The smiling coast of Africa

The first week has been one of many impressions. Our arrival at the smiling coast of Africa was very welcoming and we quickly got acquainted with all the staff at Kairoh Garden in Tanji, where we stayed during the introduction week. The first day took off with a walk through the town and a visit to the local English and Arabic primary school. Accompanied with a lot of enthusiastic hellooo’s and many handshakes with the students we learned a lot about the educational system in the Gambia. That day we also got to take a look at the so-called ‘beach’ where fishermen sell their daily catch on the beaches from their boats. Truly a spectacle this was, filled with trade, business and entrepreneurship in the most Gambian way possible.

The rest of the week was filled with several other activities to immerse ourselves in the Gambian culture and to establish the first acquaintances with the people who are involved in our project. On Thursday for instance we met with a local solar drying expert who is running a large-scale solar drying project in the Gambia. We learned a lot from him about the possibilities of solar drying and his knowledge could be very useful for the success of project DOMO. Furthermore, we met with a Dutch woman running a local NGO called MyFarm, where she experiments with solar agriculture and small-scale entrepreneurship. This had been a very inspiring day for us.

At the end of the week we travelled to the inlands so we could visit the villages where we will be doing the project. These first acquaintances have been very unique, but also important as it established the foundation of our further cooperation. The solar dryer of last year in Jakaba is still in good condition and has been used regularly, which is very exciting news. In Ndoky, the suggested village for the new solar dryer, we arrived to a very warm welcome and when proposing our plans to the alkalo (village chief), the whole community showed excitement and presented us their chosen position for the solar dryer.  

The next two weeks we will be busy with teaching at Armitage Secondary School in Janjanbureh, which we are looking forward to. We’ll keep you updated!