Both men, women and children, are saying when will it be done for the Gambia senior national team to participate in the African Cup of Nations?

According to many football analysts The Gambia will only make it if the right structures are put in place. We need, first and foremost, efficient machinery that would execute vital arrangements in a timely manner: arrangements for professional players to camp on time, arranging travel tickets on time, catering for camping of teams, arrangements for payment and satisfactory accommodation arrangements for coaches, are all important for proficient preparation for matches and field performance of teams. This can be achieved only with a competent and efficient Secretariat. A high caliber coach is also needed, who can take care of the team technically, psychologically, tactically. We need to have series of test matches to assess our teams, and to promote team cohesion and performance. The big question remains: when can The Gambia accomplish these very basic matters, more importantly securing the permanent services of an able Coach?

If we can recall back during the handing over of 22 plots of land to the 2005 former U-17 team in Salagi layout located between Sukuta and Brusubi, a cheque for D1,120,000 was also presented to the 1st Vice president of the Gambia Football Association (GFA) as match bonuses to the U-20 team.

The Secretary of State for Fisheries, Hon Yankuba Touray, has spoken of the need for a concerted effort to be made by Government and the private sector to promote and prepare Gambian players for the export market in order to eradicate poverty through sports. Another point he made was that The  Gambia is yet to make significant growth in playing in the English Premiership or other highly rated European leagues. He said, “it is in recognition of the fact that my government has recently established a sports development fund to promote sports at all level. The fund will revitalise schools sports in collaboration with the Department of State of Basic and Secondary Education through the re-introduction of PE teacher training, to be piloted in some regions.” Secretary of State Yankuba Touray was speaking on behalf of President Alhagi Yahya AJJ Jammeh at a dinner marking the formal handing over of plots of land to the 2005 former U-17 team and match bonuses to the U-20 team.

According to the SOS “In recent times football has become the most popular sports and one of the biggest industries contributing to the economically developing countries, especially in Brazil. It is among the first five contributors to their economy through remittances from the foreign players in that country, contributing to economic growth and getting people out of poverty”.

He said Africa is also beginning to realize the benefits secured from this noble sport through the export of players to mostly European clubs. And we believe the appointment of a highly rated coach will help us achieve our goals. We believe that it is the duty of the FA to identify a coach for the national team as they are the watchdogs of our game of football in The Gambia, and whoever is capable of handling our national team, we should go for it if the funds are available. We need to help each other for the betterment of football in The Gambia; the ministry has to come up and tell the general public why the coach that the FA identified is still in limbo. We don’t have time anymore; we have to start now if we want to see The Gambia in Angola. We agree with the first vice president’s  comments he during a program on West Coast radio when he said that every coach has his personal problem, but we want to know if at all the coach that the F A, identified, Paul Put, is having a problem also, because of a match fixing scandal. But then why is FIFA and CAF allowing him to work with his papers? Secondly the ministry should work with the FA hand in hand for the betterment of football in The Gambia; they should help The Gambia not the GFA because we all recall that during the time of the U17- U20, if The Gambia wins, it is all round celebration for both old and young in the country.

We are appealing to the ministry to get this sticky problem resolved once and for all.

For the meantime a team of local coaches like Alhaji Sarr, Alhaji Sillah, Sang Ndong, Lamin Sarr, Bonu Johnson, Tarik, and even the Italian Lorenzo Rubenacci, should take charge as the issue of the foreign coach is still subjected to inexplicable delay.

SAWALLO COUTURE

With its professional tailors and designers in the ateliers, Sawallo Couture is the only couture house which is still successful. All the ladies, men use to storm their boutique, located along Kairaba Avenue, because they can't find anything they like elsewhere.
Sawallo Couture remains wildly popular since its inception. The only place to be, if you want to get the look du jour!

The only way to promote our sports to a high level is to help our sports men and women who really want to become sports people in The Gambia.

