I've been home since Saturday afternoon, after a fairly fraught fortnight in The Gambia. The night before I left I had a dreadfully sore throat which is usually the sign that I'm in for a heavy "man-cold". I was not to be disappointed. My first few days were dreadful, out in the bush, and very poorly! A plate of home made soup from Fr Jimmy Cole's wife and some honey and lemon drink probably saved my life on the Sunday! The motto is, "Don't get sick in the Third World"!!!

The whole fortnight was spent trying to hold the miseries at bay, and the RW's arrival after a week of misery saw supplies of Lemsip and other western remedies, which I much preferred over roots and leaves that I was being offered by sympathetic locals!

Even on my return home I've still been suffering and the doc has given me anti-biotics for a bad chest infection. The scary thing is that my heart rate has climbed again over the past few months to around 130-140 beats per minute, so that's me off to the cardiologist again. Shucks! I could do without that.

It's been difficult to function properly over the past few days, but I thought that if I could maybe get my blog going again, it might focus my mind a bit on what actually went on during my visit! So expect some tales and pics from The Gambia! There may even be a CD of the school trip, and the children at work in the classroom in the near future!

There's lots going on now that we have a start date for the demolition of the Church Hall and its rebuilding. Lots of work to be done before the big day on February 9th. Exciting times!