“How is the work?” you should ask, during the lengthy ritual of Gambian greetings.

No matter the person’s gender, age, ethnic group or language, the answer is the same: “We are on it. Slowly, slowly.”

Work moves at a snail’s pace in The Gambia – and everybody knows it. Coming from America where time is money and there are no attaya breaks, slowing down has been a challenge. There’s a saying that goes: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” And so, I wait. I wait for teachers to show up to school. I wait for students to be assigned classes. I wait for meetings to begin. I wait for lessons to be taught.

This week, my school was up for a possible visit from the government’s Curriculum Control Management team. So with fury I’ve never before seen in Africa, work suddenly got done. Teachers prepared their lesson plans, pasted posters to their classroom walls, painted labels on office doors and bathroom stalls, and cleaned the schoolyard.

A third-grade classroom.

The schoolyard after students cleaned and painted the trees.

The CCM ended up not coming to my school, but at least now things seem to finally be on course. My school of 600 students has a teaching staff of 31. About half the staff are student teachers, so many are paired with qualified teachers to lead a single class, grades 1-6. With a young staff, many seem eager to learn from me. Now that classes are rolling, teachers often ask me to observe their lessons and give feedback or help them to prepare teaching aids. I’ve also even managed to hold 2 of the 5 scheduled library committee meetings. After almost two months of school, I feel like I’m finally able to start the work I came here to do, “slowly, slowly.”

–JDF