Kartong Community Forest Tales

Moving into the Alkarlo Compound

GAMBIA | Tuesday, 9 September 2008 | Views [234]

Before Chris Starr and Kenton Rogers left The Gambia I was given the option of two possible compounds at which I could reside in for the next 6 months. The first of which was the first compound as you enter the village and the second was at the far side of the village. During meetings with the village Elders there was a feeling that the second compound would be more suitable as that area is quieter and I am less likely to be disturbed by the youth of the village. I didn’t want to seem disrespectful towards the Elders, so I decided to move into the second compound, which we later discovered was the second Alkarlo’s (Village Leader) compound.

Living in a compound in Kartong meant that I would have to change my entire lifestyle and honestly I was really looking forward to the change. The first activity that needed to be done was to transform the once bare compound into a comfortable home for 6 months; luckily one of my future compound mates is an architect working on a project at Sandele (a 5 star eco retreat). Between the both of us we organised local beds to be made from Sibo (Rhun Palm - Borassus aethiopum) frongs, purchased a number of prayer mats and finally it was left to Tom to construct chairs and tables.