Pointsports has carried out a special interview with ex Nusrat Senior Secondary School athlete Fatou N. Sanyang at her training ground at the Independence Stadium in Bakau. Miss. Sanyang (23) said, “I have the talent to compete for The Gambia if only I am giving the opportunity. I have competed in different events and have had good results. All I need is support from philanthropists to help me I really need sponsors.” She said that she took part in the Brufut marathon competition over 8km and come first. She also took part in last years Brikama 5km and again came first.

Commenting about Fatou Sanyang Mr. Jatta pointed out that “ Fatou is one of the outstanding Gambian athletes that needs to be encouraged and I am appealing to the general public and private companies to help sponsor this ambitious Gambian who really wants to take sports as a career.”

Mr. Jatta pointed out that many athletes in The Gambia have fallen along the way due to lack of sponsors. He then called on everybody both private companies and individuals who want to help this young talented athlete to contact her on 7432565

The National Council of The Gambia Young Men Christian Association (YMCAs) recently launched a skills training and enterprise development project for disadvantaged and marginalised young people in The Gambia.  The project is funded by the big lottery fund (BLF) and Y’care international, both UK based relief organisations.   According to the YMCA program secretary/BLF project coordinator Joseph Peacock, the program will last for four years; from 2008 until 2012.  “The project,” he added, “is a nationwide project aimed at reducing the twin challenges of poverty and social exclusion among young people in The Gambia.”  It is also geared towards reducing the unemployment rate among young people.  The skills training and enterprise development for marginalised and disadvantaged young people in The Gambia (STED) has a multi-faceted approach in developing the skills potential of young people in The Gambia.  Young people will be trained in viable skills of their choice and be exposed to advocacy skills using the “rights based approach to advocacy” while outstanding trainees/beneficiaries will be eligible to access the available revolving micro credit loans and input support from The Gambia YMCA’s.  This will allow them to start their small-scale business enterprises at a very low interest rate.

In officially launching the project the Honourable Mass Axi Gai, Secretary of State for Youth and Sports, hailed The Gambia YMCAs for empowering the young people of The Gambia.   Secy Gai described the program as, “another milestone in the development of young people of The Gambia.”  He acknowledged with appreciation the efforts made by The Gambia YMCA in contributing towards the socio-economic development of the country.  He went on to encourage YMCA’s to collaborate with Gamjob for the effective implementation of the project.  He noted that the project will create self-employment for young people in the country.  He concluded his remarks by advising the beneficiaries to take the program seriously. 

The ceremony, held at the YMCA head office, was chaired by Mr. Simon P. V. Cole and was attended by several dignitaries, YMCA staff and beneficiary youths.

“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.”   1 Peter 1:24-25   Article 302

Incidents recorded in the Bible where people were raised from the dead may not be numerous but they are not rare either. Our Lord Jesus Himself brought back to life three people; Jairus’ daughter, (Luke 8:41) Son of the widow of Nain, (Luke 7:15) and Lazarus (John 11:44). Except in the case of Jairus’ daughter when he went with three of His disciples – Peter, John and James, and the child’s parents into her bedroom, away from dubious and faithless eyes, (Luke 8:51) these incidents all occurred in public for all to see. Nothing was hidden or secretive about them.

The last of the incidents occurred when our Lord and Saviour raised from the dead His friend Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary. He had been dead three days when the news reached Him, but He dismissed it by saying that Lazarus was asleep and that “He was going there (Judea) to wake him up.” (John 11:11) He had earlier remarked that Lazarus’ sickness was “for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified.” (John 11:4)

By the time He returned to Judea, Lazarus had been dead four days and Martha on meeting him on arrival had ventured; “If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” (John 11:21-22)

Lazarus’ passage from death to life could be summed up in three definite steps; first Jesus instructed; “Take away the stone.” Secondly, He ordered; “Lazarus, come out!” and thirdly, He commanded; “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” The instructions to the dead man was for him to leave his present abode the grave, to separate himself from that obscure place and come into life and the light. That instruction was given to Lazarus. He had to make the move himself to come out and be released from the clutches of death that held him captive.

His authority over death he had declared openly to Martha’s hearing and to the crowd; “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)

To have made such a powerful statement and then die publicly on a cross for all to see must have left the disciples dumbfounded and completely lost. This was the reason why after his death each went his own way to begin a new life all over again. The kingdom Jesus preached had collapsed to the ground and there was no future for the disciples and their aspirations. At least that was what they thought to be the case.

