What We Can Grow In Rainy Season

Hello friends.

During the rainy season here we grow a lot of food.  Fruits and veggies and our trees grow lush with mangos.  We grow corn and okra and melons. We try to dry preserve a lot of our food to last through the dry months. When in our dry months we get no rain. So, to grow plants we need to bring water from place to place like I showed in the last video.

Cucumbers

Mangos

onions

Mango trees

Pumkin Goards

Melons

A well would allow my compound and neighboring compounds access to clean and flowing water that we can then not have to worry about if we will get sick from animals using the restroom in our water, or the e-coli or other bacteria that run rampant in our source currently.

A well currently would cost 400 british pounds to build.

We are searching for a mission or organization that can help us make this a reality.

Each day my compound walks back and forth. 10 minutes each way to get water. By the end of the day we have barely any to get until the next morning as the source refills from the underground water. Every water we get has to be rationed for drinking, cleaning, and watering our plants to try to grow during the dry season. When the plants burn from lack of water that means we go without food.

I work 2 jobs. In one I help clean and maintain a building. This job pays $25 USD a month. I do not accept this money. It goes to put these children through school since they no longer have parents. This money is enough to get them in school and make sure they have some food and care since they have no one else to do it for them.

I am also trying to create a wishlist to get these children school supplies. We are looking for a e-commerce site that allows wishlists and purchases that can be delivered to my compound in Gambia and surrounding areas. 

My other job is at night. I work all night long and keep a fire going. I watch our compound and protect it over the night time hours. This job pays me $15 a month.

That money has to pay for rent and what food I can afford at the end of each month.

When there is no food, I do not eat. I have a daughter as well that I support and I must do my best in order to help her survive as her mother is not around.

My mother is older and almost completely deaf. She helps around the garden and compound as well.

Here is some pictures from around the compound and the children and my mother.

Mother

 

Watering My Garden

 Watering the garden in the USA is very easy. We have access to hoses and  pumps and irrigation systems. That is not the case in Gambia. Here is a video that shows how we water our gardens in my country. Our ground is very hard during the dry season as you can see in the first video.  I have Tiktok and that is a great place to see more videos from me.

Here is Omar'sTiktok

Email Omar Directly

Omar On Instagram

How we water in my compound.

As you can see everything is by hand. Buckets of water, pail by pail. We carry them on foot back from the existing water source.  This source is depleted daily so we have to rise early to get the water for the day. It is a 10 minute walk each way. We take what we can carry and use as much as possible to grow food.

It is important to note that in Gambia, water is NOT clean. It is used by animals and can be infected by e coli as well. It is very important that we take every precaution to make what we can get last the day and try to make it as safe as possible to drink.

We need a well that will give us safe drinking water.

The purpose of this blog is to help get funding for a well and we also are attempting to start a wishlist to help get items for the children for school.

When that is available I will have all links ready for readers to check on.

Welcome to Real Life in Gambia with Omar

 

Hi I am Omar and I am from Gambia, West Africa!

This blog was created to explain how life works in my country. Here you must be strong and you must work hard to do life on the daily. We have only 3 months of a rainy season in which to attempt to grow and preserve food. 

Water is hard to come by and what is available is not clean. This is the struggles I hope to help others see and be able to help my people and adjoining compounds as you see life here in Gambia.  Bear with me as I get this blog up and running and we will share pictures and videos of daily life. We aim to raise money for wells in our area to give us clean water and access to water for crops and familys that is not contaminated by animals. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Please share this page and help me get new visitors!