IB Gambia Trip
By Tassilo
Bellwinkel
The Gambia was a phenomenal trip to a small village in the south
of The Gambia, called Bissary. It was a nine day trip with
unforgettable experiences and discoveries. Situations and moments
with incredible feelings and revelations which all gave me a new
perspective of life and a totally different point of view.
I came with lots of expectations to the trip to see another
continent which I have never seen before, another culture and
lifestyle which is not comparable with my own. I had absolutely no
idea what would face us out there because we went with nearly no
information to the Gambia. In fact we were given background
details, but no information about the village and the situation,
not even where we would sleep!
We were already aware of the needs of the inhabitants because of
all the things we have collected and packed in our luggage before
we went but it did not give us a clue how it really is. Finally we
started our trip with half a ton of luggage and a handful of
information, going on an amazing adventure. We started by bus
from Plymouth to London late at night and later on, a six hour
flight with not much space for my legs! The seemingly endless
travel finally ended in the absolute darkness, in the middle of
Africa at Mr Compton's compound where the whole village welcomed
us.
The first days were planned to discover the village, coming face
to face with the actual situation and trying to acclimatise to the
life of the village. I gained my first indescribable experiences,
saw things from another point of view. I really got into the
rhythm of the village. I learned about the life and the culture,
had great experiences and soon felt as a part of the village, even
though I was totally different and had to be really strict in
points like hygiene and food. This always reminded me that I was
not at home but rather a guest for a short while and I was struck
by the reality of the situation.
The teaching in the local school gave me lots of experiences and
impressions about life in the village as well as being a reflection
of the situation of the country. It stated problems which were
everywhere in the system, in that case it was in the education
system, but for me it showed a shape which could be located in
every sector of the country. It was like an underdeveloped system
with lots of problems and holes which made everything really
inefficient and sterile. It was a complete difference from what I
am used to and frustrating because although I was in the middle of
the system, teaching, I knew that I couldn't change anything.
The thing which astonished me the most was the fact that
absolutely everybody felt fortunate. Everywhere the people were
happy even though they had literally nothing and had problems with
food shortages or diseases. That was really against all my
expectations, and finally brought me to the question; 'what do they
need to be more happy?' and to question how things like luxury
goods or good from our culture would affect them.
I spent quite a lot time thinking to find a solution to my
question and I still think that it would affect them really badly.
It would cause envy and greed, which would cause bigger problems
like violence and crime because their culture was never confronted
with these problems before European colonization, so they never
learned how to deal with these problems like the European cultures.
This would accrue because many people don't have anything to lose
so the situation might descend into civil war.
All in all I can say that this trip was an absolutely amazing
experience, which I know I won't get the chance to repeat in the
near future. All the impressions I got from this trip will be with
me my whole life and helped me to think about things a bit
differently than before. I still know that I have seen only a tiny
bit of the big cultural environment but even that was such a great
experience. I am really happy that I had the chance to go that step
and that I did it.