Moments of Inspiration

It's been well over three months since I arrived here. By now, I have seen most of the country, met people from different backgrounds, and have developed a good insight into the cultural characteristics that influence life here. I could write a very long article about the cultural differences between Holland and the Gambia, but I think I will save that for another day.

Now the novelty of being in another country with a vastly different culture and climate has worn off, I can see things for what they really are. By this I mean the factors that influence daily life here. What brings people joy, what are their concerns, what does a typical day look like? It's like peeling an orange, getting closer to the core with each layer removed.

This being said, I sometimes find it difficult to find inspiration, because life is so hard here for so many. It touches my heart. Listening to people tell me that they don't have enough to eat, the never ending funerals of people dying of malaria, and just observing the level of exhaustion in people due to the high temperatures and lack of proper nutrition makes me sad.

Fig tree in Gunjur garden

This year the rains have come very late, in August instead of June, and since most people rely on small scale farming, the lack of a good harvest could spell disaster for many. Luckily, it is still raining frequently now, hopefully allowing the staple crops of cassava, couscous, corn, peanuts, and rice to mature properly before the start of the dry season in October.

But despite the hardships there are moments that fulfil me with inspiration. About two weeks ago, I went in country to Basse, and we stopped in the town of Soma to grab something to eat. There we met a headmaster of a local nursery school who had moved there from West Kombo a number of years back. His goal with the school is to improve the level of education provided by developing a new curriculum and sharing this with other schools. He was very smart, motivated, and modest, and I enjoyed listening to him talking about his work. We talked about leadership, regional development, and the basic skills that people need and to develop themselves and prosper. This man knew what he was talking about. He was a true servant leader. Knowing that there are people like him out there educating the next generation filled me with hope.

Woman harvesting hot peppers from her garden plot

Last week I went on my weekly visit to one of my projects, a communal vegetable garden in Gunjur. In the rainy season, there are few women working their plots, as they are all working in their rice paddies. I sat under the large Baobab tree with the Garden manager and we talked for a long time. Not much else to do. For the past three months I have paid a weekly visit to this garden, and have developed a good relationship with the manager and other staff. I mostly ask open questions and listen. Due to cultural differences a story is never told from start to end. Trust, flexibility, and patience are key in developing relationships here. While sitting under the tree talking it suddenly dawned on me that the weekly visits that seemed at first glance to be unproductive, now bore their fruit. Snippets from conversations and observations from the past months now fell into place. I realised that I now understood the dynamics of the garden, allowing me to develop a clear view on the relationships between the women leaders and the foundation appointed management, current issues, and opportunities for future development.  It had taken three months, but it was one of those Eureka moments. By building trust with the garden stakeholders through patience and perseverance I was now accepted as one of them.

Experiencing these moments of inspiration makes it worthwhile being here.