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Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 UserName: Password: Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Videos: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by Momodou[/i] [br] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 03:42:48 +0100 From: "Momodou S Sidibeh" <momodou.sidibeh@stockholm.mail.telia.com> To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> Subject: IS IT IN OUR NATURE? - PART 1 Message-ID: <199801080250.DAA26845@d1o2.telia.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Unless, I am greatly in error, this question related to the larger problem of the inability for Gambians, broadly speaking, to be able to come together, united, in order to democratically deal with whatever it is they think should be done about their collective predicament. The question was originally raised by my fellow Stockholmer, Mr. Momodou Buharry Gassama. Buharry asked some very powerful and relevant questions too. Unfortunately, I do not have his original message as I reformatted my HD when repairing my computer, and have failed to request it from friends. The week-end is over and I have only little time. So my response, as I promised earlier, may not be fully inclusive of all the points raised by Buharry. I truly regret this. I should like to comment first on some of the opinions raised in response to this topic by some contributors. Except for Momodou Camara's response and one or two others which dealt directly with the above subject, I think the discussion progressed, or perhaps degenerated, into the more specific issue of broader political participation in our culture (The Only Solution) and the subtle question of our intermarital and gender relations (Wife Beating). These are indeed no less important, but their very specificity tends to corrupt efforts toward understanding the sources of our famous disunity by inadvertently narrowing the scope of discussion. Yet all these questions, and the subject of Africa's experience of slavery, as adressed by Prof. Sulayman Nyang and Mr.Tamsir Mbye are related in one way or another to the the question raised by Mr. Gassama: IMHO, there is indeed a direct relation between our unwilling acceptance of African participation in enhancing the slave trade and, say, how most of our governments belatedly and half-heartedly launched information campaigns for awareness of AIDS. My reasoning here is that in our feverish, emotive, and largely justified, search for white European wolves behind every black African bush our leaders (and citizens) went on looking for "who brought AIDS" to Africa instead of immediately beating the talking drums to summon us to the village bantaba and inform us about the deadly virus and how to protect ourselves from it. (We may as well start by acknowledging that in spite of British threats to use force against him, the King of Barra, in the 1820s, vehemently INSISTED ON CAPTURING AND SELLING SLAVES to slave traders! He was actually secretly smuggling slaves to Goree, as the estuary became closely watched by the British. Also the great enthusiasm and collective sense of pride of the Jola on Yahya Jammeh's presidency may be in obvious celebration of ethnic recognition and respectability by a group that has been, probably, the most harassed and terrorised by both Mandinka and Wollof muslim leaders just a hundred years ago. (The irony here is that it was indeed the Jola whose resistance to European domination of Gambia lasted the longest. As late as 1943 Jola women leaders were sent into exile by British colonizers!). Besides these, I think it is also in order to refute arguments claiming "The Only Solution". The biggest concentration, by far, of Gambian intellectuals, is obviously in Gambia. Teachers, health workers, lawyers, bankers, engineers, agricultural scientists, doctors, are all engaged with the day to day search for solutions to problems at home. I think it is also true that intellectual performance is most effective in the culture were one feels more at home. This does not, however mean that the best thing all Gambian intellectuals can do for their country at ANY GIVEN TIME is to be in Gambia. There are many arguments supporting this position, but let it suffice to say that our country being so small and our economy uninteresting for big transnationals, the problem of investing in small businesses and expanding the private sector naturally falls on the shoulders of all Gambians. But even more so on the shoulders of those foreign-based Gambians who are exposed to better financial opportunities, new techniques, and more advanced business cultures. We are the ones who, like foreign-based Chinese are now doing, must put efforts together and create jobs and opportunities in Gambia. No other people will do that for us. When President Jammeh said that those of us in Europe are mostly toilet cleaners and scavengers, he was right. But his statement was at best unfortunate. For most of us do not just create jobs in Gambia when we run construction projects for ourselves or our parents; or pay school fees for siblings and relatives who might otherwise have no chance for an education; or provide much-needed foreign exchange for the banks; or help keep some Gambian businesses running. We also provide for the Gambia government millions of dalasi in indirect tax when we make transfers to our families for their day to day consumption of goods and services. [While I was in Gambia in 1995, an Imam (the father of a close friend of mine on this list), assured me that more than 90% of all those who went on the pilgrimage to Mecca that year from Kombo St. Mary's area, had their travel expenses and air-tickets paid for by foreign-based Gambians]. So I think it is a mistake to believe that we who are away CAN DO BETTER FOR GAMBIA (than those who are already at home) once we return, even if our contributions can make a difference. What is deemed the only solution is, in my opinion, just HALF A SOLUTION. To come to anything near A solution, we have to discuss how our past history influences ethnic relations and tribal distrust; how our insistence on being persistent victims clouds our judgement of current priorities. We have to uncover what anthropological forces, social structures, are responsible for the automatic division of gender roles in our society - usually to the detriment of women; and why is Gambian nationalism eclipsed by Sarahuli, Fula,or Mandinka nationalism or considerations based on age!? In part 2 of this topic I will write about some of these problems as they were experienced (by me) in the Gambian Organization in Sweden, and I will try to answer some of Buharry's criticism. Lastly, I must thank all list members for honourably ignoring calls and claims made by village nationalists from Gunjur and Serre-kunda. I really hope that they would understand that your absolute silence is a loud signal for them to courageously, and finally, lay down their sticks! :-) :-) :-)........ Momodou S. Sidibeh, Kartong/Stockholm. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 00:37:00 -0400 (AST) From: Fafa Sanyang <fsanyang@is2.dal.ca> To: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> Subject: Re: SV: Endangered Gambian Beaches!! Message-ID: <Pine.A41.3.95.980107222122.175652A-100000@is2.dal.ca> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Hi, Malanding and all the Bantaba people, I have been following the very interesting discussion on coastal erosion in The Gambia. I am a geologist by training and profession and I have been higly involved in thinking and trying to seek a sollution if there is any to coastal erosion in The Gambia.The theories of geological and geomorphological processes of coastal environment are really complex and cannot be dealt in this limited time and space.So what I would rather do is to give a very brief history of response measures so far taken to combat coastal erosion in The Gambia and some general ideas I have gathered trough my personal experiece and readings. The entire coastline of west and central Africa, from Mauritania to Angola is retreating at diferential but alarming rates in almost all these countries (see UNEP Regional Seas Report and Studies No. 107, 1989).In Senegal for example, shoreline retreat at Rufisque has been estimated at between 0.45 and 2.46 m/yr (1959 to 1980).As recently as 1997, the Sangomar spit that borders the saloum river was been completely cutoff, totally inundating the village of Jiffere (personal visit to the site in July 1997).In The Gambia, studies ( mainly aerial photo interpretation ) have indicated a general erosion rate of 1-2m/yr. In Localized severely affected areas such as the Banjul muslim cemetery area, Rufisque and Jeffere, in senegal and many other areas in the subregion such as the victoria beach Lagoes erosion rates are much higher. The