In Psalm 16 verse 10 king David had prophesied; “…because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see corruption.” God, the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit would raise Jesus from the dead, putting to shame those who mocked as Jesus hung on the cross. “Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it up in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:40) The teachers of the law and the elders mocked Him. “He saved others, but he can’t save himself.” (Matthew 27:42)  

We have seen how death could not hold Jesus in the grave. He had predicted His death and resurrection several times to His disciples (Matthew 17:21; 20:18-19) but there is ample reason to believe it had not registered. “I lay down my life – only to take it back again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” (John 10:17-18)

Things begin to fall in place only after Jesus’ resurrection. He had to go chasing them one after the other, to bring them back to the fold. With the exception of Judas, He could not afford for any of them to have been lost. They were all going to be taken by surprise when Mary Magdalene broke the news to them of Jesus’ resurrection. “…they did not believe.” (Mark 16:11) Yes, “they did not believe the women because their words seem to them like nonsense.” (Luke 24:12).

You probably have seen someone die under your very eyes. How would it seem if three days after you were told from trustworthy persons that he was alive and seen in the flesh? Your first reaction to such a story would have been that they must have been out of their mind. The disciples experienced the same problem. They had seen the Master die, they were eye witnesses to the fact.

Our Lord Jesus Himself had to appear to the two on the way to Emmaus, to Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel and the sons of Zebedee and afterwards to all of them for it to sink in. How easily would you have believed?

It would take another series of miracles and signs for the disciples to believe that indeed the Lord is risen from the dead.

Residents in a camp for displaced persons in Nakuru, in Rift Valley Province, western Kenya, were deeply shocked when a gang of men attacked and sexually assaulted five boys, but the health officials dealing with sexual violence during the recent political upheaval have had to become immune.

"Since the violence started we are seeing similar numbers of cases to what we would normally see over the same timespan, but there is one major difference: 90 percent of the cases we are seeing since the political crisis began are gang rapes," said Lucy Kiama, head of the Gender Violence Recovery Centre at the Nairobi Women's Hospital. "The gangs range from groups of two men to as many as eleven."

An estimated 300 women have been treated for rape since the year began, many of them women and girls who had travelled from Rift Valley Province to the capital, Nairobi, often a journey of hundreds of kilometres that could take many hours by bus.

The women usually arrive too late for post-exposure prophylaxis, which can prevent HIV infection following exposure, but receive post-trauma counselling and treatment for other injuries. For a few weeks, roadblocks on the highways linking Nairobi to the Rift Valley also prevented many from travelling to hospitals for treatment.

Kiama said she could not rule out the possibility that these gang rapes were planned and ethnically motivated, but said they were also likely crimes of opportunity carried out by men taking advantage of the lack of proper security.

According to Jeanne Ward, an international consultant on gender-based violence (GBV), the spike in gang rape in a situation as violent as Kenya was at the beginning of the year was not unusual. "Most violence is carried out in gangs during times when there is a breakdown of law and order, so gang rape is merely a replication of the other kinds of violence using the same methods," she said.

"There are always pre-disposing factors with the kind of sexual violence we're seeing in the camps, such as a lack of respect for human rights, a sense among perpetrators that it is okay to do it," Ward said.

"However, there are also exacerbating factors in play, such as alcohol abuse, close camp quarters, men whose traditional roles have suddenly changed, limited security - these also create an environment where rape can become common. The basic fact is that they know they are able to carry these crimes out with impunity," she added.

"Legal redress may be available in urban centres like Nairobi, Mombasa [Kenya's port city] or Nakuru, but in the rural areas there is no way women have access to legal services."

Another common thread in many IDP camps is the sexual coercion and exploitation of girls and women by people in positions of responsibility or power.

An interagency assessment of GBV reported that in the early stages of camp development at the Nakuru showgrounds (an agricultural exhibition facility), community members reportedly took girls from the camp to serve as domestic help, likely increasing their risk of sexual exploitation.

