Gambians

Our language and cultural classes have been very informative. LCHs (language and cultural helpers) teach us, and all of them are Gambian. The Peace Coorps has a small staff and even smaller staff from America. I think most of the workers for the Peace Corps are Gambian.

The Gambians have many cultural groups. The three larger tribes are Mandinka, Fulas, and Wolofs. I will be learning Pulaar which is spoken by the Fula people. The three groups are distributed throughout the country and West Africa. The Gambia is not divided along tribal lines, but mixed. The groups intermarry and some villages have compounds of different tribes. Gambians live in family compounds which is a group of houses all belonging to the same family. Houses may belong to different wives, parents of the owner, or grownup children. I will be living in one of these houses.

During one exercise, our LCHs told us to write down our conceptions of the Gambia, and the LCHs would do it about America. None of the LCHs have been to America and they are supposed to represent the views of some Gambians. Some examples are the following:

- Paradise, no work, and rich
- People do not get sick
- Superpower
- All have guns
- Never lie
- US like to fight
- Want African husbands and wives

Some of them I expected, but others I was surprised. While predominantly muslim, they are not as conservative as the Middle East and many villages have kept traditional customs.

"Americans never lie." At first when I heard this I could not understand why Gambians had that perception of America. We, as Americans, tell some sort of lie all the time, such as a white lie. After talking to some LCHs, I figured out why. Gambians are friendly, but they come up with excuses for things or say something they do not mean. Gambians joke a lot so I am not sure if this affects things. For example if someone asks for sugar and a person does not want to give it. they will claim they have no sugar even though they do. If they do not want to lend a bike, they will say they have a flat tire. People may ask a person to come to the field, and that person can say yes, later, but it is okay if he never goes to the field.