The Gambia Blog

Dick Sisman with a Gambian community

Dick Sisman, Serenity Holiday’s sustainable tourism advisor and an industry expert has started a new and exciting initiative based in The Gambia. With his help we are offering you the opportunity to donate a stove to a Gambian family. Here he tells us how he fell for The Gambia and how his Mayan Stove project is helping him to ‘give something back’ to the country he loves. See details at the bottom for how you can help!

During the past 25 years as the main tourism industry advisor on sustainable tourism I visited over 60 different countries around the World, working with tour operators and others to develop sustainable tourism strategies and projects. One destination I visited often in this time was The Gambia.
My first visit was organized by the owners of The Gambia Experience and my brief was to advise the company about how they could best engage with local communities and make changes within the company to make their business more sustainable. Now, many years later The Gambia Experience, through their group operation Serenity Holidays, are the proud recipients of a 5 star (the highest) sustainable tourism award by their industry association AITO (Association of Independent Tour Operators).

My long association with The Gambia and The Gambia Experience has enabled me to get to know many people in The Gambia and I have made many friends. The Gambia is not a rich country in terms of money or material wealth but is rich in many other ways. The strength of extended families, which is lost in much of Western Europe, a respect for age and experience and a genuine fondness and love for life gladden the heart. I have one friend who is blind and always feels my face and comments on my health and disposition from touch alone. When I asked him why everyone in his village seemed happy he told me that “You in England always seem to carry the weight of the World on you. We look after our own first and then others if we can”. What wise words!
During my time in The Gambia I have tried to “put something back”, helping children through school; setting up trade not aid projects and helping specific people to develop skills and careers. Most recently I have been working with The Gambia Experience to develop sustainable projects funded by carbon offset contributions from customers.

Mayan Turbo Stove in action

As I move towards the end of my career I now want to set up a longer term programme which will benefit families, especially those living on subsistence levels of income. My chosen method is through a community stoves programme which will replace more traditional 3 stone fires with one of three newly designed alternative fuel stoves bringing many benefits.

• They will reduce the time in collecting fuel wood (in some areas women spend one day in three collecting fuel wood)
• They can be used in commercial applications, thus creating supplementary livelihoods
• They will help to empower women through incorporation of women’s cooperatives in project activities
• They produce significant cost savings through the use of alternative fuels such as rice husk and peanut shells
• They reduce particulate matter by 67% compared with traditional stoves, this brings a number of respiratory and bronchial health benefits and reduces indoor pollution
• Alternative fuels are much cleaner and less bulky than wood and charcoal

The demand for new stoves is already high as awareness has been heightened through other work in which I have been involved. Many stoves will be sold directly to those who are able to afford them; we sold 15 stoves on the first day of operation and have many more orders. The payback time in terms of saving in fuel alone can be just a few months and the stoves will last for several years.

However there will be many of the poorer families in The Gambia who will not be able to purchase stoves without financial help. It is not my intention to seek “charity” or “international aid” as a means of supporting my work as this is subject to the vagaries of donor whims and far less sustainable than a good business model which provides long term continuation through its pricing structure. Also, once the business is self financing and without liabilities it is my intention to transfer ownership free of any charges to those Gambia nationals who have been engaged to run it through a process which I term “beneficial business”. This will act as a significant local empowerment.

So, with the blessing and approval of The Gambia Experience I am asking any customers who may wish to contribute or support families in The Gambia to consider sponsoring a stove as a present for either a family they know or one selected on the basis of restricted income. Each present will consist of the most appropriate new stove design for particular circumstances; an initial supply of 10kg of fuel and personal training by one of the programmes staff in use and maintenance. The cost per gift is £20 and this can be paid either in the UK or in The Gambia. Every donor will receive an acknowledgement and a digital photograph of the stove recipient. My personal guarantee is that every payment will result in a stove and fuel being supplied to a family in The Gambia.

If, like me, you do want to provide help to families who would benefit greatly from a relatively low priced practical and life improving gift then in the first instance contact me by e mail at dick@dicksisman.com or alternatively if you wish to place an order when in The Gambia contact Fanna Njie, Gambia Community Stoves sales executive on 7703041.

As a specialist tour operator with an on-going commitment to sustainable tourism we seek wherever we can to counter the effect our industry has upon the environment. A Carbon Offset Scheme seemed the next logical step in this commitment and with the help of TICOS (the Tourism Industry Carbon Offset Service), we began a scheme in 2007. I travelled to The Gambia in November with industry expert Dick Sisman to monitor how work is progressing with our carbon offset schemes.

Tree planting in action!

On our first day, we were picked up by our forester Lamin Kinteh and set off to visit our community tree planting projects. The first, Pirang, was a small village, about 45 minutes from the main tourist area and chosen for its easy access to the river water. This was our newest and smallest project, planted in 2009 and I was very interested to see the growth of the seedlings. We walked through scrubland, past local compounds and towering termite mounds until we reached our area of gmalina trees. It was fantastic to see the growth after only two years, some were about 18ft high and were filling out nicely – a sight you would never expect in the UK!

Lamin Kinteh among the trees

We drove to our next project, one of the first areas where trees were planted back in 2007. Set in the small village of Sifoe, the trees are a mix of gmalina and cashew. Cashew fruits and nuts can be harvested and the trees provide the perfect home for native bees. As we arrived, we were met by a number of smiling locals, telling stories of their honey production and cashew nut crops and how the profits were helping to put local children through school. The trees were so established and appreciated by the locals and were giving so much more than simply carbon benefits.
After a spot of lunch on the coast, we set off on what can only be described as off-roading to our largest project area. This was a slightly different project to the others. On our way, Lamin was explaining the background behind the project, that the trees had been planted as a buffer zone for the Abuko nature reserve. In the past, locals had destroyed much of the nature reserve in their search for wood for cooking or building. The aim of the buffer zone is to surround the damaged areas so that they can regrow to their natural glory. Some of the trees here have grown to an amazing 25 ft high and are now producing a natural fence around some of the reserve. The wildlife is already returning to the reserve and new seedlings are sprouting in the scrubland. It was wonderful to see the positive reforestation.

A Mayon Stove in action

On the next day, we were met by our Mayan Turbo stove project manager, Mama. We have been funding the community stove project for two years. Most of our stoves had been distributed on the North Bank of the River Gambia, but they have now started becoming available on the south bank. Mama took us to a coastal village called Sanyang, where a number of stoves were already in use. When we arrived we were met by nearly the whole community coming to see what was going on. As it had just been the Muslim festival of Tobaski, all of the women were in their finest dresses and the array of colours was fantastic. I was delighted when the Gambian women started to bring out rice, lamb and vegetables – they were cooking lunch and I was invited to the feast! Burning by-products such as rice husks and peanut shells, the stoves are virtually free to use and heat up very quickly. Whilst some women were making Benachin, a spicy rice dish, others were talking to me about the benefits of the stoves compared with traditional wood burners. They were explaining that previously to collect firewood, they would need to walk nearly 14km or buy expensive bundles of imported wood. By using our turbo stoves, the women could burn waste products, thus saving energy, money and the local forests. A further benefit is that the turbo stoves produce far less smoke compared to traditional wood burning stoves.

Bon appetit!

As the trip came to its end, I was really amazed by how well both projects are progressing. We are achieving our carbon reduction goals and improving the quality of life for many locals. Having had such a wonderful insight into these worthwhile projects, I am keen to encourage staff and customers to continue to reach our long-term goals.