Below is a statment from a sponsor who has spent time in The Gambia

Having recently returned from my second visit to The Gambia with ‘Helping’ Charity, I would like to extend my gratitude to all involved with the charity for giving me the opportunity to visit again. I have had the most amazing time of my life. Having the opportunity to work with the children and live with a real Gambian family has been a truly humbling and rewarding experience.

I was fortunate enough to be able to spend almost 3 months in Gambia, spending some time with Margaret and Chris. I saw how loved and respected they are by the local people and witnessed how tirelessly they work whilst over there. I travelled to most of the nurseries with them and helped (hopefully) with some of their work. I met many of the older sponsored students and saw how their sponsorship had changed their lives.

Whilst staying at Fass I was able to do some ‘hands on’ work, in helping finish the decorating of the new nursery extension, funded by Lynne. I did meet some opposition from local ladies, who thought that I should not be doing ‘mans work‘, and many of the children at the school were amazed that a woman could paint!

During my stay I accompanied another young student who wanted to help at the nursery. We stayed at Chamen with Mr Cham and his family. Whilst the accommodation is basic (luxurious compared to some of the village homes) the family treated us like royalty. We were able see how the extended family live and work together. We collected wood, fetched water and shelled peanuts alongside the Chamen ladies, after we had finished teaching in the nursery. We travelled to market on pony or donkey carts and used the local ‘taxi’ service to travel to the ferry terminal.
The children were fabulous. There were some difficulties in the school but once we had won the trust of the kids, it was a truly rewarding experience.

I visited the children’s homes whilst compiling a list of children that required sponsorship and saw for myself some of the very poor conditions. There were many heartbreaking stories too, but the friendliness and generosity of these people shone through.

Before leaving Chamen we gathered all the villagers together at the weekend and repaired and decorated the nursery. It was bedlam. The kids all wanted to help and there was paint everywhere! The end result was a much brighter cleaner environment for the kids.

As a sponsor of 2 children, I was delighted too to be able to visit them, give them gifts and chat to their families. It is a very emotional experience.

Any sponsors thinking of visiting the Gambia, go for it! It truly is a life changing experience. Thank you to all at ‘Helping’, Margaret, Chris, the Committee for giving me the opportunity again. Special thanks also to all the team in The Gambia, Sarjour, Karamo, Alaghi and Phyllis who looked after me so well while I was there.

I am really looking forward to my next visit

Claire