Poverty and wealth

Discussing poverty and wealth may sound easy if you haven`t moved mentally more than a block from your birthplace. But even a brief immersion in another culture will raise questions to ponder for a long time. On Monday we drove to the village of Jidda, about an hour`s drive from Banjul. A community of about 1700, Jidda is one of the villages selected for development projects by CVM.
One area of need is obvious, the other requires an explanation. The land is dusty and almost barren of foliage. Water is plentiful (especially under the ground) but accessibility is limited. There are a very few wells that are working, but they are not located conveniently close to the various 'compounds' (Jidda has 197 compounds of about 10-plus persons). So the project will build a water tower, a solar-powered pump to move the water up to the tower, and then run by gravity feed pipes to the various compounds. This will make water accessible to the various 'living centres' in the village.
But then came the surprise. The land is very fertile and responds well to planting, and water is not totally absent. We even visited a compound where the owner has irrigated his small plot and is growing bananas and other vegetables. So why is this not happening throughout the village? I learned something about what happens when ideas and skills are not passed from one generation to another. Though people live in this rural village, they are not 'agricultural.' They have not been taught the skill of farming land. So the next greatest need is for creating a resource pool of knowledge and wisdom that can be passed on to future generations. This village has all the potential to be a lush fertile and fruitful land.
Wealth is here. First, the beautiful children. I am grateful to belong to a faith that cherishes each child as being of inestimable worth. And it is impossible not to imagine the gifts of mind and heart that bounces around in each of these little bodies.
A second source of wealth is questionable for some on our team! It`s called 'attaya.' This is a local tea brewed in its own special way with sugar, 3-4 water boilings and lots of pouring from teapot to glass (a small shot glass size). The first round is thick but after boilings and pourings it gets thinner. Tastes are recognizable but the process gives it its own inimitable flavour...a memorable and tasty moment!
Today we began the day meeting with leaders of the Gambia Christian Council--the Catholic and Anglican bishops and head of the Methodist Church. We were warmly received and encouraged to continue to explore educational possibilities with them. All groups recognize the need and each is doing something. But they all acknowledge that none of the initiatives are very successful. Gambia is a small country (half the size of Toronto) and the Christian community is very small (less than 10%) and religiously isolated in this region of Africa. This means that financial and human resources are limited.
This evening, Glen gave the last lecture of the conference. He picked up a cold by the end of the weekend and has been managing its journey through his system for the last two days. He will survive!
I think Steve is missing his family, a lot! He seems to be emotionally bonding to various little critters here--a development that some of us think is not 'normal.' It's all about 'Skippy.' Skippy is a little frog the size of an over-sized spider. He appears occasionally but unpredictably on the inside of the toilet bowl AFTER a flush has occurred. Some of our team are afraid he will jump, you can imagine where! But it is pretty obvious to me that, looking at the terror in his eyes, Skippy is just trying to hang on for his life. I have been commissioned as the official photographer to take my camera to the bathroom with me every time I make a visit. I do think this is way over the top, but I am trying to keep with the team spirit. We'll see if my vigilance pays off. I now have to drink water every 15 minutes so that I can justify the numerous trips to the bathroom that my little 'African Safari' assignment is demanding of me.