TRAVEL AS A VOLUNTEER
I came to a point in my life when I decided to go abroad. I wanted to see and live the way people live outside of Slovenia, maybe even outside Europe. I started gathering information and coincidentally I discovered The Kids Are the World and their programme Travel as a Volunteer. I checked their website, became completely enthused about it and I knew that moment that it was what I had been looking for. That Africa was the continent I wanted to get to know. To get to know the people living there, their culture and habits and at the same time contribute something to their local community. Gambia, the land of smiles, sun and happiness was, of course, the perfect choice.
The journey was long and arduous, with no complications, yet I was still very happy to see a familiar face at the airport. I was tired but pleasantly surprised to see the volunteers waiting for me despite the late hour, welcoming me. We did not have the energy to talk. A bed was the only thing I wished for at that moment.
The following day was my first day at kindergarten and I will never forget it. It is a unique and unforgettable experience. When I stepped onto the yard, I saw a big poster with “Welcome, Urska!” written on it. It filled me with warmth. I was first welcomed by the teachers who hugged my and bid me welcome, and there were also many children gathered around me, all eager for a glance, smile, touch or attention. These kids give you a special energy. They show you how little it takes to make someone’s day. I went to every class and in every class, they sang me a welcome song and any other song they knew. It is hard to describe the emotions, but I was completely astonished.
AT THE KINDERGARTEN
I worked in the kindergarten’s Nursery 2 group, with children between ages of 4 and 5. It was very funny when I got the list of children and I needed to check attendance. There was laughter all around as I had quite a problem pronouncing their names. To learn all of their names and pronounce them correctly, I rewrote all the names, wrote down the pronunciation and practise at home. Though I need to admit that one of the last names troubled me until the end.
In the classroom, there were moments of happiness, laughter and joy, but at the same time, also feelings of disappointment. When I found out that my group does not know the basics like drawing a circle or a square, but they do know the alphabet and counting to 20, although the majority does not recognize the letters and numbers, I decided to start working at the basics. We started learning colours. When I saw progress and most of the children recognized the colour yellow after a week of repeating “yellow, yellow, yellow”, the sense of pride was indescribable. I was proud of the kids and of myself.
African children are something special and different from our “European” children, which can be proven by the fact that my time in Gambia intersected with two weeks’ vacation but the children still came to school. Our plan was to work in small groups with a maximum of five kids; those that need most help and support in class. However, when the rest asked us, if they could come, we could not say no. Every day we had about 50 children at school and they came to school with happiness and craving to learn something new, to spend their time in the company of the rest of the kids and us. I think we could not even imagine something like that happening at home. Unfortunately, Africa has many children who cannot go to school because their parents cannot pay their tuition. You see kids from the street peeking through the door of the kindergarten many times. During holidays, we enabled them to play and have fun with us and they will probably never forget those moments. And neither will we.
LEISURE TIME
When we were not in the kindergarten, we explored Gambia. We walked on the endless sandy beach where we enjoyed delicious fresh fruit drinks. We visited Kachikally Crocodile Pool where we first thought the crocodiles were artificial since they just lay there immobile until one of them moved. Even though they assured us they were not aggressive as they get huge quantities of food, I still felt dubious when I decided to approach and touch one. We also visited the village Barra. A visit to this village is
definitely a special experience, just because of the ride there; men carry you to the boat on their shoulders. You get to see the real Africa when you arrive to the village. People in the city live modestly. In the village, they lead even more modest lives, but they welcome you warmly, a smile and happiness. During our leisure time, we also visited the Craft Market, where we tried out our haggling skills, made friends with the locals, drank tea with them and played the drums; we also played a game with beans and had fun altogether.
The month in the Gambia is a month I will never forget. A lot of effort, time and energy was invested into the preparations, but when I saw the happiness on the children’s faces and their playful eyes, I knew I got a lot more than I gave. I got an experience full of unforgettable moments!
Ursa Pepelnik
