Knowledge is Power
This past weekend all the volunteers and mentors took a trip up country to a village called Kaur. In order to get to the remote village of Kaur, we drove on a bus, once we got the The Gambian River, which cuts through the country, we took a ferry, and then continued our road trip for about two more hours.
It was amazing to see another side of The Gambia. Lamin Village(the village where Starfish is located) is pretty compact and busy with kids running around playing soccer in the streets, people walking on a regular basis, and bustling cars and sidewalk shops along the main road. But, as you can imagine the coutnryside is much more spread out and does not have as much going on as Lamin does.
As we drove along the red dirt road, bouncing up and down (at times jumping out of my seat like an Indiana Jones ride due to the uneven road), I couldn’t help but feel so bleesed to be where I was in that moment. Most of the volunteers and mentors were using each other’s shoulders as pillows to sleep becuase we were all exhausted from waking up at 5am to catch the first ferry( which we ended up missing oops!). But, in that moment I began to feel like I was truly apart of a family. One of the mentors, Isatou, whom I had just met two weeks prior and is in many ways very different from me (grew up on the other side of the world, had a totally different upbringing, is a few years older than me the list goes on…) was sleeping contently on my lap. Yet, she didn’t feel like a stranger at all, she felt like my sister. Its crazy to think that in just two weeks, two people from different parts of the world could form such a strong connection as to feel like they are sisters. Crazy to think, but makes me so happy! So, in that moment despite the uncomfort of bumping up and down in my seat, I was so content with the beauty of my surroundings: the lucious green pastures and the familiarity of a true family road trip. And of course, there were many embaressing sleeping photos that were taken, becuase whats a road trip without them?!
Once we arrived in Kaur, we got the opportunity to visit the local elementary school and engage in a service project. Although Starfish International is a girls education program, up until this point I had never been to an actual school in The Gambia. At the school, we met the proud principal and administrators, as well as the students. We had a blast teaching them about the mission of Starfish and playing games with the students. All of the volunteers and mentors encouraged the students with their personal stories, songs, and poetry. The theme of the day was “Knowledge is power.” The principal urged the students to look at all the mentors and volunteers of Starfish and be inspired by our success as students. This was a very humbling moment, as for the first time on this trip I felt like I could really inspire the students to do good in their community. He encouraged them to work hard in school, so that they can be leaders of Kaur, not the United States and not Europe, but Kaur. The principle explained to the students how important it is to help your hometown and he stressed the importance of being pround of your upbringing and roots. Furthermore, the principal explained that a lot of the time kids from the The Gambia desire to go to schools in Europe or America, and will end up staying there. But, he assured his students that Kuar needs their brillance and reminded them to never forget where they came from. His words definitely not only inspired the kids, but me too!
Looking back at our weekend getaway to Kaur, visiting Kaur Elementary was definetaly the highlight (although sleeping outside under the stars, taking a boat ride and seeing monkeys, and getting to play with the local kids/babies were all close seconds). It really put into perspective the massive amounts of materials and opportunites that I take for granted back at Santa Clara. We have a top-notch library filled with hundreds of books, and in my two years of college I think I have checked out five of them? Yet, as you can see in the photo above (top left) the students at Kaur elementary have very little in their library and at their school, yet their expressed desire for knowledge and their future careers is very inspiring.
While visiting the elementary school, I also realized how special of a place Starfish International is and how unique of an organization it is to the Gambia, and to the world for that matter. There truly is no other place like it. It is a haven for young children and adolescents, to grow from the inside out and learn to serve the whole person. Not only does it defy the expectations of society by doing this in a culture where girls education is deemed as unimportant, but it reaches out to those whom it doesn’t directly serve. I am so proud to be apart of an organization that lends a hand to those near and far!
