T.I.A

Riders for Health is a charity which mobilises health workers and trains technicians to maintain their vehicle so as to provide health care to remote areas of Africa which would otherwise not have access to such resources.

The really exciting thing about Riders in the Gambia is that their dream is actually taking shape and becoming a reality. Said dream is to have enough health centres with Riders health workers that every person in the Gambia has the potential to receive health care. This is primarily achievable because the Gambia is such a small country, but also because uniquely Riders in the Gambia has an arrangement with the Government. With the introduction of TAM a system which envolves Riders itself buying and thus maintaining their motorbikes and four by fours great leaps in development have been taken. Riders is also committed to primarily recruiting locals so the benefits are all the more widespread: economically and nationally Riders is having a positive influence throughout the Gambia.


The more obsevant of you will no doubt have noticed that I am currently in the Gambia, working for Riders for Health. I'm working in the Monitoring and Evaluation department. This is a relatively new department and its purpose is to collect data from both before and after the TAM system was introduced to show the positive effects which Riders has had.

Its been an intense few days. After a 6am start, and a 6 hour flight we eventually landed in the capital Banjul. For the first 10 days I am being accomponied by the M&E Manager in the UK office. A really nice girl who I get on with really well. She's had some pretty exciting adventures - my favourtie being how she worked for the UN in Malawi for a year driving around on a motorbike. Mental.

Anyway, so the Wednesday morning up bright and early at 6am again we set off up country to explore the Central River Region of the country. Although the distance is only about 300 km all in all the journey took about 8 hours. It invoved a chaotic boat trip (goats, EVERYWHERE); some of the roads don't have tarmac but do just have massive holes. We also had to frequently stop for police road checks and for the random herds of cows casually moseying (or mooseying ho ho) across the road.

Bansang was our destination. It has virtually no tourist appeal; I doubt that there are even guesthouses to stay in, but for the Gambia it is extremely significant above all because it has its own hospital. We stayed in what used to the Head of the school of Nurses old house, so it was pretty authentic. Although basic (limited electricity and no hot water) it was pretty comfortable. The only concern was that there weren't any mosquito nets as the locals don't tend to bother; luckily I only got bitten a few times so fingers crossed I don't malaria and everything will be A ok. Whilst we stayed there the wife of one of the Riders technicians cooked Mandinka and Wolof (the two most predominant tribes) dishes for us each evening and provided eggs for the morning. It was fantastic to be able to sample true Gambian cuisine.

So we were essentially staying within the hospital compound. These hospitals had beds and trained staff but none of the equipment which you would see in the West. Ambulances, which are 4x4s are provided by Riders and it was fantastic to see them driving around on various emergencies knowing that it was because of Riders that they were there in the first place. This gained all the more resonance when we went to visit the workshop at Bansang. At least 15 ambulances, trekking vehicles and motorcylces were all lined up, having broken down and been left to scrap as noone had the skills to fix them. It was literally, an ambulance graveyard. (The irony was not wasted on me).

For the next 4 days Ken and I drove out into the region and visited the 8 health centres and some workshops along the way. At the health centres Ken and I would ask them to fill in a questionnaire and then would take loads of photos and video footage of the health staff and their ambulances describing how difficult it was before Riders and basically how much better everything is for them now. A lot of them commented on how before they had the use of a functioning motorbike they frequently either broke down or ran out of fuel; referrals to the hospital thus had to be made entirely by the sick patient in question unless they could pay for fuel themselves. Routine visits for vaccinations and check-ups had to be made either by foot or by donkey. All that has obviously, now changed.


Anyway, so basically so far so good. It was really nice to have Sunday off, we worked all day Saturday and the days are exhausting. We usually leave at 8 and although we aim to get back at 6 it doesn't always work out that way. So I spent Sunday enjoying the 34 degrees heat and then went for a jolly into town. I say town, I mean the main "street" if you can even call it that. Basically it's just a market. We did get to see the President though; he drove past waving, so I duly waved back. It was alright.

Then we went to a crocodile sanctuary and I was strongly encouraged to sit on a crocodile called Charlie. I did however, politely decline.

What can I say? TIA man.

This Is Africa after all.