Kabekel

Kabekel is a village about an hour and a half trip from our home near Banjul, located out past Brikama, and therefore considered rural. (Anything between Banjul and Brikama is considered to be in the city.) My friend Blair is volunteering at a public health organization, and made friends with a young man named Lamin who lives in Kabekel. We visited him last month and watched his football team play, met his famiy and had lunch. He invited us back on Saturday to take part in a big celebration.

Lamin belongs to the Jola, one of the less common ethnic groups in the Gambia, and the festival was a coming-of-age ceremony for young girls, most of them about eight years old. The girls had spent the last three weeks out in the bush with female elders, including Lamin's mother, learning about Jola tradition. Saturday the girls were coming back out of the bush to rejoin the community, and food, dancing and music were planned in celebration.

Blair, myself and Sarah made the journey out to Kabekel for the day. We spent the day eating, drinking ataya, learning to cook the Gambian way, holding people's babies and meeting one person after another. We also fought against the red ants who kept falling from the mango trees and trying to bite us, and gave a new football to Lamin's team, which they were very excited about. I especially enjoyed learning to cook. It isn't often that we get the opportunity to interact so much with Gambian women, and I love cooking. I learned to sift couscous, prepare onions for benechin with a mortar and pestle, and stir a huge pot of rice over an open fire. Soon before we had to head home, the girls came out of the bush. We followed everyone down to the village square, where there were lots of people, music and dancing! Lamin told us that the celebration would continue well into the night, and that the procession would take every girl back to her own compound, where her family would gather for a meal.

The ceremony was very interesting. We were obviously outsiders, as the only toubaubs in a huge Jola community gathering, but everyone was very welcoming and Lamin was very helpful and patient about answering our questions. There is definitely a difference, in general, between the interactions I have with Gambians here in the city and the more relaxed way of life out in the villages. It was a great learning experience and a fun day, and for anyone else studying in the Gambia or someplace similar, I would encourage them to embrace these sorts of opportunities.