Geology department of Chiek Anta Diop University in Dakar has carried many studies,like wise other parts of the subregion and overseas including the US but there is yet no conclusive answer to the problems of coastal erosion. In The Gambia like many parts of the world, several hard and soft stabilization efforts were tried but so far the success story is hardly told anywhere. Even in the US a lot of failures of beach protection efforts have been reported. In 1957, the Banjul muslim and christian cemetery area suffered from flooding during spring tide. Groynes of ruhn palm were constructed with concrete pannels as respose . This was latter abandonned and rhun palm piles connected by timber walling and ruhn palm sheet piles, jetted into the sand secured to the walling by means of nailing was tried. Both efforts have worked for sometime and latter failed as we observe today.A combination of groynes and boulder stone pitching retained in gabions have also been tried, with no success. Resently the muslim community heaped some boulder stones on the seaward side of the muslim cemetery and this also could not work. This effort was followed by another gabion basket (bolders in coated wire mesh ) method of protection which is also failing.The most recent effort is UNDP sponsured effort which has been mentioned in one of the e-mail messages. The above is just a synopsys of the problems and efforts. The biggest question is which stabilization method is most suitable and why all these= =20 methods are failig. All methods including concrete wall have failed in many places and infact such methods have a very serious side effects of the sea attacking the two ends of the wall and thus aggravating erosion at these sides.There are several examples of this which I cannot give here, but the various sea wall trials in Rufisque, in senegal are typical and near home examples. The sea wall at Radio Syd is proved to only hold the sea temporally, The effect of end erosion can be seen there too. Therefore the issue of coastal erosion is global and the causes are not very clear in many places including the Gambia and Senegal. The current trend of thought is better coastal zone planning, i.e the planning and management of human activities in the coastal environment. Relocation of human activities including settlements are some of the solutions in some literature.This is a very costly venture but it may worth thinking and planning at an early stage. The village of Jeferre, in Senegal was forced to relocate by nature within a very short period of time. The US Geological Survey report " Coasts in Crisis " by S.J. Williams, K Dodd, and K. K.Gohn, 1991 suggested that the first step needed to manage the coastal crisis is" to understand our- coast better, to build a solid foundation of earth-science data on coastal processes and evolution". =20 Thus Sand mining, infracstructure development are all anthropogenic activities which have been blamed for causing or aggravating coastal erosion. This cannot be denied but, natural factors such as low topography,unconsolidated rocks, aggressive hydrodynamic system, and more importantly sea level rise should be serious looked into, particalarly in the case of west Africa region. Malanding, this is done in a big hurry but I think I need to share little I know in the Senegambia region with all of you. I am curently writing a short paper on costal erosion in The Gambia.This cannot be available immediately, because it has to go through academic scrutiny. Anyway the National Environment Agency (NEA) can be of some help in providing more recent interventions and the current coastal zone management paradigm in the Gambia =20 Thanks Fafa On Wed, 7 Jan 1998, Malanding S. Jaiteh wrote: >=20 > > From GAMBIA-L-owner@u.washington.edu Wed Jan 7 03:48:57 1998 > > Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 09:49:26 +0100 > > From: =3D?iso-8859-1?Q?Asbj=3DF8rn_Nordam?=3D <asbjorn.nordam@dif.dk> > > To: GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List <gambia-l@u.wa= shington.edu> > > Subject: SV: Endangered Gambian Beaches!! > > MIME-Version: 1.0 > > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > > X-To: "'gambia-l@u.washington.edu'" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> > > X-Priority: 3 > > X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 beta -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN > >=20 > > Jabou, I made the same experience when I visited Gambia in November. > > Some oceanographers must come to gambia and advice the government. As I > > see it they have started to prevent just outside Banjul where you have > > the cementary. But at the same time the coast, and the beach where I wa= s > > staying this time was taken. The beachbar at the Hotel Atlantic was nea= r > > to disappear one night. Banjul will one day (if not allready) be an > > island. The Sea want to break through, and if the government want to > > preserve, they need experts. All the sand taken from the beaches go to > > all the building-activities, because the tradition is building with > > concrete-blocks.(Which I will change with my house in Gambia) The more > > houses, the more sand they transport from your beaches. And because of > > the big lorries going to Gunjur-Kartong, to bring sand from the beach, > > the main road is totally spoiled. The government got a foreign loan, (a= s > > I was told on the news in november) to build a new road from > > Serekunda/Bijilo to Gunjur along the coastline. What that will come to > > mean of exploitation of natural ressources, or rich gambians to buy the > > costal area for housing in the long run, or better conditions for the > > people living down there, better transport, better service etc., will b= e > > interesting to follow. How the government will balance the development > > and the preservation of nature and natural ressources at the same time= , > > is interesting for a foreigner as me, who can se the result in Denmark > > from just thinking of progressing the infra-structure, and now have to > > repair from the investments in the past. It all helps to give a better > > NGP !! First take the ressources and build the towns, the roads and all > > that, and now "repair" the nature again. Just a comment Asbj=F8rn. > =20 >=20 > I thank Jabou and Asbjorn for bringing up the Gambia beach problem. Let m= e start by saying that I am no expert in this subject. I happen to be a con= cern somebody having the feeling that somthing is not right.=20 >=20 > Jabou some legend say that Banjul will be consumed by the sea. I am no b= eliever in legend but I think the threat to Banjul and the surrounding is n= o doubt real and I believe it is well understood by the government. What is= not clear is whether the real cause of it is undertood. Theories say that = sand mining is the major cause followed by construction particularly on the= south Bank of the estuary. However several attempts have been made to miti= gate the problem including banning sand mining between Banjul and Bijilo p= erhaps even beyond. What is interesting is that the problem seems to be inc= reasing. The only things that really seem to work (only for a short while t= hough) is the artificial Barriers on the beach. I will call expert to corre= ct me on this. If that seems to be the case then we might want to look beyo= nd sand mining on the south Bank. I think that big picture approach may giv= e us better understanding. A complete study of ocean and river currents on = both sides of the ! > ! > ! > ! > ! > river.=20 >=20 > I say that one reason. For quite sometime now (perhaps 20 yrs) there is a= growing sand bank near Barra around the ferry terminal and former GPMB de= pot. The problem was so serious that the Ferry terminal had to be regularly= dredged. That problem could have come from the construction of those stuct= ures. If so then one may ask, where would all that sand be if the structure= s were never built? Perhap we could hydrologists and physicists in the Bant= aba who are familar with the area to put in their thoughts.=20 >=20 > Asbjorn, one can understand your feelings about the potential impacts of = the new road. Let me say that there is no land between Tanjeh and Banjul th= at one can call "really public" except for a few patches. Also unless thing= s changed since 1994, much of the lands in the area along the proposed road= had been purchased by affluent Gambians aware of the plans since early 199= 0s. The road had been part of the tourist development plan and almost all t= he beach (except a few strips) had been desinated Tourist Develepment Area.