The same report said women had stated that men in the community around the camp set up on the showgrounds at Eldoret, another town in Rift Valley Province, were inducing girls to leave the camp with the promise that they would "eat something sweet".

"In some cases, team leaders responsible for handing out food have been making girls give them sex in exchange for the food they are actually entitled to," Kiama said. "So even when the sex is consensual, it is often survival sex - the girls and women don't feel they have a choice."

Psychological first aid not sufficient

She noted that many women appeared to be in a state of shock. "The kind of trauma we are seeing is different; not only are these women raped, but many have lost loved ones, land and property, and suddenly find themselves in the strange surroundings of an IDP [internally displaced persons] camp.

"What we are giving them is a kind of psychological first aid, but handling these cases will necessitate long-term care, but as many of the IDPs are still moving from place to place, this will prove difficult," Kiama said. "One woman came here so traumatised she did not speak for several days - she needed speech therapy; others are suicidal, and others want revenge."

Besides the physical health risks of these crimes, such as HIV and unwanted pregnancies, the long-term psychological health of women who had been attacked was also at risk. "There is still so much IDP movement, and we have no way of tracing these women to provide them with the longer-term counselling they will need," she added. "These are going to be the long-term consequences of this violence."

Improving protection

The continued rape and sexual exploitation has highlighted the need for better protection of women and girls in the camps. In response, several organisations, under the umbrella of the United Nations Protection Cluster, have come together to ensure that new camps are constructed with separate toilets for men and women, sufficient lighting and more organised sleeping quarters.

Kenya's Red Cross Society has been running seminars on GBV. "We were taught about the Inter-Agency Standing Committee [a mechanism for coordinating humanitarian assistance by key UN and non-UN partners] guidelines [on gender-based violence in emergencies]," said John Mbugua, coordinator of health service at the Nakuru IDP camps, whose team also attended.

"After the seminars we formed groups where we could start spreading the message and see how we could protect people." The guidelines outline preventive and curative measures for dealing with GBV in IDP camps, including providing activities for bored young people such as sports, and income-generating projects to keep older men and women busy and able to support their families.

Other initiatives include sensitising camp residents to the inhumanity and risks of sexual violence, strengthening the legal system, and ensuring that the police and other staff handling sexual assault cases were properly trained.

Now that President Mwai Kibaki and his erstwhile rival, Raila Odinga, have signed a political settlement, it is hoped that the IDP camps will be disbanded and Kenya's 600,000 displaced people will return to their homes.

However, camp officials in Nakuru said so far few people had left the camp and many would remain until the government could guarantee their safety or provide them with alternative homes.

The Brikama Magistrates’ Court has sentenced two men for aiding and abetting child begging.

Wurry Jallow and Alasan Kandeh from Brufut and Wellingara respectively, were on Wednesday condemned to nine month suspended sentences for adopting children in their homes and allowing them to be loitering and begging for food in the streets, matters regarded as breach of conduct and child abuse.

The two took in children on the grounds that they would be teaching them the Quran.

Magistrate Mbai, presiding, maintained that in years gone by, children within a period of three to four years do master the Holy Quran but observed that people now abuse and exploit children in the name of religion.

Upon their pleas of guilty to the charge, both were given nine month suspended sentences.

Suhail AbualSameed looked calm, yet he was shaking inside. He was seated before a row of ulama, distinguished Islamic scholars, from Afghanistan to Yemen at the International Consultation on Islam and HIV/AIDS, organised by the charity, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), in Johannesburg, South Africa, last week.

The previous day, several of them had denounced homosexuality as un-Islamic and evil. Today, AbualSameed had something to tell them. "As a gay Muslim, I feel unsafe, unloved and unrespected in this space," he said. "Were I to become HIV-positive, the first thing I would lose is my Muslim community. I couldn't come to you guys for support."

You could cut the tension the room with a knife. AbualSameed continued: "I wish you did not refer to gays with the (Arabic) words 'shaz' and 'luti' - perverts and rapists - because we are not." Two men in keffiyas, the gingham headcloth worn by men in many Muslim countries, waved their arms to silence him but the chairman nodded for him to continue.

