Hobnobbing with Government Officials

 This was probably a once in a life-time opportunity for me to travel with and watch as the important people talked together and started making history happen. Brent Belnap and his son Christopher (who is studying to be a lawyer in foreign relations), the Eastmonds who are promoting Human Rights education, and Jeffrey as another lawyer and I as the fly on the wall witness.

First order of business was to get a Covid test so that we could leave the country in a few days, while we were there we had time - lots of time - to get acquainted with a friend or two.

Brent's son Christopher is taking the picture, with "Big Mama", Janet "who is a lovely lively soul" as Brent said on his Facebook post. Our interests are aligned, it never hurts to make a new friend especially if you have three hours to make one.

The first morning [after waiting to get a Covid test] the group went to an attorney's office to talk about getting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognized as a legal entity in The Gambia. Sorry I don't have a picture, but the meeting took about two hours and went well.

We ran over to see inside the National Assembly of The Gambia with three outstanding National Assembly members: Honorable Amadou Camara, Honorable Ousman Touray, and Honorable Abdoulie Ceesay. Brent was very polished and able to say a lot in a little time.

That night we went to Flamingo a la Carte Restaurant with Emmanuel Tawiah Tetteh, Country Director of Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) for The Gambia, his wife Linda, and their darling children Ama and Ekow. 

Emmanuel Tawaih and his assistant Mary planned our trip, got the driver, and called different government officials so we could talk with them. He was an integral key to the success of the whole trip. I'm sorry Mary couldn't make it to dinner as now I don't have a picture of her - except in my mind. 

She met us inside the airport while we were getting visas (they last 5 years) and made sure we got into the right van. She was there the next morning when we went to a bank to pay for the Covid testing and got us on our way to the Covid testing place. Then Emmanuel and Mary took off to get us a visit with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court because Brent put a picture of his son on Facebook saying we were going to The Gambia and his friend Steve Hill replied that Jim Parkinson knew the Chief Justice personally. In fact we found that the Chief Justice has been to Utah and visited him in his home and spoken at BYU. After talking with Jim, Steve said, "Jim suggests that you call the court, use his name, and ask to see him."

We got an appointment for the next day!