= Talking of Natural Resources, it is sad to say,there is very little of tha= t. >=20 > Malanding jaiteh >=20 >=20 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 03:12:02 -0000 From: "pmj@commit.gm" <gambia-l@commit.gm> To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> Subject: Re: New member Message-ID: <B0000033359@south.commit.gm> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sent by "Pa Musa Jallow" <pmj@commit.gm> via Commit Hi Winston, Are you the same Winston Paco Abraham from Saints..if you are then you were my classmate in the good Father Gough Saints Days when we whooped every one at books and play..if not still a very big welcome from me..Pa Musa Jallow ---------- > From: ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Jan 1998 00:57:35 PST From: "latjor ndow" <latjor@hotmail.com> To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: conference Message-ID: <19980108085737.1672.qmail@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain greetings: since i've been away for a while, let me first wish everyone a fruitful new year. i am in the process of organizing a conference in the d.c. area in conjunction with our independence anniversary celebration. i would like to invite groups and individuals who may be interested in helping organize this conference to please contact me as soon as possible. (tel. 703-567-5755) it is my desire to have this conference focus on the issue of 'leadership'. the washington metropolitan area (i.e. d.c., maryland, northern virginia) has one of the largest (if not the largest) concentration of gambians in the u.s. yet, like most other regions where gambians are found in large numbers, we are fragmented. this issue is not a new one. as a matter of fact, reading through mr. sidibeh's posting (a sobering piece too), mr. buharry gassama had again raised the issue. our further fragmentation is hence reflected in our lack of economic (hence political) power. as a new/old resident of the district, i am very much aware of most (if not all the issues) that impede our forward progress. as a matter of fact, one does not have to be a rocket scientist to identify these. go to any 'kampeekaay' and raise the issue of our community's condition and you will hear (between sips of attaya of course) some of the most brilliant analyses on why we are divided. age, gender, ethnicity, educational or religious background all become non-issues when the gambian mind goes to work dissecting 'our problems'! the issue then, it seems to me, is not our lacking in understanding of the nature of our problem. we know it intimately! where we have fallen short has been in devising solutions and IMPLEMENTING them. when at the end of our endless analyzing we corner the great beast called 'disunity', rather than wrestle with it head on like the great bulls we claim we are, we conveniently form 'new organizations' to further isolate ourselves from each other. there is nothing wrong in forming organizations, the problem is when they replicate each other. below is a part of a piece i just submitted to 'GESTU', the official newsletter of the Gambia People's Association (GPA) (their inaugural issue will be out by the end of this week), one of the contenders for the d.c. throne. it is a hurried piece but i hope it will serve as openers in the process of dialoguing with the various groups and the community in general. i do invite criticism and comments to everything i wrote. ============================ The Founders: This group consist of those few individuals who initially came together to bring the organization into existence. Their stated goals are noble and selfless, always in the interest of the people. The people first! They have a vested interest in protecting the interests of the organization to the point that it becomes a very personal issue. It is usually this personalization of the organization which will become the source of future discord. Outsiders will soon view the organization and this group as one. They will say that the organization belongs to this group of individuals. Statements like, "organization ni Pateh ak Demba ak Aji ńoy organize ALD bi". Or it can take an ethnic tone, "Tukulor yei organize tey". On the other hand, the Founders take on the added psychological burden of seeing themselves as the only ones who truly care about the welfare of the community and would strive on even in isolation. Documents may be modified, albeit legally, to ensure that no 'outsider' can come in and 'takeover'. The 'Supreme Council'-type language is evoked. Enter Kukoi Samba Seytane! Seeds of discord ... The Usurpers: This group may consist of individuals who were part of the Founders who became disenchanted for whatever reasons (positions, ethnicity and finance being the major ones), or new members with their personal agendas. This group may act in one of two ways when they lash out at the Founders group. Either they will accuse the latter of being power hungry, money-squandering individuals and discourage others from joining the organization, or be more bold and create a separate organization, and 'do their own thing'. The danger here is that there is more division and disenchantment within the community, making the possibility of unity even more remote. The Usurpers group will also create a wonderful manifesto professing their noble goal of serving the people. After a month or two of high intensity, the interest level of some (not all) of the group members fizzles out. Stagnation begins to set in. The people begin to say, 'they are no different from those whom they were accusing.' Internal feuds may occur as frustration builds, further undermining the group's ability to deliver. Also, because they acted in haste to set the organization up, which is usually the case when a coup is in the process of occurring (remember the early days of the AFPRC? What's that officer's name who used to zoom through the kombo highways with his rocket launcher?), individuals with skills, zeal, and discipline may not be present at the appointing of officers for the organization. (N.B. One can be a usurper and still do good. Recall the great usurping dynasty of the 'Askias' (Asikiyaa) of Mandeland!) The Outsiders: That is all of us who either do not care about the welfare of the organizations or are interested but do not want to be involved. This group is unpredictable by its very nature. It is an undefined collective of individuals. They are quick to condemn the bad but slow to applaud the good. Despite their whimsical nature they have the final say since it was for them that the organizations were created and continue to be created. To serve the people is the rallying cry! (To keep up with the times, modern versions are in vogue. E.g. Accountability and ...) The Intelligentia: This group is really part of the Outsider group, however because of the importance of their potential work for the community they deserve a special category. O.k. Call me an egoist. Perhaps, you say, it is because I have been categorized many a time as belonging to this group which is the reason why I have accorded them special favor. Well, there may be an element of truth in that. Be that as it may, this group has always been approached for their endorsement in legitimizing the various organizations. Be it in their participation in conferences, or as Board of Directors, or Special Advisors, and so on. They are certainly part of the equation. (Note that an equation has two sides - a problem side and a solution side). The intelligentia, as represented (at least in the eyes of the organizations and community) by the 'Doctors' who are seen as forever analyzing the social malaise from higher ground are perceived to be unreachable and unapproachable by large segments of the community. The younger generations especially have gradually developed a "who cares about them" attitude. Conferences organized are seldom attended by more than a handful and never by the young. During ALDs, soccer (a youthful activity) always wins in numbers while our most brilliant thinkers are left to speak to each other! The intelligentia has therefore also developed an attitude of 'being-in-the-community-but-not-a-part-of-it'. (It is worth noting that there are more Gambian 'Doctors' in the Washington Metropolitan Area than in any other part of the U.S.!) Of course the intelligentia does not only consist of those with the 'Dr.' title in front of their names, but also a large number of Gambian men and women in the academic and professional worlds. This latter group has by and large been ignored in the calculations of the organizational architects having been overshadowed by their more 'higher ranking', more 'authoritative sounding titled' counter-parts. Then of course there are the sub-groups. The religious organizations, the informal social groups - the 'hangoo kais', the weekly or monthly family gatherings, the D.J.s and M.C.s who make the dancehalls lively, the Yai yi kompins who organize Tama programs, the young and wasting talented brothers who seek guidance (if only we knew how to listen to their call), our young sisters whose creative energies are being expended at the Malls, the children who