40 Years

This past week I was in the Banjul area for Peace Corps meetings and ceremonies. This month we are celebrating Peace Corps The Gambia's 40th Anniversary. It is the only country in the world the Peace Corps has been in to go for 40 years without interruption of service (wars, civil unrest, violent coups, etc). It was a good weekend. We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Ambassador's house on the beach, and a couple days later we had a ceremony at a hotel to celebrate the 40th anniversary. The program was put together well and included speeches from our new country director, PC staff, testimonials from Gambians, a slideshow, and a secret agent-esque official congratulations from the desk of the U.S. Peace Corps Director, except the message didn't self-destruct afterwards, and to tell you the truth I didn't recognize the director because the directorship has changed since I've been here. Nevertheless, I'm going to request a copy of the video e-mailed to me personally. Most impressively, a gentleman from the first PC group in 1967 was there and he hasn't left the country since. I'm not too sure what kind of work he has been doing, but he seemed normal. On the abnormal side of things, I met a man that said something to the effect of "I arrived here in 1980. My name used to be Tim but now I'm Brother Dimas!" He was a heavy-set, jolly and jovial type, had long white hair, a big white beard, a blue monk-like outfit, and a big wooden "T" necklace.

Right now we're in the middle of final exams here at the high school. We will be generating reports cards from our database for the first time as long as no catastrophes occur.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and don't forget to remind your children this holiday season (especially if they're refusing to eat) that there are starving PC volunteers in Africa.