Hey everyone, above is a picture of me with my cat Eric The Red taken way back in Christmas of 2001. Eric's dead now and its very sad, but he was the best cat ever and I loved him lots... Anyhow, hi people I'm Geoff, I'm 25, and from Toronto, Canada; but I haven't lived there for like nine years. I've spent some time travelling; notably a fantastic year in Australia, and New Zealand. Since then I've lived in Victoria, Seattle and Vancouver. I spent the last few years before going to Gambia working as a Production Assistant on various films and tv shows shot in Vancouver. I was pretty stoked about traveling to Gambia though. I've always felt a strong connection with the places I go. The land and the nature. I think it was a pretty unique experience for me, I mean I guess it would be for most anyone. I spent the year and a half chronicled here working for the YMCA. They're doing great work in The Gambia and I'm really grateful I got the chance to learn something new from them. Experience is important to me, and I know Gambia is a pretty special one.
I'm all done my trip now and back at home in the western world. But I'm more than happy with anyone who wants to read up about my time in The Gambia. So what was the deal? I mean what was good, what was bad? Well, I started out just teaching computer skills, which was fine for awhile. And I did really learn a lot of good tech skills. But for my last eight months or so I did a lot of video production and post work. The work was good and fun. Who would've thought that I'd come to Africa and work in film. I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do with my film work there; which admittedly kind of sucks, but overall it was pretty wild. I met some very cool people there too. People involved in development work can sometimes be a little weird for me. I mean it's cool and all for them, but that's just not my scene. That's not really why I went to Gambia. And that's at least some of the reason why the people who aren't obsessed with 3rd world development, or breaking down any and every cultural barrier stand out so much more to me. I'm not saying I went to Gambia for good reasons. In fact I sure as heck went for the completely wrong reasons, but development work has some pretty serious fundamental flaws in it. Read the site if you want more on that though.
Now I've got to send some shouts out to my peeps: Jakob Ekeberg, livin large out in Sweden. To Tim Brinker, a Peace Corps still working in Gambia. To my friends and colleges at the Y, Lien, Jesper, Sherrif, and of course Poncelet.
It sure was a pretty strange trip on the whole. But I learned a lot, and enjoyed the ride. Read my log if you want to know about my daily life in The Gambia. Other than that I'm out.
Not to over inflate my limited knowledge, I have decided to include a brief description and history of The Gambia. The River Gambia, barely contained by the country has long been a valuable trade route. Between the 8th and 11th Centuries it was part of the vast trans-Saharan trade routes, which brought visitors from the North and the subsequent influence of Islam. The first Europeans to see The Gambia came in the 17th Century. Bringing goods in exchange for ivory, gold and slaves. The slave trade, which operated legally until 1807, had its most profitable (for lack of a less cynical term) area in The Gambia.As slavery ended, the British continued to rule in the area; while the French controlled the surrounding Senegal. During the 1960s, The Gambia was one of many African countries to be granted independence. Since that time there have been two generally popular Presidents. The first, D’awda Jawara, held power until the current President, Yahya Jammeh, overthrew him in 1994 in what is said to have been a bloodless coup. President Jammeh, since ’94, has retired from the Army and been re-elected twice as a civilian in what seems to be a fairly democratic vote. Most Gambians are optimistic about his government.
PeopleGambians are known for their laid back, friendly manner. Most speak English as well as either Wolof, the main trading language, or Mandinka. 90% of Gambians are Muslim, while 9% are Christian, and 1% continue to practice traditional religions mostly in the rural areas. Extremism seems to be against the Gambian way accounting for the minimal history of conflict. President Jammeh recently declared September 11th a national holiday in memoriam of last year’s attack on the United States. People often spend the long, hot afternoons in prayer or just sitting and talking. An initial greeting can last several minutes, so it’s a good idea to allow extra time to get from point A to B.
