For the tiny fraction of Gambians who make it to or near the top echelons of
the government or parasatal bureaucracy, retirement does not necessarily
spell sudden and swift  reduction in income and the fulfillment that comes
with waking up and going to work in the morning. Usually those with good
contacts can get  rehired on contract to do a variation of their original
assignments  on renewable time periods. For the rest with average government
jobs retirement begins the long journey of cashing the almost sacrosanct
social bond by which children are expected to take care of their elders. By
and large most people take pride at taking in their parents at their golden
age , subsidizing at whatever level they can. For the most part retirees are
able to maintain or if one or more of the providers are lucky enough to be
more financially well off, are able to markedly improve their standard of
living. It is a complex traditional form of social security that sometimes
precipitates strains but has  endured over the years. Gambians abroad by and
large form an integral part of this social security web since they tend to be
a bit more affluent than the larger society back home. Infact a very big
chunk of the remittances sent to the country goes to subsidise those on fixed
or no income . This inturn spurs the very crucial  informal sector of the
economy.

Retirement for the village subsistence farmer which accounts for the majority
of the country is not entirely different. The same societal dictum of the
young taking care of the elderly within the family unit is at the core of
rural society.In my village , poor diet and years of back breaking physical
work often means early retirement for most folks. Early marraige also ensures
 children are grown by the time the labor- induced retirements occur. The
very senior elders spend most of their day at the second village Bantaba
which is deliberately set at the mosque grounds where they spend most of the
day alternating between short snoozes , prayers  and sometimes congregating
around the few Qurans at the mosque reading verses from from the old and
tender pages that have been carefully banded together with rubber bands.
Every once in a while you will see them shaving eachothers head  right at
edge of the Bantaba. Some would bring small chores like groundnuts to deshell
either for the next days meal or part of a larger quantity to be used as seed
stock or corn on the comb that needs to be partially worked on to ensure the
women have an easier time when they embark on the much more labor intensive
task of turning corn kernels to a warm cherreh later in the evening. Age seem
to bring out the creative skills of most people in that you more likely to
see the elderly involved in the often tidious task of weaving boabab fibres
into ropes for either the well or livestock. Some carve out mortar and pestle
, others fabricate water collecting bags from inner-tube tires.  Since their
Bantaba is strategically located in the village in that all roads in and out
of the village traverses it, the seniors serve as unwitting mailboxes in
which messages are left and collected and the general pulse of the village is
gauged. For the most part the seniors of Demfai seem happy. Underneath the
hardened palms and weathered faces I always remember the twinkle in each of
their eyes even as sit here in the surburbs of Maryland. There they sit
taking in  the dry breeeze emanating from the sandstone hills and gentle
undulating vallies around their village, radiating the robustness  once
associated with their youth . Like the imposing  Bantang tree that provides
the shade at their Bantaba, they continue to imbue the kind of wisdom that
has let this community endure through the ages.

Karamba

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