suddenly make us realize that creating a viable environment/community in which they can grow is no longer a 'joke thing'. For each one of them that we have lost to the 'jungle out there', they serve as reminders by weighing on our conscience of our failure to 'do the right thing' by coming together. A viable community therefore is one in which all aspects of our daily living are addressed within our community. It is one in which the economic well-being of the community is addressed. Where are our thriving businesses? It is one in which the educational needs of the community are addressed. Where are our Daycare Centers, K-12 Schools, and our College advisory board? It is one in which the spiritual needs of the community are addressed. (The Muslim community need to be commended in the great strides they continue to make to address this issue. Witness the Dairas, clerics, and organization that they have produced. The Christian elders in the community and others need to follow this example.) The social life of the community though well catered to at parties, ngëntés, weddings, sabars, and so forth, still needs to be addressed. The very fact that it is the most vibrant aspect of the community makes it even more vital to the future unity of the community. Where then is the roof that must house the many talented Gambians whose latent prowess, be it in Deejaying, Rapping, Dancing, Singing, Playing musical instruments, Acting or in the technical back-up that is needed to produce Shows that will one day rival those at the Kennedy Center? After spending tens of thousands of dollars renting halls to host the many events we have had, when will we be build The Gambia House? These and many others are what a community-based organization ought to be focusing on. We will fail every time we attempt to deviate from it. Every time we personalize, history shows that we have lost. Let us learn from the past and move forward with confidence that victory is but a short step away. Long live Gambians! -----------================---------- i wish to utilize this conference as a forum in which we begin to talk to each other rather than at each other (if we talk at all). those who claim leadership of the various groupings must become part of the process of untangling ourselves from our own doings. they must be seen to begin to act in a proactive manner by their constituents to be working for unity. so why not have a roundtable discussion of the leaders? let us call the leaders of the foundations, associations, support groups, religious organizations, soccer associations, educators, professionals, youth leaders, d.j.s, business leaders (e.g. braiding salons owners), the embassy (d.c. is strategically too important for us not to involve our embassy in our affairs. forget the politiking until we become a viable community!) that's all for now. i know i have said a mouthful and i apologize it. long live gambians! latjor ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 17:06:03 +2000 From: mmjeng@image.dk To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: Clinton To Tour Nine African States. Message-ID: <199801081607.RAA17612@mail.image.dk> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT President Bill Clinton is expected to tour nine African states in the first half of 1998, Clinton would travel to Angola, Congo (Brazzaville), the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. His African tour will be preceded by that of his Vice-President Al Gore to the same countries in the first quarter of this year. The rest of the news is hiding in the bush but if you are afraid of the shootings then get it from: http://www.africanews.org/PANA/news/ Greetings Matarr M. Jeng. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 18:25:41 +0300 From: "Bassirou Dodou Drammeh" <kolls567@qatar.net.qa> To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> Subject: Re: SV: Endangered Gambian Beaches!! Message-ID: <01bd1c49$addeebe0$9c2385c2@q-tel.qatar.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Mr.Sanyang, Thanks for the piece, and keep up good work down there! Regards Bassss! @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ - Hi, Malanding and all the Bantaba people, Thus Sand mining, infracstructure development are all anthropogenic activities which have been blamed for causing or aggravating coastal erosion. This cannot be denied but, natural factors such as low topography,unconsolidated rocks, aggressive hydrodynamic system, and more importantly sea level rise should be serious looked into, particalarly in the case of west Africa region. Malanding, this is done in a big hurry but I think I need to share little I know in the Senegambia region with all of you. I am curently writing a short paper on costal erosion in The Gambia.This cannot be available immediately, because it has to go through academic scrutiny. Anyway the National Environment Agency (NEA) can be of some help in providing more recent interventions and the current coastal zone management paradigm in the Gambia Thanks ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 19:43:15 +0300 From: "Bassirou Dodou Drammeh" <kolls567@qatar.net.qa> To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> Subject: Re: IS IT IN OUR NATURE? - PART 1 Message-ID: <01bd1c54$8418f2a0$9c2385c2@q-tel.qatar.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Elakeh! Even though I am very angry at your insinuation that Sukuru Kunda,Gambia's premier City, is a village(how could you put it on the same level as that tiny place.............? Jabbou,please help with the name!),I must commend you for your effort in revitalizing this very important subject:"Is It In Our Nature?" I very sincerely hope you would do justice to the subject,thus addressing not only the questions raised by Buharry, but also try to account for the ones recently raised by Latdjor.And to make sure that you can have no excuse for not exhaustively analyzing this very Gambian desease,I am hereby providing you with Buharry's original message. I am sure if anybody could clearly explain to us this Gambian sickness,you could;what I am however not sure of is whether you, in the process, would try to pull any Kartong tricks(stuffs) here?! I hope you won't,because Gambia-l would not allow you to get away with it.But in the mean time,Keep Up The Good Work Down There and have a great Weekend! Regards Bassss! (The Sukuru Kunda Supreme Alkaloo) **************************************************************************** ********************** Momodou Sidibeh wrote:- >Unless, I am greatly in error, this question related to the larger problem >of the inability for Gambians, broadly speaking, to be able to come >together, united, in order to democratically deal with whatever it is they >think should be done about their collective predicament. The question was >originally raised by my fellow Stockholmer, Mr. Momodou Buharry Gassama > To come to anything near A solution, we have to discuss how our past >history influences ethnic relations and tribal distrust; how our insistence >on being persistent victims clouds our judgement of current priorities. We >have to uncover what anthropological forces, social structures, are >responsible for the automatic division of gender roles in our society - >usually to the detriment of women; and why is Gambian nationalism eclipsed >by Sarahuli, Fula,or Mandinka nationalism or considerations based on age!? >In part 2 of this topic I will write about some of these problems as they >were experienced (by me) in the Gambian Organization in Sweden, and I will >try to answer some of Buharry's criticism. > >Lastly, I must thank all list members for honourably ignoring calls and >claims made by village nationalists from Gunjur and Serre-kunda. I really >hope that they would understand that your absolute silence is a loud signal >for them to courageously, and finally, lay down their sticks! :-) :-) >:-)........ > >Momodou S. Sidibeh, Kartong/Stockholm. >*************************************************************************** *** Buharry Gassama wrote:- Hi! I have always wondered why we as Gambians are one of most disorganised group of foreigners in all the countries I have been to outside Gambia. Why we have difficulties setting up cohesive and representative organisations. Why in Atlanta (when I lived there) and in Göteborg here in Sweden we have organisations or nightclubs for Wollofs and others for Mandinkas. Why Gambian holidays are celebrated based on tribal lines. Why it is difficult to accept it when one of us prospers. Why we report fellow Gambians who overstay their visas instead of helping them. Why we refuse to patronise Gambians who set up businesses. Why we involve in petty squabbles and fights, backbiting, "taysantays" etc. instead of channelling our energies towards endeavours that can improve our lot both in Babylon and back home. Why we .... Is it in our nature to be jealous? Is it in our nature to be disorganised? Is it in our nature to petty? OR, are we just lost? Buharry. