Tag Archives: The Gambia

Only one day left in The Gambia

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Time is flying fast in The Gambia. It seems only yesterday that the first recordings for the Global Youth Video Project started and now three weeks later the project’s time in The Gambia is quickly coming to a close.

The weather here has changed slightly since first arriving. We now tend to have one cooler day followed by one burning hot day. There have been a few storms and heavy showers, but I have been assured that by the end of the month they will have stopped and not another drop will be seen until July. Unfortunately, that means that the luscious greens that are everywhere around will also disappear.

This last week has seen the completion of some of the videos made by young people in and around the area of Gunjur. They are all extremely interesting and my thanks go out to all the young people who have taken part and to Sifoe Senior Secondary School and the Gunjur Project for helping me to meet and work with these young people.

Today is my last day in The Gambia and it has been a wonderful experience that I will never forget. If you are wondering about going on holiday to Africa away from the main tourist areas you would be lucky to stay in a place like this. The Gambia has so many things to offer. I have talked to some other people staying here and we all agreed that before we left our home countries we were worried about coming to The Gambia because of safety or because of being hassled. The reality is completely different. I feel safer here than in the UK. Yes, you do get some attention if you are a white female and go out on your own but nothing that you don’t get in England and on the main people will just say hello and ask you how you are. Everyone is friendly and will do their best to help and the children are amazing. I have learned so much from my stay here and the only reason I am leaving is because of the new adventures ahead of me. Although I must say that my trip to Senegal on a dug out canoe will take some beating.

 

What does The Gambia smell like?

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11th October 2011

One thing that I realised I haven’t mentioned about my first experience of The Gambia was the smell. Everywhere around the Gunjur there is a special type of plant, they look like nettles and smell like a cross between mint and eucalyptus. It smells absolutely wonderful and as you get further down towards the smoke houses on the seafront you also get a fabulous rich smoky scent drifting across the roads. This smoky scent isn’t a false promise either the fish from the smoke houses is amazing. It’ll take you a while to get all the tiny bones out but it’s well worth persevering! Back to the smells of The Gambia; I didn’t have preconceived ideas about what this part of Africa would smell like but I never expected it to smell so lovely. I suppose I’m used to the stale, exhaust fume aromas of Manchester and hadn’t considered that I would actually enjoy the smells around me.

Two weeks in….

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10th October 2011

Two weeks in and slowly but surely the project videos are being uploaded to the website. We’ve filmed a new batch today and they will be put together ready for the website over the next few days.
The Global Youth Video Project is in Sifoe Senior Secondary School again this week. They’ve planned three videos, about the way they live. The students will be filming, directing, producing and starring in these videos themselves and I’m quite excited to see what the results will be. Later this week we’re hoping to take the project out, into Gunjur and Kajabang, to meet some of the young people who might not have the opportunity to go to school to ask them some of the Global Youth Video Project questions.
This past week we’ve also done an interview with Jo about the Gunjur Project Lodge so you can see what work they do here. This project is particularly good for bringing youth groups to so if your looking for somewhere to take young people for an experience in a developing country. Jo tells you what you need to know in the Gunjur Project Interview.

One week in…

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2nd October 2011

 

Nearly a week into the project, everything is in full flow. So far we’ve made eleven videos answering your questions. The challenge now is to upload them using dial-up Internet! This can be done but needs a lot of time and a large dose of patience. Rest assured the Global Youth Video Project has both of these and you should see more videos being posted this week.

The Global Youth Video Project is now working with AFNOW an organisation that works with orphaned young people. In The Gambia the term ‘orphan’ applies to children and young people who have lost their father or both parents. These young people have started to make their own video with the Global Youth Video Project to show how they live in The Gunjur and the surrounding areas. They have named themselves the United Family Group and working with them has been fantastic so far.

The work at Sifoe Senior Secondary School is also going well. The school system here is very different to that of the UK. Young people and their families have to pay to go school, if you can’t pay you don’t go. Over the last week I have witnessed the great work that is done by The Gunjur Project and their sponsorship programme. The sponsorship programme receives donations of 90 pounds from people outside of The Gambia and ensures that all of this money is used to get young people, in need, into education. In The Gambia there is a particular problem with young girls not being sent to school. To try and challenge this trend the government has declared that education for girls is now free. As good as this may sound,unfortunately this only applies to the study fee. The uniforms, books, examination fees, transport and food costs, all costing thousands of Dalasi, still need to be funded by the family. This week I heard a case of a young girl who is severely disabled being rejected by the school because she had not yet paid the fee for her uniform and examinations. This girl had to leave her family compound to live with a guardian closer to the school only to be turned away on her first day at school. I went to the school with the Gunjur Project, where Alagi met with the young girls guardian, to sponsor the girl and see that she was allowed to continue her education. Thankfully this story had a happy ending but there are many children here that can’t afford to go to school.

