South Nottingham College trip to Gambia 2011

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Matt Smith

Today we have a guest post from Joachim Shotter who recently went to The Gambia with students from Nottingham College’s Travel and Tourism department. Joachim was there on behalf of a local radio station, 97.5 Kemet Fm, and thanks to him for this heartfelt account and some great photographs.

South Nottingham Colege and the Tumani Tenda (image by Joachim Shotter)

South Nottingham College’s Travel and Tourism department not only teaches students within the classroom environment but also gives the students real life opportunities and experiences. Trips abroad are part of the curriculum which allows the student to take on the real life role of a Tour Operator and Tour Guide. Before each trip students are required to research each destination and plan the excursions.

South Nottingham College help to manage and run a College within The Gambia (The Institute of Travel and Tourism of The Gambia ITTOG) teaching Gambians Travel and Tourism . The Gambian college has been running for the past 5 years and awards scholarships for Gambian students to study in the UK. One of these students called Lamin is now head teacher at the Gambian college and has taken English teaching methods back to his new set of students. The College has around 100 students attending. The South Nottingham students were invited for the day to participate and make a presentation to the Gambian Travel and Tourism students.

The latest trip to The Gambia was for an event called Camp Africa. This event brings Travel and Tourism students from countries such as The Gambia, the UK, Senegal and Norway to meet and share ideas about the tourism industry and their own cultures.

The Gambia is a very small African country with a small coast line and surrounded by Senegal. Part of the old Mali empire it has no mineral deposits or natural resources. It does however have a growing tourism industry and it is building itself up as one of the most popular African holiday destinations – making The Gambia a perfect place for the students to test out their Travel and Tourism skills, within a new cultural environment.

The student’s trip to Kunta Kinteh island (St James Island) where the slave trade took place, was a day of high emotion. The students arrived at Juffureh village by boat from Banjul. A long walk down an extended jetty leads to the main village entrance which has a remembrance statue to the slave trade. “Forgive but never forget” These words were spoken many times here by the tour guides. A strong statement and fitting to all who lost their lives and homes during this period. The students then went to the slave museum which was a selection of installations, pictures of slaves on the Trans-Atlantic ships, and large shackles used to chain the slaves during the extended voyages. There was also a section dedicated to modern black achievements and people who have risen above the western operation after the slave trade.

Tako Taal Chief of Juffureh. (Image by Joachim Shotter)

The next part of the trip gave the students the opportunity to meet the village chief, Tako Taal, who is the first Gambian female chief after independence. She is revered as one of the most important women in The Gambia and has paved the way for women to be accepted as equals in Gambian and African politics. She granted and gave the students permission to look around the village and visit the family of without a doubt the most famous African slave – Kunta Kinteh.

The Chief at Tumani Tenda. (Image by Joachim Shotter)

On arrival at the family home of Kunta Kinteh the students sat down in front of two elderly women dressed in golden and white robes. On the left was Bamtou Kinteh the eighth generation Granddaughter of Kunta Kinteh and to the right Mariama Fofana, a true African Queen. The guide introduced our group and we were told the story of Kunta Kinteh and how the film “Roots” was conceived. Pictures were taken with them, which was a great honour. The next stop on the visit was to Kunta Kinteh Island itself. Hearts had stated to beat a bit faster here, as this was the place where they loaded the slaves on to the ships bound for the new world. The island, set right in the middle of the main Gambian river, has recently been renamed Kunta Kinteh Island. The remains of the buildings are extremely worn down with only a few walls still standing. The Baobab trees were white in colour, covered with the sea salt from heavy winds. The only truly remaining building left was the slave cell, which has survived due to being underground and hidden from the elements. This is a crammed small room which held up to 25 slaves at a time. It was a cold room with a small round window high up and set back in the stone wall – it seemed that more were forced in at times. The realisation didn’t sink in until the students had left the island and set on their journey back.
This is a journey all Africans should take, a journey all humans should take. As only by having a better understanding of who we all are can only make for a better understanding of each other.

Some student and teacher comments from the trip

Natalie Jones: I have seen places like the villages I visited on TV but i never thought it to be as bad as TV make out….

Lauren fox: My time in the Gambia has been a once in a life time experience. With breathtaking views and people.

Jessica Craven (Teacher): As a student teacher I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to visit such an amazing country, particularly with the students as I can share in their experiences.

Binta Barra – Gambian Student: I have visited places, where I haven’t visited before. Exchanging ideas and interpreting the local languages to my friends.

Jason Florio’s Gambia photographs

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Matt Smith

We’ve featured Jason Florio’s brilliant Gambia photography on the blog before now, and followed closely the progress of the walk he undertook with Helen Jones and the 700Miles team on their epic circumnavigation of The Gambia back in November and December of last year.

