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Human Interest

Letter to the Editor: In Response to Critics of Gambia's Pen

By Sheriff Jawo in Our Readers, al-Rahmaan ibn Abi Bakrah, Apostrophe, Editor, English spelling, Human Interest, Jama Jack, Linguistics, Musa Suso, Norman Vincent Peale, Orthography, Punctuation, Religion, representative

 

Dear Editors,
In Response to Critics of Gambia's Pen

First of all, i want all of you to know that i am not a representative of Momodou Sabally neither am i speaking on behalf of conservatives. I have never met Sabally and infact, we do not share similar political beliefs. Infact, i once tried to make some political corrections and he blocked me on facebook, and even that, i blamed myself because i should not have directed my anger to him on public forums.

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Suñu Waxtaaneh Juboo: The Case for a Free Press in Gambia

By Amran Gaye in Essays, Dakar, Gambia, Senegal, Business, Earth, Economic Community of West African States, Edward Francis Small, Entertainment, Free Press, Human Interest, International relations, Mariama, the, Perfection, Political geography, President, reporter, Republics, The Gambia

 

ñu ni nee na / ñu ni nee na

ñore bokk rewe mi 

ñu ni nee na / ñu ni nee na
neh ñu yaatal geew bi
 
ootay man ta ñakk naam
y su ñu Waxtaaneh juboo…
 
Yaatal Gueew, Pape & Cheikh
 
 
 
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In May 1922, in Dakar, Edward Francis Small published the first issue of the *The Gambia Outlook and Senegambian Reporter*. This was after the so-called Balanghar incident, when Small had gotten into a physical altercation with a colleague, costing him his job. Small’s criticism of government policies at this point had already put him on the wrong side of the colonial administrators.

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Taxi drivers & Ebou and the Handicaps

By Cherry Njie in Entertainment, Fiction, Person Career, Ana suma Ebou, Bobu, driver, driver , sore tey-lore dinga giss, driver , yenai warra ham lolu, Duma, head, Human Interest, Neka, Rek people, Suma, teacher


- gaawal taka sa seatbelt be sister
- si lolu laa neka deh driver, sore tey-lore dinga giss.
- poe-liss yaa dut teylu nak.

She grudgingly wore her seat belt on. The impatience this driver is showing her is not helping her grumpy mood. She felt his eyes on her as she clipped in the seatbelt and looked onto the road.

- danga merr ni sis? He smiled toothily.
Waa balal ma. Wy dangaa seyt neh do si newn. Newn lee morye sunj sutura. Taxi amut haalis, Ti lu tuty linj seh am, poe-liss yi nangu kor sunj loho.

She eased into her seat, feeling her muscles relax from their previous tense state. She quite understood where the driver was getting at.

- "maneh choii yek driver yi yopa em." A passenger at the back seat chimed in.
- "Yen dengen day tonj. Door len am licence bu correct sah jarpa talli yi di high speed.

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RE: BARCELONA NEED A PLAN B

By Sana Sarr in Opinion, Barcelona, Milan, Association football, Business, coach, Entertainment, FC Barcelona, Football in Spain, goalkeeper, Human Interest, Josep Guardiola, Lionel Messi, Momodou Sisay Dibba, Pep Guardiola, player, Ronaldinho, Sport in Spain, Tiki-taka, Xavi, Xavi

n/a n/a

A

 

On the back of their recent shocking struggle against a young AC Milan side, critics, including my fellow Milan fan, Momodou Sisay Dibba, in his article "Barcelona Need A Plan B", have quickly jumped to remind us of how deficient and predictable the Tiki-taka system of Barcelona is. Yes, we expect that from critics but I’m rather surprised by how easily Barcelona fans have jumped ship and choose to join the nay-sayers.

Without even pulling statistics, let's see reasons they should have jumped to the defense of their team and a system that is arguably the best football fans have ever seen in the history of the beautiful game.

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On 4 days of official work - An Open Letter to The President

By Sana Sarr in Opinion, Contact Details, Earth, Economic Community of West African States, Human Interest, International relations, Political geography, President, Republics, The Gambia, Value added tax, Workweek and weekend

January 28, 2013

Your Excellency,

On 4 days of Official Work: An Open Letter to The President

Discussions among Gambians over the past week have been centered on the recent announcement that effective February 1st, 2013, the official workweek will be reduced from 5 days to 4 days. From elites and intellectuals in offices and online; home and abroad, to university and high school students in taxis, to the average man and woman on the streets and in market places, discussions have continued and I’ve heard many view points. There are many talking points, opinions and sentiments. However, the one common sentiment I have ascertained from all the discussions I’ve heard is UNCERTAINTY! Too many Gambians are unsure and afraid of what this change will mean to their daily lives and livelihood; social and economic.

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Jan 03, 2013

You Are Woman

Posted by Linguere | Tags: Linguere, Non-fiction, Ellipsis, Human Interest, Ordinal number | 0 Comments

 

You are born, the only one crying in a room filled with laughter and smiling faces…your cry either natural or induced by a large palm on the small of your back. Sometimes, there is no laughter… the smiles replaced by grim looks on the faces of those around you… disappointment and fear lining their eyes as they take a quick glance at your sex. It doesn’t bulge out… it is flat… tame… as you would be expected to be… all the days of your life.

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A hint of my life experience in Venezuela

By Nogoi Saine in YouTube, Venezuela, club I, prison I, food, Human Interest, oil, Punctuation

At 4 a.m, on saturday morning, the 17th of November 2012, I embarked on a journey to one of the state prisons in Venezuela, located just two and a half hours from my state. The main reason for my going there was curiosity; because of the things I have been hearing about the prisons in Venezuela.

I went with a lady that has her son locked up in there, to have a chance of entering in there since I knew no one in there.

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Nov 24, 2012

Day Twenty-One: Someone You Judged By Their First Impression

Posted by Linguere | Tags: Linguere, Non-fiction, Facebook, Entertainment, Human Interest, judge, Punctuation | 0 Comments

 

Korkor Chu,

I think it’s only fair to say that we both judged before getting to know each other. I’ve never really been a fan of that ‘don’t judge a book by its cover‘ line.  I have always believed it’s just another ploy from society to stop people from looking at the ‘superficial’ and drawing conclusions from them.

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Nov 21, 2012

Day Eighteen: The Person That You Wish You Could Be

Posted by Linguere | Tags: Linguere, Non-fiction, Human Interest, Perfection, steel | 0 Comments

 

Hi,

It’s going to be difficult to get this letter to you because the Moroccan Postal Services  do not deliver to your address: my mind. That is where you exist and for years, I’ve hoped to see you change your abode and join us in this world. I’ve been told that no man is perfect and that perfection belongs to God. I also read that God created man in his image and so I wondered how that attribute of perfection missed the route. In my own little world, I felt I could create the perfect person.

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Woman, Honor Thyself

By Jama Jack in Essays, Gambia, Human Interest, judge, Mariama Linguere, Punctuation, Religion

Why do boys insult their mothers instead of their fathers? ’

‘It’s because mothers insult themselves first’.

Interacting with boys and girls of St Peter’s Technical School in Lamin during a co-ed meeting organised by Starfish International, these were some of the questions and responses that popped up. Initially, the radical feminist in me scratched the responses out as  mere excuses from the boys to continue their almost-accepted saaga ndeye around town. Growing up in The Gambia, it has become ‘normal’ to hear the very (in)famous ‘Chapandeyam‘ on the streets. Excuse my language but please tolerate it for the sake of this post. To non-Wolof Linguerites, this is an insult directed at mothers, which has almost become an anthem in the streets and many homes in the country.

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