Pageant News

Today we did a whistle-stop tour of several compounds. Our first stop was to see Fatou Lisa and her beautiful daughters at Fajikunda. We made each of the girls a bracelet with their name on which proved to be a hit! When we went to leave they all sang us a lovely song – we were all greatly impressed by their beautiful spoken English, and their love of learning. After a brief stop in a compound in Wellingara, it was off to visit Wandifa's compound to deliver presents to sponsored children and clothes and gifts for many of the others. Lots of villagers were at the compound for the latest naming ceremony which meant lots of new babies to cuddle and people to see. From there we walked to Abdoulie's compound where we had a tour of his room and dropped seeds and jewellery off for his mother and sister. Then it was onwards to see Wandifa's new land where he will shortly build a new family compound. We were impressed by the size and location and can't wait for work to begin. Back in Wandifa's current compound we were treated to a delicious fish benechin cooked by Mariama. We then left early enough to avoid heavy traffic which was due to the arrival of the President of Taiwan. We started packing and Frances, Page and Rachel each had a pedicure as a treat for all our hard work! Then tonight as it was our last night, the whole PAGEANT team headed to African Queen in the Senegambia for a special dinner to celebrate PAGEANT's 10th anniversary and Abdoulie becoming an official member of the PAGEANT team. We all had a wonderful evening with lots of laughter, jokes and great company! We surprised Wandifa, Abdoulie and Yankuba with a special PAGEANT cake after dinner which everyone agreed was delicious!