Spellbound, the audience listened as AbualSameed, a Jordanian living in Canada, did the unthinkable: outing himself.

The groundbreaking consultation brought together Muslim community leaders, academics, doctors, relief workers and HIV-positive activists to rethink the Islamic response to HIV and AIDS. One key issue was HIV prevention among hard-to-reach vulnerable groups like sex workers, street children, injecting drug users, and men who have sex with men.

Jaffer Inamdar, the HIV-positive founder and programme manager of the Positive Lives Foundation in Goa, India, told IRIN/PlusNews: "Lots of sex, drugs and gay activity take place during the high season from September to April in this popular tourist destination. Harsh, condemning language make them [gays] run away, hide and continue to spread HIV."

Anti-gay laws

Homosexuality is forbidden and considered a crime in most Islamic countries. Six officially Islamic countries (Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and the 12 northern states of Nigeria) invoke sharia - Islamic religious law - and maintain the death penalty for consensual same-sex sex, according to human rights watchdog Amnesty International.

Other countries punish homosexuality with fines, jail or lashes, coupled with social stigma and blaming Western culture for introducing gay lifestyles.

Not surprisingly, AbualSameed was fearful: "I saw their gaze, their body attitude, and my memory told me there could be a physical reaction." But he had nothing to fear. "Afterwards, veiled women, bearded men, the most religious types, came to me and apologised if they had said something offensive, if they had made me feel unloved or unsafe."

Each friendly gesture signalled belonging. "This is us: our culture is intimate, warm, based on relationships. When I outed to my family, they did not turn on me," a relieved AbualSameed told IRIN/PlusNews.

The following morning, the ulama had a surprise. Conference spokesperson and IRW head of policy Willem van Eekelen read their collective statement, saying that although Islam does not accept homosexuality, Islamic leaders would try to help create an environment in which gay people could approach social workers and find help against AIDS without feeling unsafe.

"This first time ever that a high-level religious forum has talked, acknowledged and accepted gays," said AbualSameed. "This will open the door to talks with the Muslim gay community and help other gay Muslims to come out in a safer space."

To see theologians from Egyptian and Syrian universities, and imams - Muslim community leaders - from India, Sudan and Pakistan defy official Islamic homophobia is "definitively a first", said sheikh Abul Kalam Azad, chairman of the Masjid (mosque) Council for Community Advancement, in Bangladesh. "Homosexuality is a sin but we should not be cruel. They [gays] suffer a lot in the Muslim world."

Inamdar welcomed the statement. "There are many gays in my group [in Goa]. Islam says it is a sin and we have to follow Islamic rulings, but we are all human and deserve respect."

An unlikely ally for gay rights turned out to be Sudanese sheikh Mohamed Hashim Alhakim, dressed in a white robe with gold trimmings and a white turban, and his wife, clad in a black hijab, with their baby just behind him. Alkahim runs the S-Smart Training and Consultancy Centre in Khartoum, which also runs AIDS awareness programmes.

"I used to be very hard against homosexuals and sex workers," he said. "But I learned to respect their humanity. I advise them to change, but if they are going to continue they must practice safe sex so they don't harm themselves and their partners."

Evil ways

During the weeklong consultation, AbualSameed, who is coordinator of the Newcomer/Immigrant Youth Programme at the Sherbourne Health Centre in Toronto, had endured homophobic statements. Just the day before, one scholar had ranked homosexuality with bestiality and adultery as evils to avoid.

"The harshness of the comments made me passionate; I had to do something for my own identity and dignity, and of other gay Muslims," said AbualSameed. His decision to speak out was nurtured in his conference working group, made up of Muslims from Iran, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania.

South African psychologist Sabra Desai spoke about care and solidarity, and recalled the Prophet's words: "'If one part of my body hurts, my whole body hurts'," she said. "I take this to mean that if one member of my community hurts, we all hurt."
 
Then she squeezed AbualSameed’s hand under the table and passed him the microphone.

Slowly, he started: "As a Gay Muslim…" And with every word, the doors of tolerance opened wider.