Saturday (Day 1) On my way to Africa!!

When I first started sponsoring L'il Fattie through Skoolz4kids I knew I wanted to visit the organisers Ginger and Sol as soon as I could, to get a feel for the work they do and meet 'my' girl. I quickly booked my flights with Thomas Cook and started looking for clothes and useful things for her and her family, I knew she had 2 older brothers so footballs for them were a must! The stress of choosing the right size for her was awful, she is 5 years old, but a small 5...so should we buy 4-5 or 5-6??!?!??! In the end we decided to buy both sizes, with the stuff that didn't fit getting passed on to someone else.

The wait for February 28th seemed interminable but finally it came and I was on my way!
The flight was fine and I spent most of it chatting to a guy called Richard who had been to the Gambia several times. He seemed like a nice guy so we arranged to meet at a restaurant called The Blue Kitchen at 8pm on Wednesday 4th.

When I collected my suitcase in Banjul it had a white chalk cross on it and I got pulled over by customs. They tried to get me to pay a fine for not filling in paperwork in the UK for the block of cheese I was bringing Ginger...luckily Sol used his charm and contacts and I was allowed to leave without parting with my hard earned money, next time I will take a dodgy Irish £5 that isn't legal tender anymore!
On the way to Ginger and Sol's compound we converted my sterling to dalasi...it looks more than it is!

Due to the lateness of my arrival Sol had prepared the traditional Gambian dish of spag bol and it was delicious!

After our meal a local lad called Denba turned up to say hello, a lovely 14 year old boy who is being sponsored through school and decided to stay local and continue his education when his mum went back to their village. He pops round most evenings for food and for Ginger to help with his studies. I was finally ready for bed at midnight and fell asleep thinking about meeting Fattie the next day.