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njucks
Gambia
1131 Posts |
 Posted - 20 Oct 2006 : 19:58:01
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quote:
Originally posted by njucks
[quote]Originally posted by Momodou
TATA is also used as a prefix for elder sisters in Mandinka.
........and Sarakulays .
Infact many people pass around with 'names' that are not names but prefixes. Ndey, Mam, Cherno, Kebba, Alagi, Baba,Mawdo,Musu etc
whilst some names are ''pseudonyms'' of real names. e.g Mbye in Wollof and Sory in Mandinka mean the same thing. the 'real' name in this case is Ebrima.
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Edited by - njucks on 20 Oct 2006 20:03:16 |
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LEMON TIME
Afghanistan
1295 Posts |
Posted - 20 Oct 2006 : 21:02:29
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| Wow its good to learn from all of you guys.thanks |
There is no god but Allah |
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Aku_pickin
Christmas Island
162 Posts |
Posted - 22 Oct 2006 : 19:32:56
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Lemon we share the same feeling. I left Gambia at a young age and it was only recently that I went back. I have very fond memories of Gambia; however I was not exposed to the interior of the country growing up, which is a damn shame.  I think I went as far as Barra and Brufut while I was a child. Other than that I was only familiar with Banjul and the Kombo's (coastal region)
My grandmother and great mother who I fortunately had the opportunity to know, were Aku's and their mother tongue was Aku (broken English); they learned to speak Wolof, Mandingo and if my memory serves me correctly I believe even Sarahule . I did know Wolof to some degree, however I have totally lost it over the years. My Aku in my opinion, is somewhat ok, however on my recent trip I had both Wolof and Aku's laughing at my attempts.
The point I'm trying to make, is that I wish I had more exposure to the Gambian culture, languages, and regions. On my next visit I intend to do a whole Gambian tour visiting and spending time in all regions. My intention is to dispel the stereotype which I had read a few months ago on allGambian.net about Aku’s only living their elite lives on the coastal region and not caring about the rest of Gambia. Yes we lived in coastal areas, however we consider ourselves Gambians as anyone else born there. Our ancestry (Aku’s) is that unfortunately we were former slaves who returned to FREETOWN Sierra Leon after slavery was abolished. We migrated and settled to different regions in West Africa. My Great Grandmother born in 1886 in then Bathurst (today Banjul) was light skinned and her parents were freed slaves who settled in Gambia. She was a proud Gambian who did a lot to help Gambia and Gambians. She never considered herself to be superior and encouraged us to learn and respect all the local cultures in Gambia.
I consider myself Gambian and after my recent trip I intend to repatriate as Gambia needs us all to help develop the country economically.
Sorry for the long rant.
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Justice must be served as impunity brings more repression and corruption! |
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LEMON TIME
Afghanistan
1295 Posts |
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SOH
Gambia
46 Posts |
Posted - 25 Oct 2006 : 13:17:44
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One of those first and most lasting impressions one gets when visiting a country, any country for that matter, is the way traffic moves. That includes the way of driving, driving attitudes, road conditions, vehicle conditions, the way pedestrians proact with the drivers...in fact a thousand and one things that speak loudly of a country.
Sadly enough the reality on the ground in our country leaves much to be desired and gives little comfort to the mind. Though we may very much want to portrait our country as making strides in development, much remains to be done on our roads, no matter how we may want to look at the situation.
First, before we charge such comparetively high annual prices for road tax and licences, driver's licences and their renewals, we might as well introduce on annual mechanical checkup to ascertain that any vehicle is roadworthy, then we have the drivers themselves of whom many desperately need re-education none less than our soldiers themselves and those non-Gambians who doubtless get a spanking new driver's licence so easily without even a test!!
Then some form of Civic Education needs to be introduced amongst which the crucial need to educate people on how to use roads and pavements, no disrespects meant to anyone but that's the sad truth. Our uniformed people too need to be put through this drill since they much of the time show a poor example.
Last but not least are the roads. What good is it to build roads if there is no proper and regular maintenance. Here there needs to be put in place qualified and accountable people whose job is to tour the nation and record where our road need attention, as the saying goes, "a stitch in time is better than none". Here I'd go as far as adding that it's also cheaper to stitch in time. Then finally, there must be some regulations as to how the roads are used. Too many times have I seen overloaded trucks ply our roads. Looking at such sights, I can only deduct that their load per axle is way abobe the norm therefore causing undue stress on our roads which quite naturally are made to meet a certain standard, a limited one too!
To cap off this topic, a rethink from the top down is crucial and the sooner, the better.
Peace. |
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