By Momodou Lamin Darboe and Abdoulie Bah

My village is called Salikenni.It is located in the North Bank Region of The Gambia. It is just after Jammeh Kunda village and before Mandori village when coming from Barra and it is after Mandori village and before Jammeh Kunda when coming from Farafenni. It was founded by Waliman Dibba and Janneh Cesesay in the 19th century. Salikenni means pray zone.

It is well developed when it comes to infrastructure and social amenities. There are so many story buildings in the village that are strong and guarantee.  In some story buildings there are one hundred people residing there. These story buildings have tap and electricity in them, which enable them not to go out of their houses to fetch water for drinking and bath. There is a health centre in the village which is along the road when going to the river. The health centre is so big which enable them to admit patient who are seriously sick or ill. There are taps and electricity as well. There are street lights all over the village which makes it attractive to the people and the neighbouring village.

The ethnicity is dominated by the Mandinkas because they are the founders of the village. Mandinkas favourite food is called ''Domoda''. It is believed that almost 90% of the Mandinkas cooking everyday because they like it so much that they cannot stay for a week without cooking it. The Fullas are the second largest ethnic group in the village. Most of them migrated from different places and settled in Salikenni. Many of them can speak Mandinka because it is the most used language in the village.

The most common jobs are farming, fishing and rearing animals just to mention a few. Most of the population take farming as their proffession. They go to the farm during the rainy season to grow their crops and they do their weeding at the relevant time, then the crops will be harvested after the rainy season for consumption because most of them are engage in subsistence farming. Few people engage themselves in animal rearing but the one mostly engage in animal rearing more so cattle rearing is the Fullas. Most of them are herdsmen that make the adequate supply of milk and meat in the village.

Almost everyone in the village is a muslim. A muslim is someone who believes that there is no GOD but Allah and that Muhammad (SAW) is his messenger, prays the five daily prayers, paying zakat or given out charity, fast the month of Ramadan when you are capable of it and performing Hajj in the holy city of Mecca provided that you can afford it. Some people pray at home and some pray at the mosque. When it comes to Edul Fitr everyone gathers around the mosque and pray together to celebrate the day.

From the points above  I belief  some people  would not call my village  Salikenni  but Sali-City due to the development and its self dependant of food.

 

MY VILLAGE

By Mustapha K. Darboe

I was born in a village called Salikenni. It is located [in the] North Bank region, Central Baddibou District. My village [got] its name from a tree that is locally called "Keno." The name came as a result of the prayers that had been done under it by the founders. The prayer is what we call "sali." The village is a few kilometre away from Barra-Farrafenni tar road. [It is] the second largest village in the region and it consist[s] of twelve wards.

My village is where our recent district parliament representative came from. The chief of the district is also a native of my village. Salikenni contain[s] a hospital, a basic cycle [school] and Gamtel house that is yet to [be] finished. The dominant tribe in Salikenni is Mandinka, likewise the ruling class. In addition, my village is lovely, and the people living there are kind and open to everyone. It's a place where any peace lover would love to live. The majority of the people living there are farmers, and most of them are subsistence farmers. The crop[s] popularly grown [are] groundnut, coos --- and rice, which is cultivated by women.

There are aproximately 4800 people in Salikenni. 99% of them are Muslims. The culture of the people is so civilize and Islamic. The first [duty] is to respect parents, your brothers and sisters. [Another] is to respect elderly people. To respect a guest is also part of it, and circumcision.

This is the brief history of Salikenni from the date of its founding by Wallimang and Sanneh Ceesay to this day.