FULLFILLMENT OF MY WISH
For a while, I have felt the desire to merge travel with helping people so that I would not only visit a country as a tourist, but also contribute to the local community and maybe make someone’s day, week or even month. First, I became a patron to my darling Binta and followed the activities of the association of their Facebook page. Once my decision evolved and the time was right, I applied for the Travel as a Volunteer programme and traveled there.
MOBE-TA KINDERGARTEN
In the kindergarten, we were accepted with warmth, honesty and with expectations that made me hold back tears – and I did not even know them. I remember thinking that day: “How will I ever be able to say goodbye to them?” I did, but with a heavy heart. I cannot describe the feelings that arise when the kids rush into your embrace every morning and stroke your hair with admiration; when their parents shake your hand, visibly moved; or when the kids sing a song you have taught them loudly. Those are priceless feelings that warm me whenever I remember the Gambia and while I run every day errands here.
Two volunteers travelled to the Gambia in the February term. We brought many things for our children – colour pencils, markers, crayons, watercolours, collage, puzzles, board games, balls, and skip ropes. The children are happy to get anything and it warms your heart, and you would like to get them ten more suitcases of things rather than just one. Things that we take for granted in our kindergartens and schools are sometimes seen for the first time and it is a joy to watch them how they complete puzzles with excitement and colour the colouring books. How they show you a picture they had just coloured with a smile on their face: “Teacher, look!” It is priceless. Together we learned English and Slovene songs, we coloured, made pictures out of sand and seeds, ran relays, watched cartoons on an improvised screen, we calculated and wrote. The day I remember best was the sports day. It was charged with even more emotions because it was my last. We went to the local stadium, true to our colours and our team. The children were separated into groups, each had its own colour and team spirit was at its peak even before we began. Then the groups competed in 100-meter sprint, picking up cans, running with a bucket, relays, and sack racing. There was laughter, joy and a healthy measure of competitiveness. We discovered some natural talents and gave medals for best sprinters, and it made them glow with pride and satisfaction, when we put the medals around their necks – medals that we made for them the previous day. So little was needed for so much laughter and joy. This day really gave me a lot. As I am a sports person myself, I would like to see people encourage children to do physical activities and improve PE altogether. Some do not even know how to run from the start to the finish line. In general, these children express themselves a great deal through movement – dance, rhythm, both are a part of them and they are raised with them. Each song is accompanied by clapping, stumping, drumming, jumping and dancing.
When working in the kindergarten, I liked the fact that we were constantly involved with local teachers. Some know the children very well, speak their language, know what they are capable of and they have been a great help. They participated in all of our ideas and activities and we were a really good team. To them, we were a retreat from the routine, a source of new ideas and materials, and they were happy to learn from us. You do not need a pedagogical education and experience to do this type of work – will and motivation are enough. There were days when you felt that you did not achieve what you set your mind to the previous day. I remember coming home from school a few times with a bittersweet feeling that things did not go as planned. Then after a few day, when they sang a song without my help and wrote the correct numbers and letters, I realized I wanted too many things too fast. Powerlessness was replaced by pride, new zeal, a warm feeling that you gave something and helped someone, taught someone something new and contributed to the mosaic of his or her education and maybe to a better future.
AND WHEN WE WERE NOT IN THE KINDERGARTEN?
That is when we learned about the Gambia. We hired a jeep and went to the country’s interior as we all wanted to see a genuine, authentic and non-touristy Gambia. This off-road experience now lives in a very special part of our memories. The sandy streets were bumpy, a ride in the trunk of an old jeep, with no map, just the sand, us, and a village every now and then, where we stopped and talked to the locals. All of the people were happy to see us and made us feel welcome. They even danced and sang for us at some of the places. Truly a perfect day – laughter, the sun, palms, Africa. When we wanted a more peaceful and a little less active day, we went to a nearby beach, where we threw ourselves into the waves, collected seashells, drank freshly squeezed juice, and walked along the infinite sandy beach. Moments that recharge the batteries. We visited the monkey park, the crocodile park, the craft market and some of the surrounding towns, we rode boats, were carried on the shoulders of the locals, rode a donkey, learned their language, celebrated birthdays, haggled over the prices, played the drums, and danced at a wedding. Some evenings we spent at home and enjoyed a lovely dinner, played board games, enjoyed the pleasant company and, of course, the laughter. Not one day passed without it. And friendships formed. How would they not, if you spend a month with people and you are together 24 hours per day. Stories form, common adventures and inside jokes that bring a smile to my face every time they come to mind when I drive to work on a dreary day. These are unforgettable moments that stay with you forever and that enrich your life in a thousand and one ways.
AFTER HOMECOMING…
A thousand questions and curious faces of friends and family: “Come on, tell us, are they really so happy there, even though they have so little? A lot can be heard about it…” “How was it? I’m also thinking about something like this, I have to get away from this madhouse for a while…” I always summarize: This experience gives you a lot. You give a lot and you get back more. You put your energy, time and effort into something that pays back double or triple. I would advise anyone to go to Gambia and experience the life there. Everyone should peak into a world, which is not based on how much you own. They have damn little and they are still smiling, warm, and they share what little they have with everybody around them.
I will definitely go back!
Peter Novak