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 12:13:41 -0500 (EST) From: David Gilden <dgilden@tiac.net> To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: Traveling overland, Banjul-Bamako Message-ID: <l03110701b0da6ba87146@[204.215.135.128]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello, Happy new year to all, Soon I will be in the Gambia to study kora (: I want to go overland to Bamako, and need to find out the following: *1 How long will it will take leaving fom Brikama, one day & 1/2 ? *2 What can expect to pay, including the train at Tamakunda. How long is the train to Bamako? *3 What time will I need to leave and what day is the best so that I connect with the Seneglease train out of Dakar. *Will I (Should I) plan on staying over night in Baase? Thanks for any and all help with planning this adventure. Abaraka Baake, Dowda *Cora Connection Your West African, Manding Music Source* http://www.drive.net/kora.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 12:21:00 -0500 From: Ceesay Soffie <Ceesay_Soffie@prc.com> To: "'gambia-l@u.washington.edu'" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> Subject: fw - pass it on Message-ID: <C69DB1B2BFFBCF11B5D300000000000152DD6D@Cry1.prc.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Hi everybody - I want to err on the side of caution, but, if it is a hoax, please excuse me. Soffie FYI WARNING!!!! If you receive an e-mail titled "JOIN THE CREW" DO NOT open it! It will erase EVERYTHING on your hard drive! Send this message out to as many people as you can ... this is a new virus and not many people know about it! This message was received this morning from IBM, and the Army National Guard, please share it with anyone that might access the Internet. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 16:26:27 -0000 From: "tgr@commit.gm" <gambia-l@commit.gm> To: "Gambia-L" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> Subject: Finally, a Gambian paper on the net. Message-ID: <B0000033605@south.commit.gm> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sent by "Torstein Grotnes" <tgr@commit.gm> via Commit Hello Gambia-L We are happy to announce a Gambian addition to the growing amount of newspapers on the web. The bi-monthly (twice every month) FRESH newspaper is now on the Internet. -------------- As the first Company in the Gambia the Informer Media Group Company Ltd. has introduced a Online version of the bi-monthly newspaper FRESH on the World Wide Web. If you have Internet access you can check us out on these addresses for the first ALL FREE Online edition of FRESH; http://w1.2220.telia.com/~u222000299 http://home.sol.no/~tgrotnes If you are a member with Commit in the Gambia, the address is: http://www.commit.gm -The Informer Media Group would like to invite any interested parties to come up with suggestions for changes or content to the FRESH Online version. The FRESH paperversion is now sold in one thousand copies around The Gambia. The Informer Media Group are welcoming any international advertisers and interested investors.. Please send any enquiry and comment to the FRESH e-mail address: lamkins@commit.gm Address: The Informer Media Group Company Ltd. Publishers of FRESH, The Sports & Entertainment Chronicle, YMCA opposite MDI, Kanifing, The Gambia P.O. Box: 2735, Serrekunda, The Gambia , Fax: 225833, ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 08 Jan 1998 12:36:34 -0500 From: habib <hghanim@erols.com> To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: Re: fw - pass it on Message-ID: <34B50EA2.4255@erols.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Ceesay Soffie wrote: > > Hi everybody - > > I want to err on the side of caution, but, if it is a hoax, please > excuse me. > > Soffie > > FYI > > WARNING!!!! If you receive an e-mail titled "JOIN THE CREW" DO > > NOT open it! It will erase EVERYTHING on your hard drive! > > Send this message out to as many people as you can ... this is > a > new virus and not many people know about it! > > This message was received this morning from IBM, and the Army > National Guard, please share it with anyone that might access > the > Internet. Thanks Soffie I am sure that was what happened to my old computer. Habib -- MZ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 13:19:02 -0500 (EST) From: "Malanding S. Jaiteh" <msjaiteh@mtu.edu> To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: Re: Finally, a Gambian paper on the net. Message-ID: <199801081819.NAA01809@oak.ffr.mtu.edu> Torstein, Thanks to you and your colleagues for making this dream come true. I hope there will come a day when daily papers will join the boat. Malanding > From GAMBIA-L-owner@u.washington.edu Thu Jan 8 12:31:30 1998 > Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 16:26:27 -0000 > From: "tgr@commit.gm" <gambia-l@commit.gm> > To: GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> > Subject: Finally, a Gambian paper on the net. > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > X-To: "Gambia-L" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> > X-MSMail-Priority: Normal > X-Priority: 3 > X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 beta -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN > > Sent by "Torstein Grotnes" <tgr@commit.gm> > via Commit > > > > Hello Gambia-L > > We are happy to announce a Gambian addition to the growing amount of > newspapers on the web. > > The bi-monthly (twice every month) FRESH newspaper is now on the Internet. > > -------------- > As the first Company in the Gambia the Informer Media Group Company Ltd. > has > introduced a Online version of the bi-monthly newspaper FRESH on the World > Wide Web. > If you have Internet access you can check us out on these addresses for the > first ALL FREE Online edition of FRESH; > http://w1.2220.telia.com/~u222000299 > http://home.sol.no/~tgrotnes > If you are a member with Commit in the Gambia, the address is: > http://www.commit.gm > > -The Informer Media Group would like to invite any interested parties to > come up with suggestions for changes or content to the FRESH Online > version. > > The FRESH paperversion is now sold in one thousand copies around The > Gambia. > The Informer Media Group are welcoming any international advertisers and > interested investors.. > > Please send any enquiry and comment to the FRESH e-mail address: > lamkins@commit.gm > > Address: > > The Informer Media Group Company Ltd. > Publishers of FRESH, > The Sports & Entertainment Chronicle, > YMCA opposite MDI, Kanifing, The Gambia > P.O. Box: 2735, Serrekunda, The Gambia , Fax: 225833, > > > ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 11:08:45 -0800 (PST) From: Sarian Loum <Sarian.Loum@Corp.Sun.COM> To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: Re: Gambia and The TeleCentres! Message-ID: <libSDtMail.9801081108.1424.sarian@groucho> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-MD5: OHiRxNOJDR0E1EIUK9R/ZQ== Sankung, Can you please enlighten us as to the problems Gamtel is facing with international calls? Frequently, during conversations to Banjul, phone lines are interrupted or just go dead and since I like to chat I always have to end up calling two or three times before concluding my conversation. Its pretty frustrating and annoying to be interrupted like that. First of all are you guys aware of the problem and is there a plan to remedy the situation? I don't know if local calls are affected but international calls definitely are. regards, sarian ------------- Begin Forwarded Message ------------- Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 10:49:15 -0800 (PST) From: Sarian Loum <sarian@groucho> Subject: Re: Gambia and The TeleCentres! To: Gampatriots@Corp MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-MD5: 6Sqe/fSi9n1W+DLkfl4vLw== Bass, I'm not quite sure how much progress if any, Gamtel has made towards Sankung's speech but I do know for a fact that quality of service has deteriorated the last several months as I'm a frequent caller to Banjul and in the middle of conversations phone lines just go dead or theres an interruption for a minute or two before you can hear the Banjul party you're talking to. I'm sure if some of you are frequent Banjul callers you would have already experienced this problem. So I'm not sure what the fault is or went wrong but Gamtel is experiencing problems with their connectivity. Quality has really gone down, maybe this is something Sankung can enlighten us about what he thinks the problem is and if theres any current plan to remedy the situation. I may post this to Gambia-L since Sankung is not a subscriber to the bush list. regards, sarian > From: "BASSIROU DODOU DRAMMEH" <kolls567@qatar.net.qa> > To: <Gampatriots@Corp> > Subject: