The Gambia National Dance Troupe recently returned home after participating successfully in the 2nd Cultural Festival with  African people held in Caracas, Venezuela from 14th - 25th November, 2007.  They were guests of the Ministry of International Relations who sponsored the festival.

Among the participating countries were Angola, Benin, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Egypt, Kenya, Mali, Senegal and other African nations, highlighting the urgent desire for Venezuelans to accept, appreciate and reconnect with their African roots.

In fact, the festival was preceded by a high-powered delegation from the Venezuelan Ministry of Culture who appraised the state of arts and culture in the Gambia with the aim of assisting and supporting this vital area in our strive for comprehensive, co-ordinated and successful national development.

Despite its late arrival in Caracas, the Gambia National Dance troupe, with their colourful costumes and rhythmic dancing, became the main focus of attention throughout their stay in Venezuela.

In Caracas, the Troupe performed twice in the Teatro Municipal, where the opening and closing ceremonies took place, the Plaza, the Universidad Bolivariana and the Mjseo de Ciencias where some members also fully participated in a conference on African Culture Integration.

At the end of the festival, the Gambia National Dance Troupe was awarded the most coveted trophy in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, a sculpted bust of Simon Bolivar,  the liberator of Venezuela.

Gambian international and former Wallidan player, Yankuba Ceesay, commonly known as Mal, is enjoying his trade in Peru after a difficult start in the South American nation. Mal has now adapted to the lifestyle in Peru after what he described as a ‘horrible start’.

His First Division club, Alianza Atletico, are continuing their good run in the Peruvian league as the 2007 season draws to an end.  Alianza Atletico currently lie at the sixth position on the 12-team league table and need only two points to berth a place in next year’s Copa Sudamericana championship.

In a brief interview with Observer Sports  over the weekend, the former Wallidan ace, said his club’s form of late has been magnificent.

“We won our last league match on Saturday, and we currently lie at the sixth position with three league matches left to the end of the season,” he said.
Ceesay’s purported move to the Cyprus club, AEK Larnaka, during the start of the season failed to bear fruit but the ambitious midfielder is determined to prove his worth wherever he finds himself.

“I was in Cyprus last year, where I signed for AEK Larnaka. But I could not play because the two clubs did not agree on terms. So I had to go to the United Kingdom where I trained with a Birmingham-based club, Woodbourn FC, before heading to Peru in January 2007.”
“I thank God I have adapted to the system in Peru. Right now I’m happy. I play in almost every match, after cementing my first-team place in the squad.”

“Lifestyle in Peru is normal but a bit different. It was very difficult for me during my first two  months, and this was due to the language barrier, weather, environment, as well as the strange diet.”
“But I've been learning Spanish for the past year and I am getting better. During my first two months, I had to buy a Spanish-English dictionary to enable me communicate with people.

“But I have slowly but surely adapted to the system now and I’m also improving my Spanish. I have a teacher who gives me lessons every day, and when time permits I read books and study the dictionary,” explained Ceesay.

 

Peruvian scientists confirmed on September 20 that the crater found Saturday in the Puno region, of Peru by local villagers and blamed for a mass illness affecting 200 people was likely caused by a meteorite.

Jose Ishitsuka of Peru's Geophysics Institute, found a 3-inch magnetic fragment that contained iron, which is common in all rocks from space. The impact also registered a magnitude 1.5 earthquake, equivalent to 4.9 tons of dynamite exploding.

Jay Melosh, an expert on impact craters and professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona, was initially skeptical that the crater was caused by a meteorite, but recently said, "It begins to sound more likely to me that this object could indeed be a meteorite."

The crater made by the meteorite measured 15 feet deep and 65 feet wide.

On Saturday a meteorite slammed into a field outside of Carancas, near Lake Titicaca in the Puno region of Peru on the border of Bolivia. It emitted a sweet but noxious odor. It has now been blamed for a mass illness of "nausea, vomiting, digestive problems and general sickness," according to a local health department official, Jorge López. "Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned," said López.

Police officers who went to investigate the meteorite are among those who have fallen ill and been taken to Desaguadero Hospital. The impact of the meteorite left a crater 18 feet deep and 30 yards across in the Andean territory that is home to less than 1,000 people. Originally, the villagers thought a plane had crashed. Under consideration is the declaration of a state of emergency, and experts from Peru's Geological Mining and Metallurgical Institute are reportedly traveling to the site to evaluate whether there is a health risk.

Villagers are said to be avoiding the local water out of fear of contamination. Sulfur and other elements common in meteorites can react with ground water to produce fumes.

Dutch adventurer Ralph Tuijn has reached the halfway point of his attempt to be the first person to row across the Pacific Ocean unaided.

The 16,000 kilometre journey from the coast of Peru to the seaside city of Brisbane, Australia - the widest section of the Pacific - has never been crossed absolutely unaided by a rower, and Tuijn says just nine people have rowed it even with assistance.

Tuijn reached the central point of his crossing - an insignificant point of water in the ocean - 111 days after setting off from Peru in March. He has been making good progress, and has since cut his estimated time of arrival in Brisbane by a month.

The Dutchman, who now expects to reach his destination on October 20, has kept in touch with those tracking his movements through daily internet postings from his laptop, including his wife Winnie. His boat, the Zeeman Challenger, is a seven-metre custom plywood vessel.

Tuijn has overcome a variety of obstacles to reach the halfway point. He is suffering from the constant attention of sharks, who often bump his boat and disrupt his attempts at sleep. One particular shark, dubbed 'Gomulka' by Tuijn, has been trailing the adventurer's boat for extended periods.

He has also accidentally burnt himself when he spilled hot water on his foot whilst trying to make coffee, apparently also from a shark 'bump'. He is also forced to manually pump water for cooking and drinking after his automatic water pump broke down not long into his journey.

Tujin, who is raising money for a children's home in Mumbai, India, is rowing at an average speed of 58 kilometres each day. His diet consists of freeze-dried foods and fish, which are keeping him physically well-conditioned despite tiring mentally.

His vessel has no motors or sails, but relies on his physical rowing power to move. The boat does have a solar power system to provide energy for his laptop, a telephone and a global positioning system.

Tuijn is a serial adventurer and experienced rower. He has rowed across the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, as well as cycled across Russia and the icy terrain of Greenland.