We were fortunate enough to be able to retire about twenty years ago, from what seemed at that time to be busy working lives.
'That's it' we said, 'a bit of peace and quiet, a bit of travel, time to read the paper and do the odd crossword.' We did that for a week, then J decided to go and study for a degree. Three degrees (sounds like a Pop group) later she's still an avid student.
I was far too idle to go back to being a student so I became involved with 'voluntary' work. At first I helped out a bit locally, then, after a trip to The Gambia, my world changed. So, here I am, at three score years and seventeen, working eight-hour days for no pay and having a great, if exhausting, life. No sign of retiring yet ...
People have asked
'How can we be sure that any money we give goes to the people who really need it?' Well, if possible, travel to see what local conditions are like, get to know people, keep a check on progress (of the student, the patient, the school - whatever cause you gave the money/assistance to.
There's an old saying - fool me once, your fault. Fool me twice, my fault.
Give small at first, increase amounts later (if you can), ask for receipts, photographs, any evidence you can gather.
If you're approached by someone you don't know listen, but don't promise. Find out if any of your friends know the person/school/clinic. Don't accept offers to 'give to the orphans/old men/un-named school or clinic.
We're a small charity but over the years, we've been able to help hundreds of people. Things have gone wrong, we've been cheated by people we trusted, but such cases are exceptionally rare.
We don't preach a faith and we respect the beliefs of our friends. If we can help, we will. We won't promise help we can't sustain, and yes, it's hard to say 'no'.
Chatting to people at the airport and on the 'plane it's clear that many, many people are doing what we do. This lady may be helping to build a school, that man has sponsored a dozen school student, this person is bubbling with excitement because she's going to meet the child she's helping through nursery school - people are, I'm firmly convinced, good.
Enough ranting I've been putting off the paperwork for claiming Gift Aid on donations.
Must find out if we can claim on the value of reading glasses we took to the clinic last year ....
1)Mrs Jobartey smiles her thanks to Barclay's Bank for their gift of pens to the children of her school.
Here are the covers of the four 'Malinding' series of books about life in The Gambia - and in England! Perhaps they are love stories, perhaps they are commentaries of social conditions in the two countries. What is certain is that every penny and pound from the sales of these Kindle ebooks goes to helping Gambian people. Please, if you haven't tried one, it's a way of donating small amounts to GOES - and you have a book in return as a 'thank you'!
Thanks to Amieyo for letting us use her picture for this cover.
This is amazingly hard work - I've tried it!
The first book (I hope they have improved ... still, worth 75 pence?)
We should never forget the harm our ancestors did to Africa and African people. The best we can attempt is to learn from History the mistakes we made, and never repeat them
We should appreciate the gentle, smiling, forgiveness and dignity with which Africans greet us, and do what we can, as individuals, to make reparation.
Something which encourages me is the experience of chatting to Europeans we meet, many of whom support a family, an individual child or a whole school or clinic - whatever their resources allow. This puts so many first world governments, including our own, to shame.
Look out through the archways which over look the great river at a peaceful country, inhabited by people on whom, one day, our futures may depend.
Time for another apology, folks. The first edition of 'Empty Bananas' was, to put it mildly, a dog's dinner. I'd written a series of short stories, set in an imaginary Gambian village. Then I had a bright (not!) idea - I thought I'd join the stories together and publish a novel. So, with very little editing and even less proof-reading, that's what I did. 
