.
Best wishes & thanks for reading,
Tom.

Next visit

Booked! Packed? Don't be silly - there's heaps of time! We had a surprise 'phone call from some one we'd spoken to on our way home last March and were delighted to find out they have been busy collecting things which will be of great value out in The Gambia. We expect a delivery shortly!
As you're reading this just check to see if there are any surplus laptops, mobile 'phones or reading glasses longing for a longer life in the sun! Email us at the usual address or leave a message on 01925-264926. We also take medical supplies which we donate to hospitals and clinics - we're not qualified to prescribe ourselves.
£3 0r £4 pounds (depending on the exchange rate) provides protection from malaria and provides the netmaker with an income.

Best of all - go to The Gambia yourself, if you can. There are some really good travel bargains about at the monent.

Thanks for reading this. Our new website should be up and running shortly (thanks, Jenny & Paul).
We'll keep this blog going as well.

Best wishes & thanks to all our supporters,
Joyce & Tom.

The Gambia in the recession.

I'm not sure whether we're having a good year or a bad year.
On the one hand, contributions are still coming in at about the same rate as in previous years, but on the other the money is going out much more quickly! We never intended to build up a large balance in the bank, being firmly of the opinion that if there was a need money should go there rather than gather dust in a bank's vault. We tithe our income and many of you have been more than supportive.
Low exchange rates are a great hurdle to small charities, and, linked with rising prices in The Gambia, mean that a GOES pound doesn't go as far as it did.
We hope to be travelling there again - wonder: can we claim Gift Aid on travel expences???
Please don't be discouraged: we are still able to help many people cope with the difficulties of life, and we have no intention at all of quitting.
Best wishes to all of you, and thanks from your Gambian friends.

Joyce & Tom,

Contact at newhutte at dsl dot. pipex dot com

Summer update..

We've reported some really sad news to you recently.

The man and wife who lost their children are slowly coming to terms with their loss. We've spoken to them to convey our sadness and to pass on the condolences of those of you who have been moved by the tragedy. Thank goodness for text messaging, by which we can keep in touch with them.

That is one of the difficulties of this sort of work - very often there is only a poor 'phone signal available in the villages where we work.

Another difficulty is that we keep running out of money! To be honest, we had a very good year last year (2009-2010) and managed to get a lot of things done. This year, unsurprisingly, is being quite hard going. Money everywhere is tight, but we can only do what we can do. We promise you that every single penny you donate goes to The Gambia without deduction.

To help us remember the good days here are some of our Gambian friends who have invited us into their homes - maybe you should come and meet them? Be careful though, it's very hard to go to The Gambia just once - it's habit forming! (Jolly good habit to have, though!)