Unfortunately, one event this weekhas had a devastiating impact on all of the people around me at this time. A young man of only 22 years of age died yesterday. He was well known and many people aregrieving his loss. Unlike Englandthe funeral was held the morning after. Funerals here are often held on the day of death and if not the day after. No one knows why he died. However, there is no doubt that poor healthcare played a pivotal role in his death and towards the end of his days a reliance on traditional witchcraft may have denied him any healthcare, which may have prolonged his time on earth. My thoughts lie with his family, may he rest in peace.

After that solemn note I want to try and end on a positive. We are getting more questions on the Ask a Question… page and if you are reading this blog make sure you are encouraging people 5 – 25 years old to ask their questions before we leave The Gambia and head to Nigeria.

 

I hope you are all safe and well. Thank you for reading about the Global Youth Video Project and if you want to help the young people here consider getting together with your friends and sponsoring a child’s education for a year.

 

 

 

 

Global Youth Video Project starts in Africa

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27th September 2011

The first students entered the room we were waiting in, to take part in the Global Youth Video Project. Alagi and I were met by smiles and handshakes, Alagi notably popular amongst the young students at Sifoe Senior Secondary School. As the room filled up with students we discussed the start of the Global Youth Video Project, the young people choosing two focus groups to make different videos about their culture and their lives. The young people were all polite and welcoming, no mean feat in temperatures soaring above 40°c. It was so hot that even the vultures, that circle the skies here, seemed to be sweating.

After introducing the Global Youth Video Project, and setting the next meeting time, we drove back to the Gunjur to buy a local Gamcell SIM card for 50 Dalasi  (D) including 50D of credit – texts to the UK costing 3D. From there we headed back to the fishing village to visit the Kajabang Community Nursery, in the now blistering, midday heat. When getting out of the car I was met by many tiny hands all wanting to play energetically. I gladly obliged,quickly realising just how hard it is to play in 40°c.

Leaving the Nursery we headed towards the beach, buying small bags of water to quench our thirst. I became glad that my induction was steadily paced, allowing for a period of acclimatisation.

[When volunteering in substantially hotter climates I would advise you to take your first few days steady whilst you acclimatise.]

Returning to the project, tiredness due to the heat became my main opposition and I struggled to stay awake through my lunch. I finally gave in and slept through most of the afternoon. When I woke I took an early evening walk with Omar into the fishing village and along the sands where we were joined by hundreds of crabs scuttling sideways to avoid our footsteps. The cloudy sunset then sealed the end of my second day and the first Global Youth Video Project session.

First Day in The Gambia

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26th September 2011

After an early start I landed in at Banjul airport just outside of Banjul at 3:15pm local time. I exited the plane to be greeted by a wave of heat,the temperature upon landing being 32°c, although I am sure that this was a conservative measurement. As I flew in over The Gambia I had seen, from above, the sun bleached green of the dense foliage and the corrugated roofs glistening like diamonds across the landscape.

At the airport I handed across my free visa application, a mere piece of paper you fill in on the plane then collected my luggage without a problem. I declined the numerous offers to help me with my luggage for a small fee.

I found, to my surprise, that as well as the luggage being scanned on the way out of the airport you also have to hand back the luggage sticker given to you at your luggage check-in point. After a few moments of searching I found this and they let me through the gates where Alagi, from the Gunjur Project, was waiting to take me to the project.

On the journey to the project, lasting 45minutes, I saw my first exciting glimpse of Gambian life. When we turned off the main road onto dirt tracks, through villages and past compounds, the kids shouted “two bob, two bob” the local name for white people, a throw back to when the Europeans were here and the currency at that time.

As I arrived at the project friendly staff greeted me and Jo showed me to my wonderful accommodation, basic but perfect. No sooner had I arrived, and changed in to clothes more suitable for the climate, I was invited to watch a meeting of the Village Development Committee (VDC). The meeting was held at the small Kajabang Community Nursery that was the focus of the discussion. The meeting started on GMT time, which I am informed, is Gambian Maybe Time. Sure enough, 40 minutes later than planned, the meeting started. In a mixture of languages, discussions were held about the development and management of the nursery. Visible during the meeting were the same factional divides, differences of opinion and disagreements present in any community meeting that I have ever witnessed in the UK.

After the meeting we drifted down into the fishing village to see the rows of smoke houses, smoking the days catch. Continuing further into the village the smoke gave way to a brilliant pink sunset, which we watched while shelling and eating fresh succulent peanuts.

 

 

Welcome to the Global Youth Video Project!

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This is an interactive project that is travelling the world to capture the thoughts and dreams of young people to share them with you.

Ever wondered what young people think in different countries? If we’re all the same or if some of us share the same dreams? Ever wondered if the things you do in your life affect young people living thousands of miles away? Well here’s your chance to find out. This project is collecting the voices of young people across the world and putting them on video. You can hear the thoughts and ideas of other young people in places such as The Gambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Malaysia, Thailand, England and New Zealand to name only a few.

If you’re a youth worker, teacher or professional working with young people, there will be a resource page in 2012 that you can use to explore international issues and global citizenship, for now you can go to our youth worker section to find out more about the project.

You can also follow the progress of the project here on the blog page where you can learn more about the places visited. There are also hints and tips for those of you who want to travel!

Enjoy your viewing and keep checking this out for new videos.