Ten years of international volunteering marks an important project coming to a close

The Exchanges, Study Abroad & Volunteering team – based in our International Office - has helped students and staff challenge themselves, build resilience, experience different cultures, make a difference, give something back and make friends for life. 2016 marks the five year anniversary of our volunteering trips to Gambia. Over the five years, students and staff have been working with a group of women gardeners in the village of Kartong, the Giki Nyola Women’s Association.

The women work on plots of land that grow crops and food for the community, and each year's volunteering project has supported the women to overcome challenges through activities including research visits to urban vegetable markets, workshops on gardening practice and seeds, marketing, reporting and book keeping. Thanks to the fundraising efforts of the student volunteers, over £5,000 has been raised over the duration of the project, which has bought sand, gravel, cement, metal rods and locally sourced labour.

It’s something the women from the group have welcomed, as gardener Seni Sambou explained: “I have not travelled to the neighbouring village before as it is difficult for us to travel. So the highlight [of the project] for me, was visiting the successful working garden which gave real hope and inspiration for a stable garden we are working towards in Kartong.”

Earlier this year, Senior Project Officer Susan Robinson visited the project with staff and students to celebrate the achievements of the last five years. Susan said: “The projects Leeds Beckett volunteers have undertaken have made huge impact on the skills, lifestyle and education of this small rural fishing village. Although this collaboration is coming to a close, the next chapter of Gambia volunteering - including innovative solar energy projects - will begin as result of the close collaboration students and staff have made with the local community.”

It’s not just the Gambian community that has benefitted either. Volunteers get a real insight into village life by staying in family ‘compounds’ and working alongside the women in the garden, which often challenges ‘toubab’ (white foreigner) African stereotypes.

For more information on volunteering and to find out about opportunities available to you both near and far, visit our volunteering website.