Hello Fellow Bantaba Nkolu, It has been a while since i last sent anything to the list. I had basicly been a silent observer over the last year. There were many times when i was tempted to send something or participate in issues and discussions. Every single time though, i had managed to hold back; i was just too busy trying to graduate. i didn't feel i would do any issue or discussion any justice with the schedule i had. Now that that part is done with, i have time to devote to correspondence in this Bantaba untill i go back to school for an MA. or Law Degree, or land a suitable job. Now, on to the July 4th event and why i am really writing today. i have so many issues, so many questions, so many suggestions on my mind that i find it hard to begin anywhere. i don't want this to be too lenghty, boring, or pointless so am gonna try to develop a few points here which can be further discussed either privately or on the Bantaba. First of all, before i come accross a cynic individual, i want to applaude the efforts of the organizers and all those who sponsored and hosted us. Certaily, an event of this magnitude is no small task. that still doesn't give anybody the right to mess it up. If we are gonna do anything, fellow Gambians, Senegalese and all those who participated, let's do it right. Let's not get compacent and settle for half-measures. this applies to everyone; hosts, guests, organizers, and sponsors. If this is gonna be a money-making venture, let there be no disappointments, if it is an event to bring People from all over the Diaspora together with friends, family, and long-lost classmates, we can still have fun, party, and play footballwithout any unreasonable glitches. It is good that our Atlanta hosts would want to put up their money to host us, but i think this event has simply become too big for y'all alone to put up the dough, that is unfair to you guys. Everyone participating must be willing to contribute something; from business sponsors, to those flying in from their studies and engagemets in England, sweden, or even if you drive in from Seattle. I would think that those of us who had to travel to Atlanta would especially be willing to pay something for the opportunity to get together. Personally, i could certainly drive to Ohio from kentucky to see Saloum, or to Virginia to see Drammeh, or to D.C. to see kebba Sinyan and all the others down there, only to mention a few friends besides numerous family members. and i would certainly not fly over to England to see A.B Njie. The cost, not only in money, of any one of these trips would equate the trip to Atlanta, or in most cases, wold be far greater. with the good intention or Atlanta hosts have, i don't see why we shouldn't be willing to pay at least 5 bucks for at least the Finals of the Tournament especially when there was gonna be all that food, music, and drinks there. and 5bucks too for each party from friday to sunday. this is certainly not unreasonable.it makes more sense to me than being given all that free food, drinks, and an entertaining game with music only to be charged 30 bucks for me and my girlfriend for an Ijahman mess-up (there is no other way to put it). We thought we had missed Ijahman when we got there around 3:30 am only to find out that he had not even made an apparance yet. Waited an hour and the hal was still half-empty. there was no Ijahman, and 90% of the peope were standing outside. We felt cheated when the gate-keepers began to charge only $10; he had still not played and we would not be getting anything for our $15 than those wo paid $10. There was a nice gentleman who personally apologised and calmed me down. Ijahman had not sang but 5 or 6 sons with a couple of guiter melodies before he was asked to stop the concert for throphy presentations. ijumped on the stage and demanded an explaination. i had not paid $15 to watch a thropy presentation which could have been done the other day at the field. Again, i was apologized to and calmed down by this fellow Gambian and it made me realise what was really important. i told him he would not hear another word from me and promptly went home. Even at this time, there were more people outside than were inside. was it that people could not afford the $15 charge? i don't think so. They didn't care to see ijahman? maybe.... then bring someone who the majority would care to see, or better yet, don't bring anyone. just provide the place and a good deejay, charge us $5 and we will do our mingling and partying till daybreak. see, it can all be done simply. With all the money colleted, and business sponsors, it still does not have to shift from a get-together purpose to a profit seeking venture. After all expenses incurred are taken care of, the letfover money can simply be used to plan and organize an even more enjoyable event the next year. i must say that i had high expectations of proper organization from all the years i heard people talk of the atlanta july 4th event (yes, this was my first, and i hope not the last). Even the website was so organized, with schedules, digests of past events, and even directions to each event. i just simply could not belief how much in disarray it turned out to be. this does remind me of what the overall gambian community is like both here and at home. We lack a general purpose collectively. We lack a certain determination to stand by our beliefs and stand up for what we belief. We engage in half-measures and hardly anone participate in anything if they don't have anything to gain personally. People withdraw their support from anything that is not the thing of the day. All the Pa's and Merr's stood by Jawara when he was there and now i Heard my mom goes to see Yahya when he goes by and cheer for him. She didn't even do that with jawara. does she really support yahya or is it simply that she is afraid of being seen as not being part of the band-wagon? I remember some alfalu's and kilipha's going to beg jawara to stay when he said he was gonna resign and i now see those same people in the yahya band-wagon. Is it that we are just too simply confused to hold on to anything? for how can one concile Militaristic dictatorship, with democracy, and islam/ anyone of these on their own seem to contradict the other. we all have to do a better job of doing what we are gonna do. the possiblities are all out there for us to choose from we can all stand by and let our fates be messed up, or we can choose to be who we want to be. if we want to be this aimless, purposeless people who haven't learn't anything from Uganda,Rwanda, Sierraleone, Liberia, Iran, Iraq, Yugoslavia, then let us be. I will respect our decision and learn to live with it.it is not yet too late though for us to turn out to be this beautiful , respectful, democratic, religious, and peaceful people. this applies to whatever we do, whoever we are. Al ning bara ............. NJAGA _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------