As you walk into the Monkey Forest there is a giant sign warning you "Do not feed the Monkeys". A reasonable explanation for the rule followed. To be fair, the workers at the site stood right by the sign offering to sell you food for the monkeys. To be fair, the workers at the site [...]
The Beauty of The Gambia This is Backary. He drives me to and from work every day. He is friendly to everyone, loves his family and country and is a devout Muslim. Backary wanted to show me a piece of his country. So he picked me up Sunday to take me around a bit [...]
The Gambia school near where I live has its mission and inspiring quotes on the wall. The UTG Law Clinic summer project is to teach High School students in schools like these about children's rights and responsibilities under Gambian law. This is modeled after the long successful Street Law program that started in the U.S. [...]
Yesterday The University of The Gambia Law Clinic started out getting organized. Today we started out on a community education project on Children's Rights. The students are knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Debates sprung up over how to handle issues of child marriage, its place in the law and what that means for a community education program. [...]
Calamari traps and harvest. This also demonstrates the challenge of the internet here. The photo on the left will not load sufficiently to rotate it.
The age old process of smoking fish to preserve it has not changed much.
Once these women realized I wanted to take their picture they were all smiles. This was the exception, not the rule. Alex kept telling them I was working "for the government", not a tourist. That got me off the hook with most, but not all the villagers. In those cases I just did not take the [...]
Gambians are friendly in general. Some will greet you on the street. Others will linger longer. That is usually a sign they want something. I let my guard down on this beautiful afternoon on the ocean. Alex is a commonly used English name in The Gambia. People who work in the tourist industry take on [...]
On Fridays the law school closes early in observance of the holy day. My driver is a very nice man who works hard and sometimes long hours. He said he wanted to be "done with you" by 1:30 so he could attend prayer services at 2. So he picked me up before 1. I am [...]
I learned that a tall, impenetrable wall is not always a good thing. You can compare my wall here to the one in the picture below. My wall is not as high or imposing as some of the barbed wire walls in my neighborhood. But when my lock froze on the gate. Even I could [...]
