Tuesday 13th February part 1

I arrived late in the afternoon, and successfully transferred to the hotel, together with luggage. I believe I was one of the few who was able to fly direct from one airport to Banjul without any stopovers, connections, delays, or cancellations (Air Senegal chose these days to go on strike). Talking to Jerreh (Dr Jerreh Sanyang Country Representative) over the course of this trip really brought it home to me how difficult it is to travel in West Africa.

Firstly we visited the hospital to check that everything was ready for the inauguration. My first thoughts were how great the hospital looked. It is very well designed in comparison to many I have seen. There did however seem to be a plethora of remaining tasks – the contractors were repainting the entire inside of the various buildings, and were also attending to a few cracks (not structural!!). There was furniture and equipment to unpack, and some paving to be laid. The landscaping looked good, although sadly we had been forced to burn off some of the elephant grass at the edge of the site as the President’s security had been concerned about snipers. Apparently this also reduced the risk of future fires so wasn’t all bad.