Well now the fruits of that walk are starting to appear – aside from calf muscles the size of small principality, there is a new suite of photographs taken during the walk now available to view on Jason’s site. And as you can see from the examples below there are some dazzling images. Jason’s style is unique – his use of the black screen has at once something of a distancing effect, yet the images become like naked singularities, events almost. They’re quite something. The first picture below is of Acting Alkalo Herouna Tonkara from Suduwole. He’s a member of the Serra Houle tribe who are renowned in the area as great traders. The couple are Salafo & Penda Bah from Tuba Dabbo. Mr Bah is a marabout and a cattle farmer. You can view the complete set here. (And you can also see their Flickr photos and follow the guys on Twitter too. Plus, don’t forget you can follow us on Flickr, Twitter and Facebook as well!)

Acting Alkalo Herouna Tonkara. Image by Jason Florio

Salafo & Penda Bah from Tuba Dabbo. Image by Jason Florio

Poca TV In The Gambia

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Matt Smith

Poca TV is an independent TV station based in the Netherlands. Their usual field of interest is roots/reggae music, but in 2009 the station’s director Poca (aka Aldith Hunkar) was invited to become an ambassador for YEP Africa, a youth empowerment project in The Gambia. She visited The Gambia in the summer of 2009 and took along her camera – and was in turn filmed by Robert van den Broek – as she followed a group of young entrepreneurs as they took their first tentative steps in the business world. As she puts it, this isn’t about hand outs, but about ‘a group of strong-willed young Africans shaping their own lives’. The video above is an account of her time with these young Gambians and is a great insight into the country and the struggles the young people have to find work within a tough economic situation. We wish them, and Aldith all the best for the future.

You can find out more about Poca TV on their MySpace page, and YEP Africa at their website.

Festival of Tobaski 28th November, 2009

Posted on November 10, 2009 by Kathryn Burrington

Even during breakfast at our hotel, there is an air of excitement. Many hotel staff wear their finest clothes - the ladies in beautifully embroidered dresses.

Once a year, about 70 days after the end of Ramadan, virtually the whole of The Gambia holds a barbecue!

This is the festival of Tobaski (also known as Tabaski or Eid Al Adha) when families ritually slaughter a ram in commemoration of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his only son to God, who at the last minute exchanges Abraham’s son for a ram. It coincides with the end of the annual Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, one of the pillars of Islam and very much encompasses another one of the pillars, the giving of alms.

Every married man or head of household is expected to buy a sheep (ideally a ram) or other suitable animal such as a cow, goat or even chicken if that’s all they can afford.

Tobaski is a public holiday and one of the major holidays celebrated by Muslims around the world. After open air prayers at the local mosque, families return home, kill their sheep and divide it into three portions, one to be kept aside for the family, one to be given to relatives and friends and one to be given to the needy. Indeed, the idea of sharing is the essence of the feast, bringing unity and harmony among family and neighbours and it is a day to forgive past wrongs.

In The Gambia and Senegal it is also the custom to offer food to anyone passing by and it would be disrespectful not to eat something, even if only a few mouthfulls. However, it would also be disrespectful to finish all the food as this implies that the host has not prepared enough food.

The waitresses join in the dancing to a local band

The lead up to Tobaski can be a stressful time for some, as the cost of a sheep can typically be twice a manual worker’s monthly salary. The cost raises steeply as Tobaski approaches. Everyone is expected to wear their finest clothes, preferably new. All compounds (family homes) are thoroughly “spring” cleaned.

Everyone spends the month leading up to the festival collecting coins as after the feast children are allowed to visit all their neighbours asking for Salibo (gifts). If you pass down the Kairaba Avenue at this time you’ll find it jam-packed with crowds of children around the ice-cream and cake sellers spending the “gifts” they have collected.

In the evening children are allowed to stay up late, while the adults sing, dance and chat while drinking numerous brews of ataya (green tea) and the celebrations can go on for a few days.

Journeyman Gambia film

Posted on October 20, 2009 by Matt Smith

We featured something back in July on the excellent Gambia film made by the Canadian company Journeyman. Their task was to create a ‘non-stereotypical, empowering story about Africa that will talk to Canadians’. We’ve recently come across a couple of sections of the full length video on YouTube and thought we would share these with you.

They have a strange power about them and are as true a representation of the country as I’ve seen; and whilst the clip below doesn’t show The Gambia of brochures and polished photography it still induces, for me anyway, a near crippling nostalgia for the place: the faces, the rust-brown roads, the simple lines of things, vivid in that unique sharpness of light… It’s a great piece.