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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------