After going through 750+ messeges (I was incommunicado because
of my finals), i must say that it is beautiful indeed to see Gambians
putting aside their petty differences and uniting in this common goal
for a 'free Gambia'. We must realise that nothing is without wisdom and i
believe the wisdom behind the events that have been brewing for the past
few years and which reached a climax on April 10th is this: the price of
freedom is never cheap. As such, we must not loose faith or give up hope.
God said, "with hardship cometh ease". No doubt we are in the most trying
times, but the promise of God Almighty is true, so we can be assured that
ease (peace and democracy in this case) will definitely be forthcoming.
However, our duty is patience and perseverance while we wait for God's
promise to be fulfilled - and God's timing is the best! With the efforts
of people such as Buharry (contragulations on the baby girl, may God give
her everything that is good and keep from her everything that is evil, and
complete her with His light), Jabou, Yankuba, etc., etc.,etc.; eloquent
words from the likes of Alpha Robinson and Nabiha; insightful analyses
such as those from Amadou Kabir and Momodou Sidibeh, I believe we can most
certainly persevere. And to make assurance doubly sure, we have generated
a lot of steam both locally and internationally (i have the 750+ e-mails
to prove it!) to keep us going. So perseverance will not be a problem,
however i think patience might. While we're sending petitions to
international organisations and such, let's remember that the west doesn't
necessarily have the answers - wasn't America responsible for getting
Jammeh in, in the first place? Anyway, speculation or not, I think we
should be cautious what we ask for, because if we're asking for economic
sanctions (i believe someone recommended it a couple of hundred emails
back, but i'm glad i haven't seen this particular recommendation in any of
the petitions i've signed thus far), then we should be aware of the
implications of such a request. The implications... are that the Gambian
people will just continue to suffer, end of story. Take Iraq as a case in
point....the sanctions have only resulted in making the already miserable
life of the common Iraqi more miserable. The actual people that the
sanctions were intended to hurt are still enjoying life despite the
sanctions. Momodou Sidibeh stated that two-thirds of the
direct investment in the country according to the central bank comes from
Gambians abroad sending money to supplement their relatives' meagre
incomes. So let's be careful that all this call for international
involvement does not backfire on us.
With regards to the effort being put into all of this, excuse my
lack of physical presence because i'm all the way up here in
no-man's-land, Hamilton,Canada, and as such my contributions in the form
of money is about all i can afford. However, my sister, Ancha is at home
right now and she said that she has opened an account for the families of
the deceased and she was going to put the account # and other relevant
info. on the list. However, i've informed her of the contributions already
being collected in NA and Europe, so it would not make sense to put
another account on the list for this purpose. But i was wondering if there
is already a mechanism in place, by which the monies collected abroad are
going to be distributed to the various families. If so, maybe you can have
my sister coordinate with whoever is in responsible (just to have more
people help out). But if not, maybe Soffie Ceesay and Alpha Robinson can
forward whatever they've collected and she can distribute it as necessary.
Just in case the issue of trust comes up, Ancha worked with GESO to get
the computers that were donated down to Banjul and she was responsible for
handling the particulars when they got there. So Jabou and others can
vouch for her if necessary. Whatever the case, my sister as usual is
prepared to help so if there is a need for people at home to coordinate
efforts, I'm sure she's ready and willing insofar as her schedule at RVH
permits. She's been working some crazy hours lately! So if anyone has any
suggestions, let me know and i'll forward them to her. She will probably
try to get on the L concerning this but like i said, she's busy and has
computer issues so i'm her messenger for the time being.
In the meantime, let's all keep doing what we can for our beloved
country and remember to pray for the dead and ask God to make the grief
easier to bear for their families and help us in our endeavours for a
'Free Gambia'.
Yai-Fatou Gaye.
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