It’s difficult – impossible, perhaps – to describe what it’s like to see a child bride. I’d heard countless stories of young weddings … stories from people I know, people I call “friend and “sister” even, who had been married off as mere teens. But stories just aren’t the same. The stories weren’t the same as talking to a 15-year-old girl dressed in her wedding outfit instead of her school uniform on a Monday morning.
I decided to invite my new site mates who just so happen to be agriculture volunteers to help me. I also asked the four grade 10 students who attended Camp GLOW (Girls and Guys Leading Our World) if they would be interested in teaching the gardening skills they learned there. Luckily, everyone was on board and my school-garden training was born despite my lack of a green thumb!
Health volunteers in The Gambia often paint murals in their communities to help teach various concepts, like good nutrition or proper hand washing. After painting the…
I am lucky enough to live in the Fonis with this group of people. We like to believe we are special because our region is known for better electricity than the city (sorry AgFos) and it’s not nearly as hot as upcountry. Our section of the river is even salty so we won’t be getting shisto anytime soon. Did I mention we are only a short gelly ride away from the city (no eight-hour travel days here!)? It’s great to live just a bike ride away from these lovely people so we can coordinate projects and take a break from village life together every now and then!
Every morning, I walk out to my back patio and look up at the mangoes dangling in the tree and am barely able to contain my excitement. You don’t know happiness until you bite into a perfectly-ripe mango, its hot juices dripping down to your elbows and staining your clothes.
I would that you can still recall the title of your favorite bedtime story, the one you begged your parents to read you night after night. Or maybe it’s storytime when you sat in a circle with your classmates that you remember best. Perhaps you have a memory of checking out a book with your first library card or staying up all night to finish a novel that was too good to put down. Reading is a big part of growing up for nearly every child in America. But in The Gambia, that is just not the case
Photo gallery: Students at Sibanor Lower Basic School compete in the long and high jump events in their annual Interhouse sports contest.
