With Thanksgiving approaching and now that I finally have good Internet access, I wanted to share a bit about a program that I am incredibly grateful to be a part of. Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to participate in Leadership Trek, a program unique to Peace Corps The Gambia. At a total of six schools in The Gambia’s North Bank Region, eighteen Volunteers worked with teachers to engage students in activities that fostered creativity, teamwork, and that engaged students in conversations with male and female role models from their villages.  This program allowed students ranging in age from grades 8 through 12 to develop their leadership skills, to learn how to work together as boys and girls, and to most importantly, have fun!

I live in the easternmost region of The Gambia and had to travel to the North Bank.  This required travel on 1 bus, 1 boat, 1 car, and 2 geles. Thirteen hours later, I had arrived at  the village that was hosting the first day of the program.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with The Gambia, here is a map that shows a basic layout of the country. 

During the program, students had the opportunity to participate in sports activities that fostered teamwork and a spirit of collaboration between male and female students.

Most importantly, a male and female role model from each village came to the program to share their life story with students. Students had the opportunity to ask them questions and to begin thinking about how they can work to achieve their goals and dreams.

The next morning, I woke up especially early (read: 3 am) with two other Volunteers to attend a traditional wrestling match (laamb) held in a Volunteer’s Wolof village. People start watching wrestling matches in the early hours of the morning and continue through the night, powered by “Cafe Touba” (coffee). Breaks between individual wrestling matches include traditional dancing, drumming, and music. The tribe that I live among does not have anything like this, so it was really neat to experience a different aspect of Gambian culture. Since nothing like this takes place in my village or surrounding villages, this truly was a once-in-my-Peace-Corps-service experience and was well worth the minimal sleep! 

A few hours later, we traveled to the final school where we hosted the program. There, we did similar activities (sports, art, creative writing, and conversations with role models) and selected students for Camp GLOW. 

At the end of the program, we invited two male and two female students in Grade 10, along with one of their teachers to Camp GLOW (Girls and Guys Leading Our World), a week-long leadership camp that empowers students who attend to become leaders in their communities and work as change agents. We selected Isatou, the female in this picture throwing a paper airplane, as one of the students to attend Camp GLOW in January so that she can continue to develop her leadership skills, engage with students her age in discussions about healthy lifestyles and gender equality, and interact with male and female Gambian role models. I can’t wait to see how Isatou and the 23 other students we selected during the program to attend Camp GLOW continue to grow into leaders so that they can become change-makers in their own communities!