Re: Gambia and The TeleCentres! > Date: Sun, 28 Dec 1997 18:54:05 +0300 > X-MSMail-Priority: Normal > X-Priority: 3 > MIME-Version: 1.0 > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > "Telecentres - Towards Universal Service", > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > Sankung SAWO > GAMTEL, The Gambia > Panel #2 > > > Mr. Chairman, > > > I am very much pleased to be given the opportunity to address this august > body on this interesting issue. > > Before I go further, let me give a brief description of the geography and > demography of The Gambia (1993 Statistical Data): > > Population = 1,025,867, > Total area = about 10,000 sq.km, > Teledensity = 1.4 - 2.0. > > > ITU 'Missing Link Report' contains the recommendation that: > > - By the year 2000, each and every individual should be within an easy > reach of a telecommunication service. > > This problably defines what is called "Universal Service". > > These are the two main guidelines for GAMTEL as, so far, the sole company > in the Gambia confered with the responsibility to provide > telecommunications services -including telematics. > > I wish to quote from GAMTEL's 1994 Annual Budget Report: > > "GAMTEL's TARGET IS NOT 'A TELEPHONE FOR EVERYBODY' but 'Telephone Access > and Quality of Service for Everybody'". > > Also the Managing Director in his report stated that: > (GAMTEL) Customers are becoming more sophisticated in their requirements > for our services and technology. The company must respond by becoming truly > customer driven and by using all resources to deliver the best possible > service at the lowest possible cost. > > Mr. Chairman, it is thus clear to all of us in the Gambia why GAMTEL > embarked on setting up more than 20 TeleCentres throughout the Gambia and > the building of a truly National Infrastructure backbone: namely, a > state-of-the-art Fiber Optic Cable, about 400km long, along the entire > length of the country, and a Digital Microwave Radio Link backbone 34mb/s > in parallel with it. This is what I would regard as the very basis of a > National Information Infrastructure needed for a National Information > Highway. > > Mr. Chairman, most people in this audience would agree with me that, in > Africa, our bottleneck to having a Continental Information Highway - or > Super Highways as it will be in the next century when we have convergence > of voice, data and video i.e. multimedia services - is the lack of basic > broadband (multimegabit) telecommunications links in most of the countries > South of Sahara desert. > > But I believe there is a lot to be learnt from the new democratic South > Africa and most of our countries can benefit from partnerships with this > shining state. Of course, for us in The Gambia, and GAMTEL in particular, > we believe that, in terms of communication infrastructure and provision > (and availability) of services, we are only a step behind South Africa. I > will compound this statement by the fact that, according to BT and AT&T, > Gambia (GAMTEL) has the second highest call completion rates in Africa! > > Before I left Gambia for this meeting, by boss informed me that, in fact, > 34MB/s chunk of the fibre backbone is reserved for MultiChannel TV and > Data. > > Mr. Chairman, may I quote again a relevant statement: > > The EC Telecoms Commissioner, Martin Bangemann, is quoted by CWI magazine > that (he) has identified lack of network infrastructure competition as a > major obstacle to the development of high-speed Pan-European networking. > > But whilst Europeans are worrying about competition in infrastructure, in > the US, the concern is with SERVICES AND APPLICATIONS. > > What is our worry in Africa? > > Going back to the Gambian situation and the strategies that GAMTEL is > taking in a match towards the year 2000, I would like to see GAMTEL > succeeding in building a National Internet network, even before leasing a > US$65.000 64kbps link for connection to world-wide Internet. GAMTEL has the > resources to do this and the infrastructure also. GAMTEL, in its own house, > is standardizing on UNIX and all its computer systems are on UNIX platforms > with TCP/IP LAN protocol! After all that is what the core of WWI hosts are > - UNIX based computers, mainly. > > > > Conservatively, I could say that GAMTEL could provide Email and related > multimedia services throughout the Gambia, on its multimegabit backbones > and through its Telecentres, to the majority of the people in the country. > Plans are already well advanced to set up a national Email system, and > which in time would also have databases - on finance, economic and > educational information - this year 1995. The service could be made > available to all the Telecentres, including those owned by private > individuals, in order to reach the masses essentially. > > In fact, Mr. Chairman, I forgot to mention two value-added network services > that GAMTEL also provides in the Gambia now, namely a cellular (mobile) > telephone network and a Packet Switch Data Network (X.25 network). The > latter is going to b e used for gateway connection of the national Email > host to X.400 mail servers in the UK and in the USA, and also as an > alternative access medium. > > Before I conclude my speech, let me highlight a very important sector of > our economies, namely the private sector (enterprises), which I expect to > be the engine of the African Information highway initiative. Enabled by the > public sector, especially the Governments, the private sector must take the > lead in financing the future services. > > Mr. Michael Jensen said, in an answer to a question from the floor, that > one of the main reasons of lack of adequate connectivity of existing > networks (in Africa) today is low-level of economic activity. Mr. > Chairmain, I totally agree with the gentleman. I believe that telecom > companies will no doubt resolve this problem if and when we have high > trading activities between our countries. This is not the reality now. > > Finally, I would like to tell a real story about my own village, where I > come from, about 30km away from the capital, Banjul: Village name is Nuimi > Lameng. > > First telephone communication ever in this village of 150 households, using > a mobile (cellular) telephone set with a microphone in December 1993, > enable villagers to make family 'conference' call with their village folks > living abroad - e.g. in USA, Europe, etc. A whole family sits around the > mobile set and communicates with the person at the other end. > > Thank you, Mr. Chairman. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > So,what, if any, progress has been made since Mr.Sawo made his that very > optimistic predictions two years ago?! How connected (email/Internet) has > Gambia been since then? > > A very Happy and Prosperous 1998 to everyone in the Bantabaaa! > > Regards Bassss! ------------- End Forwarded Message ------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 15:58:20 -0500 (EST) From: YAIKAH MARIE JENG <yjeng@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu> To: Sarian Loum <Sarian.Loum@Corp.Sun.COM> Cc: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List <gambia-l@u.washington.edu>, ; Subject: Re: Gambia and The TeleCentres! Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.96.980108155618.18153A-100000@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII hi sarian, this is yaikah just writing to say that i've also experienced the same thing with my calls back home and it's happened to me quite a few times already. i hope GAMTEL can figure out what's going because just like another member said, i also end up calling at least twice just to finish a conversation. