It was a wonderful, beautiful and an unforgettable experience. The road to getting there was smooth and without problems. We arrived on 9 October 2013, on a Wednesday, at around 10 p. m. The next day we were a bit tired from the journey, and we took the time to sleep, gather our strength, and make plans for the following days.

Photo: Jana Snuderl
Photo: Jana Snuderl
SITUATION IN THE KINDERGARTEN

On Friday, we visited two kindergartens and schools and were confronted with terrible and unimaginable conditions, in which classes for the children are held. The children and teachers introduced themselves, sang and danced for us, and tried to teach the volunteers their dance, at which we did not exactly excel, but we did have a laugh. On Sunday, the president of the Gambia surprised us with a decision to prolong their religious holiday and we were free for an entire week. We explored the Gambia like tourists for a time, and we used the remaining part of the week to meet the local families and spend beautiful afternoons socializing with the locals and playing with children. The communication with the youngest was a bit shaky, because they did not speak English, and I did not understand the gibberish they spoke, though we did have a few laughs on that account.

SOCIALIZING WITH THE LOCALS AND CELEBRATING THEIR RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY

On Wednesday, we celebrated their religious holiday at our friend Musa Faal’s family, in one of the poorest areas, the village Barra. The path there is definitely an experience. You have to pass the sea in big local wooden boats. Naturally, the boats have to carry 5 times the capacity of people it is made for, with men sitting on the top and women sitting on the bottom of the boat. In addition, you board it by being given a piggyback ride and then a man carries you to the boat on which you climb. It is surely an unforgettable and incomparable experience. We spent the holiday with Musa’s family, following traditional customs and enjoying traditional dishes. The families that can afford it, slay a goat on this holiday and we were able to see how it is done there. It was unlike anything we had expected and very different from our own way of celebrating.

The week passed quickly and we started working at the Mobe-Ta kindergarten and school. Working with children is the most wonderful thing. You experience every possible emotion when working with them. They know how to make you laugh from the bottom of your heart, make you happy, or make you so angry you do not know what you are going to do. They can definitely be mischievous or the biggest sweethearts. In school, we helped and participated during class. We taught Basic English, Math, and a bit of Art. We worked with collage, coloured with colour pencils, crayons and watercolours. Most of the children saw a brush for the first time and many saw watercolours for the first time as well. We sang, danced and played tag together and we taught the children some Slovenian and some English songs. With the help of the FINI Institute and their international project Say Hello to the World, we met with some Slovenian kindergartens via our laptop, USB-internet and Skype, where the children introduced themselves, sang, danced, and waved to each other, and the teachers’ eyes welled with tears at the unforgettable experience and one of the most beautiful occasions.

NEW SPONSORSHIP

It was inevitable for me to become attached to a little girl named Fatima, a sweet little bluffer, who could make your day in a second. With the help of my family, I enabled her to go to school by paying her annual tuition fee through the project of patronship offered by the association The Kids Are the World. I signed up to pay monthly contributions for the little girl and her family, and ease the current situation just a little. It is amazing, what a person can do with 17€, the sum of money for the monthly contributions. The program coordinator signed a “security” to pay 50 tuition fees because there are fewer and fewer children in school as the parents simply cannot afford to pay for their education. I have at least taken care of one girl and I hope there will be more people helping these children.

JOURNEY THAT CHANGES AND ENRICHES

There, in the Smiling Coast of West Africa, you get to know the values long forgotten here. They are all a family, all together. In Slovenia, you barely say hello to your neighbour. There are people living together, socializing, helping each other, truly knowing each other regardless of the blood relations. Children play in the backyard; play on the streets, scream and laugh. They do what we did when we were little; they socialize, live without computers and electronics. There are no people with sombre and dark faces running through the day and being swallowed by time. There, people smile with hope for a better tomorrow shining from their eyes, and are sure that they live as best they can and that is what makes them happy regardless of seriousness of the real situation.

The second to last Saturday, we organized a lunch with the teachers and had a wonderful day. We walked along the beach, soaked in the sea, cooked together, talked and learned about the differences in cultures. It is incredible, how big they are. There, a man can be married with several women if he can provide for them and spends two days with each wife, though the practice does not always correspond with the theory. The children are practically lent, as the first wife raises the children of the second one, or if the sister does not have multiple children, the other one would just “give her one as a gift” etc. I was awestruck by their logic and how they were raised; the spirit and faith they were raised in. The teachers surprised us with nice gifts and we gave them some things in return as well.

I am very happy that I did not spend my time there as a tourist in a 5-star hotel. It is true that I saw what is considered luxury there, but I have spent my time there with the families and people that have a lot less than what is considered a minimum here. The houses are without electricity, without running water, six or more people sleep in one room, and the backyards are littered and dirty. They toil for an entire month for 10, 15 or 20€ to buy a sack of rice that they eat for the following month, that is if they even earn enough. Yet they immediately and without thinking accept you as one of their own and one of the family. It is a magical and unforgettable experience to spend time with these people, give something and gain so much as a person. You begin to appreciate what you have, begin to value life more and try to live and not rush through the humdrum life.

A month passed and we were saying our goodbyes in schools, though it could not have been done without tears. I am home for a week and I already miss them. The journey home was long and sad, with all of us realizing what we were leaving behind and what dreary world we were returning into.

I sincerely hope the Kids Are the World association would continue to be successful with their projects because they are changing the worlds of individuals and families. Thank you for the unforgettable experience, I really enjoyed working with you and beside you!