Tumani Tenda

 school, village, hostel, mosque, bakery

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The village of Tumani Tenda was settled only two generations ago,
mainly by Jola families Sanyang and Sonko, in addition to
a some others. Some are christian, but most are muslim, and apart
from the central group of houses there are also a number of Mandiago families.

The story goes that this long ago a certain 'Tumani' lived here, and used
it as a harbour (Tenda). When the Sanyang and Sonko families arrived, it was
empty and rather wild. There were even stories about a monster (Ninkinanka) that
protected the forest. The original founder of the village is said to have met the
Ninkinanka in his dreams and fought with it, after which the monster was never seen.


Near the river is a forest which the people of the village care for by preventing fires,
planting trees. It is useful as pasture for animals, for firewood, etc.
Between the forest and the river there are fields where rice is grown (dry rice).

The bolong (side-arm of the river) is filled with mangrove forests, and bees are kept
for the mangrove-honey. Monkeys can be heard, and there are many birds. At low tide, the
beach is crowded with little crabs that pop-up out of their little holes in the ground,
as well as little mud-skippers: little fish that skip around outside in the mud, and that
have special eyes to see both under water and above.

The village 'centre' is shaded with many trees: mainly mango,
but also orange, lime, other fruits, a few baobab (fruit for juice,
leaves powdered to make sauce, bark used for string), an various types of palms that
are very useful for building.

Around the village are fields where a mixture of various mixed crops are grown: ground nuts,
millet, sorghum, hibiscus plant ('Kutjaa', for a pesto-like sauce) and flower (for a red tea),
water melons, bitter tomatoes ('fujagataaf', an egg-plant). To the south-west one discerns
the pattern of 6 squares planted with bananas. Some people also planted plots with trees for
wood, or nuts.

To the west at the river there is a rather basic but beautiful tourist camp (Katchokorr), beautifully situated where the mangroves leave an opening so dugout canoes can reach
the shore here. People sometimes go out to fish, or to pick the oisters that grow on
the roots of the mangroves.

To the west of the village centre you can see the vegetable gardens where various
kinds of vegatables are grown, mainly by the women.

On the east side of the village is an open field were football is usually played at
sunset, but it is also the square of the school that was located here after the village
had already been running a nursery school for a number of years. Now the children no more
need to walk to Kafuta for school, but children for neighbouring villages
even come here to school.