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 00:41:24 -0000 From: "tgr@commit.gm" <gambia-l@commit.gm> To: "Gambia-L" <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> Subject: Re: Gambian Online papers Message-ID: <B0000033871@south.commit.gm> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sent by "Torstein Grotnes" <tgr@commit.gm> via Commit Hi Gambia-L. Resending this intro message...and adding some critisism!! ------------------------------------- Hello Gambia-L We are happy to announce a Gambian addition to the growing amount of newspapers on the web. The bi-monthly (twice every month) FRESH newspaper is now on the Internet. -------------- As the first Company in the Gambia the Informer Media Group Company Ltd. has introduced a Online version of the bi-monthly newspaper FRESH on the World Wide Web. If you have Internet access you can check us out on these addresses for the first ALL FREE Online edition of FRESH; http://w1.2220.telia.com/~u222000299 http://home.sol.no/~tgrotnes If you are a member with Commit in the Gambia, the address is: http://www.commit.gm The Informer Media Group would like to invite any interested parties to come up with suggestions for changes or content to the FRESH Online version. The FRESH paperversion is now sold in one thousand copies around The Gambia. The Informer Media Group are welcoming any international advertisers and interested investors.. Please send any enquiry and comment to the FRESH e-mail address: lamkins@commit.gm Address: The Informer Media Group Company Ltd. Publishers of FRESH, The Sports & Entertainment Chronicle, YMCA opposite MDI, Kanifing, The Gambia P.O. Box: 2735, Serrekunda, The Gambia , Fax: 225833, ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Anybody has any comments on the paper? Are you able to read it at the addresses? And why this silence from the Observer-group people on this topic?? Just to make sure; The reason we believe Observer is NOT on the web is due to two things: Observer itself and the Observer group. As a company we cannot put on such a project, without having other people that are actually pursuing the topic actively. If we always have to push and push to get this thing to go through we will in the end think "why do we try to do this for these people when they don't even seem to be able to something about it themselves.?" I mean, come on, you guys (and girls) are supposed to be a bunch of high educated fellows with some resources, so this thing should be a piece of cake!! It's nothing I would be more happy about than see The Observer going online, but i demands ACTION from the group. Just to give you an example; you now know what kind of equipment (MAC) Observer use. Is it so impossible to try out a system similar to that for some of you and to spend SOME time developing this automatic Observer page-converting?? Why do you not ask us any questions if it is possible to do this or that, or if we can implement any solution you come up with?? COME ON guys and girls. Is it RAMADAN that takes a knock on you?? Regards, Tosh "full speed" Commit PS. please tell anybody interested in The Gambia about the addresses for the FRESH Online paper. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 20:43:46 -0600 From: Tamsir Mbai <mba4224@etbu.edu> To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: Re: conference Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980108201956.33bf1688@etbu.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Latjor, At the very end of your analysis of The Gambian problem, you wrote "i know i have said a mouthful and i apologize." No apologies needed. When the time spent in reading a lengthy article is worth the while, then i believe it is incumbent upon gambia-l to beg for more of such didactic lectures. I feel your pain!! I feel you, Bro!!!! Your analysis of our woes and what needs to be done to revolutionize those woes into virtues is truely magnificent. Often times when we address issues, we stop at only identifying the problem. In my opinion, the problem is no mystery to any Gambian. So when you go beyond addressing the problem to identifying probable solutions, i can only say, bravo. Much like every Gambian who resides outside the country, i have experienced first hand the salient points that you raised. Here in Dallas, we have tried time and time again to confront the issues affecting us, but more often than not, we come up with nothing more than empty talk. That is mainly because of the detestable factions that are created as a by-product of the parent organizations. I don't know how to resolve the situation in Dallas, so i will refrain from trying to offer advice as to how to go about doing so on gambia-l. One thing is certain: i will pray for your conference to be successful. Maybe from there you can offer us guidance as regards how to tackle the problem in our individual 'necks of the wood.' DISCLAIMER: I'm not expecting a magic pill for a solution to our many diverse problems. Thanx again Latjor for the thorough analysis. I can only hope that gambians in the D.C area will take time off to attend what could be a milestone in redirecting our energies into a more fruitful enterprise. On a belated note, Happy New Year to everyone. Peace to all members of Gambia-l. It's Tamsir. It's Tamsir. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 22:05:32 EST From: RABANI <RABANI@aol.com> To: gambia-l@U.WASHINGTON.EDU Subject: Re: New member Message-ID: <3cfe281a.34b593fd@aol.com> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi Pa Musa thanks for the welcome and how are you. I heard that you returned to theGambia but that was before i could see you. But if you can please email me at my address so we can catch up. bye for now PACO ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 21:28:24 -0600 From: "Katim S. Touray" <dekat@itis.com> To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> Subject: Re: fw - pass it on Message-ID: <199801090337.VAA26058@tower.itis.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi folks, i found the "pass it on" posting from Soffie rather interesting. i'm working on setting up a Web site, and had my graphic designer make a button called, you guessed it, "Pass It On" ! the idea behind the button is to enable visitors to the Web site to e-mail their friends and colleagues about information they found at the site. oh well, so much for coincidences!! and i'm glad to find Gambian media checking out the Web. i visited the "Fresh" Web site, and found it really, well, refreshing! the only thing i can say is that they should keep up the good work down there, as Bass would put it. on a related note, i read Torstein's comments about Observers' slowness in getting on the Web. i recall writing a two-part article about the Internet almost 4 years ago, and published ( i was told) by the Observer. the only reason i said "i was told" is because i am yet to see a copy of any of the published articles. i never asked for money when i sent the articles to the paper, and also told myself that if i have to tell them to send me a copy *before* they send me one, then something was wrong. in the event, they did not send me a copy. and it's interesting to see all that's going on the Internet especially in light of the fact that the world wide web barely got more than a mention in my articles. back then, the Internet wasn't for the fainthearted!! other issues i'd like to touch on later include the Education Committee report. i haven't read that one yet, and hope to do so in the next couple of days. fact is i'm mega busy, and i sometimes feel really bombed that i can't jump into the fray. also, Latjors' idea for a conference is a timely one, as we can always expect from the guy. i suspect he's got a secret band of secretaries who are at his beck and call. i mean, he has all the ideas ;-) keep up the good work, folks. i gotta go. have a great weekend, and best wishes to everyone in the New Year. Katim ---------- > From: Ceesay Soffie <Ceesay_Soffie@prc.com> > To: GAMBIA-L: The Gambia and Related Issues Mailing List <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> > Subject: fw - pass it on > Date: Thursday, January 08, 1998 11:21 AM > > Hi everybody - > > I want to err on the side of caution, but, if it is a hoax, please > excuse me. > > Soffie > > FYI > > WARNING!!!! If you receive an e-mail titled "JOIN THE CREW" DO > > NOT open it! It will erase EVERYTHING on your hard drive! > > Send this message out to as many people as you can ... this is > a > new virus and not many people know about it! > > This message was received this morning from IBM, and the Army > National Guard, please share it with anyone that might access > the > Internet. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 22:27:56 -0600 From: Tamsir Mbai <mba4224@etbu.edu> To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> Subject: Re: Gambian Online papers Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980108220406.3cafc344@etbu.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Torstein, Thanx for all the services that you are providing within The Gambia. These are highly needed services and i commend you for taking the initiative to do so. I visited the FRESH homepage, and at first glance, i have to say that it looks beautiful. Unfortunately, i didn't spend enough time online to be able to critique it. Nonetheless, I was able to read a couple of articles, one of which was about Coach Alhagie Sillah's interview with you guys. Thanks a lot again. It's Tamsir (Gambia-l subscriber). It's Tamsir. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 11:28:37 -0600 From: Keretha Cash <kcash@RBVDNR.com> To: Kimberly McCord <kmccord@RBVDNR.com>, "Elaine E. Richards" Subject: RE: Friendship letter Message-ID: <81F3CC6EBB6FD011917800805FC17836988EA8@panthers.rbvdnr.