Dear Colleagues: I am writing to announce the sudden death of our good friend and brother Alhaji Bai Abi Phall. He died suddenly on Monday at Laurel Hospital, Montgomery County, Maryland. For those of you who do not know much about this brother, let me give you a brief account of his life and times: OBITUARY Alhaji Bai abi Phall: A Gambian Who Labored Hard for his Contemporaries Alhaji Bai Abi Phall has returned to his Creator. Like those before us he too has taken the path which all of us will eventually take. During his life he went through the stages of socialization most young Gambians of the colonial era experienced. The son of Pa Essa Faal, a private contractor whose reputation among the colonial Gambians was far and wide. His father earned the distinction of being the Gambian contractor who built more wharves than any other contractor. Throughout the Provinces the name Essa Faal was known among many villagers and townspeople. Young Bai Abi shared this commitment to public service with his father. He joined the Boy Scouts of the Gambia and excelled in many ways. Later he became a member of the Zegoza, one of the earliest Gambian youth groups projecting a modern outlook in mode of dress and social activism. It was groups like this that pioneered much of the changes that many Gambian youths now take for granted. What later came to be known in the provinces as Kompinos were in many ways modelled after these urban-based youth groups. Mr. Phall attended the Methodist Boys High School in Banjul. After finishing his education he joined that small but growing caravan of aspiring Gambians who went to the United Kingdom for higher education. He studied the medical and health sciences and worked in England for many years as a physician's assistant. He emigrated to the United States of America in 1969 and worked at the Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. Bai abi Phall was one of the first Gambians who emigrated to the United States. After almost five years in the United States of America he decided to answer the call of duty and returned to the Gambia. He was one the first team of teachers to open the Gambia School of Public Health in Banjul. During his tenure at this institution he gained fame and recognition among Gambians not only for his dedicated services to the community but his radio broadcasts on health and medical issues in the country. Alhaji Bai Abi Phall spent many years in the Gambian Civil Service. During his years of service he became known to almost all his contemporaries. He was definitely a man who gave much of himself to others. He gave medicine to the sick, school lunch money to the youth and fish money to relatives,friends and neighbors. In classical Wolof terminology he would have been described as Samba yek nyep. This is to say, he was someone who cares for most if not all who came his way. Alhaji Bai Abi Phall whose last name is spelt differently from his cosuins(the Faals) in Banjul and elsewhere in the Gambia, took this decision to assert his independence and to capture phonetically the sound of his name which many of his American and British friends confuse with the English verb fall. He is survived by his wife Hania and five daughters. May his soul rest in peace. We express our condolences to the family and to the in-laws, Habib Ghanim, Ghanim Diab of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, Kathleen and Fatwa, Amira Diab Jagne and all others in Gambia, Lebanon, United States of America and elsewhere. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------