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="---- =_NextPart_000_01BD1CF1.BB2F57A0" This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. ------ =_NextPart_000_01BD1CF1.BB2F57A0 Content-Type: text/plain HAPPY NEW YEAR! > ---------- > From: Laura Taggart > Sent: Thursday, January 08, 1998 4:25 PM > To: Keretha Cash; Bruce Walters; Morris & Jennie Angulo; Jean > Gardon; Kathleen Roseboom; Patty Swan; Tricia Fredine; Elaine & Dave > Subject: Fw: Friendship letter > > > > >> Subject: Friendship letter > > >> > >> > Around The Corner: By Henson Towne > >> > > >> > Around the corner I have a friend, > >> > In this great city that has no end, > >> > Yet the days go by and weeks rush on, > >> > And before I know it, a year is gone. > >> > And I never see my old friends face, > >> > For life is a swift and terrible race, > >> > He knows I like him just as well, > >> > As in the days when I rang his bell, > >> > And he rang mine. > >> > > >> > If, we were younger then, > >> > And now we are busy, tired men. > >> > Tired of playing a foolish game, > >> > Tired of trying to make a name. > >> > "Tomorrow" I say "I will call on Jim" > >> > "Just to show that I'm thinking of him." > >> > But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes, > >> > And distance between us grows and grows. > >> > Around the corner!- yet miles away, > >> > > >> > "Here's a telegram sir--" > >> > "Jim died today." > >> > And that's what we get and deserve in the end. > >> > Around the corner, a vanished friend. > >> > > >> > > >> > If you love someone, tell them. Remember always to say what you > >> > mean. > >> > > >> > Never be afraid to express yourself. Take this opportunity to > tell > >> someone what they mean to you. Seize the day and have no regrets. > >> > > >> > Most importantly, stay close to your friends and family, for they > >> > have helped make you the person that you are today and are what > it's > >> > all about anyway. > >> > > >> > Pass this along to your friends. Let it make a difference in your > >> > day and theirs. The difference between expressing love and > having > >> > regrets which may stay around forever. > >> > > >> > This is a love chain letter. Within 1 hour you must send it to > 10 > >> > other people. Within five days you will have a miraculous > >> > occurrence in your relationships. You will find new love or have > an > >> > old love rekindled. > >> > > >> > If you do not send it, you will have once again passed up the > >> > opportunity to do something loving and beautiful and continue > the > >> > trend that gives you problems in your relationships. > > Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 12:26:13 EST From: "BOJANG,BUBA" <BBOJANG@MUSIC.TRANSY.EDU> To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> Subject: RE Kartong/Gunjur Message-ID: <09JAN98.13432020.0044.MUSIC@MUSIC.TRANSY.EDU> Sir, I tried to send you a reply on this subject through your address but couldn't get through. Please if you get this message, send me your your address at bbojang@music.transy.edu and I shall send you my note. I am from Gunjur, maybe we know each other. I have a lot to tell you. Guys, I appologoze for this private message, it was just that I couldn't get to him through his address. Thanks Buba Bojang ( Bada ) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 00:10:58 +0300 From: "Bassirou Dodou Drammeh" <kolls567@qatar.net.qa> To: <gambia-l@u.washington.edu> Subject: Re: Gambian Online papers Message-ID: <01bd1d43$300525e0$a72185c2@q-tel.qatar.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Torstein, Maybe my criticisms will come later,but ,for now, I have nothing but praise for both you at Commit and the guys and girls at FRESH.Its really great that ,finally, there would be a Gambian paper in Cyberspace.From the look of it,you people have done an impressive job down there.So,maybe our relucant friend,the Daily Gambian Observer, would now realize that this Cyber Train will go anyway with or without them being onboard. I have gone through all the twelve pages (of text and image) of the present issue,and I must admit that I was very impressed with both the scope and dept of the issues it covered.I like among other things the interview they did with our national coach,Mr.Sillah, in which he analyzed our Scorpions eleventh hour shocking defeat during the Cabral Cup Tournament.I also like the progressive and objective manner in which they conducted their investigation into one of our society's enduring social institutions,namely,polygamy. So,all in all,I want to congratulate the people at FRESH for their courageous embrace of Cyberspace, and Commit for the sterling job they did in putting the paper on the Web and hoping and praying that the The Daily Observer people and Us at GambiaNet would soon be able to do the same for the Observer paper,the present lethargy notwithstanding. So,all of you out there,Keep Up The Good Work down there! Regards Bassss! >Sent by "Torstein Grotnes" <tgr@commit.gm> > via Commit > > > >Hi Gambia-L. > >Resending this intro message...and adding some critisism!! > >------------------------------------- >Hello Gambia-L > >We are happy to announce a Gambian addition to the growing amount of >newspapers on the web. > >The bi-monthly (twice every month) FRESH newspaper is now on the Internet. > >-------------- >As the first Company in the Gambia the Informer Media Group Company Ltd. >has >introduced a Online version of the bi-monthly newspaper FRESH on the World >Wide Web. >If you have Internet access you can check us out on these addresses for the >first ALL FREE Online edition of FRESH; >http://w1.2220.telia.com/~u222000299 >http://home.sol.no/~tgrotnes >If you are a member with Commit in the Gambia, the address is: >http://www.commit.gm > > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 18:40:02 EST From: BobbySil <BobbySil@aol.com> To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: Re: RE Kartong/Gunjur Message-ID: <aa71922d.34b6b553@aol.com> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit BUBA, WHO IS THIS MESAGE FOR???????????????????????????? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 12:03:43 +0100 From: LaminLams.Bojang@fco.mh.se (LaminLams Bojang) To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: Introduction Message-ID: <fc.000f547200195591000f547200195591.195669@fco.mh.se> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Hello everybody I am a new member at Stockholm,Sweden Came from Pirang village , Kombo East Attende Faraba Banta primary school Crab Island jr 1975 Muslim high school 1976-81 Hotel school 1982-84 ,Bar and Restaurant Worked at different hotels in the Gambia Came to Sweden 1991 now engaged in a four- year program in economics environment and politics Just gone half way. Even known as Lang Bojang or Lams Lams ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 14:38:47 -0500 From: Malick Jagne <jagnem@db.erau.edu> To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: New Member Message-ID: <199801101938.OAA11804@larry.ent.db.erau.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-MD5: 9FlmYFfnd7XaIOy4C4ATKA== Could u please subscribe Mr Ousman K Manjang to Gambia-L. His e-mail ad. is manjango@db.erau.edu Thanks ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 22:01:53 +0200 From: momodou.camara@post3.tele.dk (Camara, Momodou) To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: New Members Message-ID: <19980110210202.AAA22368@momodou> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Greetings, The following people have recently been added to the Bantaba: Morro Krubally, Momodou Jasseh, Ebrima M'boob, Lamin Bojang, Ousman K Manjang and Pa Sallah. We welcome them and look forward to their contributions. You can send a brief introduction of yourselves to gambia-l@u.washington.edu. Regards Momodou Camara *** http://home3.inet.tele.dk/mcamara "To make friends is easy, just use pure ingredients"*** ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 00:18:55 EST From: LBojang <LBojang@aol.com> To: Gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: Re: SUBSCRIBE GAMBIA-L Lamin Bojang Message-ID: <7dec1074.34b85640@aol.com> Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hi, my name is Lamin Bojang, and I recide in Georgia. I appreciate you adding me to the list; I will surely try to contribute as frequently as possible. Thanks ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 02:42:32 -0500 (EST) From: mjallow@st6000.sct.edu (Modou Jallow) To: gambia-l@u.washington.edu Subject: Greetings Message-ID: <9801110742.AA32338@st6000.sct.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Greetings folks, I would like to welcome all the new members and also wish *ALL* the members a successful new year 1998. I hope that the Ramadhan is going pretty well for those of us undertaking the fast. The days seem to be passing by very fast - I just realized that we are almost half way gone.... keep up the good intentions! Regards, Moe S. Jallow ------------------------------ End of GAMBIA-L Digest 102 ************************** [/quote]   Check here to include your profile signature.