As an Environment volunteer, it is my job to help gambians deal with their environmental problems and hopefully help them reverse them. I have great flexibility to pursue projects I am interested in and needed in my area. I am located near the Senegal border on the north bank of the river and it is one of the most deforested areas in the country. I constantly hear that I should plant more trees, but it is not easy. First, it is difficult to convince a farmer to plant trees when he sees no immediate monetary incentive. Any tree planted also must be protected from the goats, cattle, and sheep which adds labor. Goats and sheep are easy to raise and therefore a good source of income, but they are turned loose in the dry season. They eat everything that is green which includes new trees. Therefore trees must be protected which brings up the second problem in my area, fencing. Fencing is hard to come by. Local fences are made from wood, coos stalks, or local grasses, but they take a lot of work to make and wood is difficult to come by. Barbed wire is expensive and if not watched attentively goats can make gaps allowing them to get in.
Project areas I am interested in.
- Planting trees. One way is to plant fruit trees. Many villagers are already interested in fruits trees. There are many mango and papaya trees found throughout the villages. I plan to encourage planting fruit trees and I want to introduce some other species such as guava, sweet sop, and lime which are more rare in the region. I also would like to start a woodlot to sell the wood for timber. I need to find the right motivated counterpart who is interested in the long term. Most people here think of the "here and now" and not what is best in the future.
- Live Fencing. One solution to the lack of fences is planting trees and shrubs to act as a fence. Using plants with thorns or latex sap will hopefully create a thick impenetrable barrier. A solid fence without holes is difficult to create, but I want to try different combinations to see if they will work.
- Gardening. None of the women in my village grow crops in the dry season. It could be a great way to increase the nutrition in their diets because they eat few vegetables. Villagers could also sell some veggies at the local market and make some money. Lack of fencing creates a problem, and chickens have been known to destroy gardens. Other pests such as birds and insects have devastated peoples' hard work. [Birds have eaten almost my entire vegetable garden.]
I am also interested in income generation. There are a few projects villagers can do and I am specifically interested in solar drying and beekeeping.
The most difficult part of our job is finding the right person, what we call a counterpart. I think most men are not motivated around here, but there are a few people who work hard and are interested in trying new ideas. It is important to find these people, and they are the best to work with. My job for the next couple of months is to find the motivated 5% [as some people call it] who would be willing to work with me on projects. One thing I have been told over and over again is that nothing changes quickly, and it is easy to get frustrated. I am trying to take things slowly and see how and where I can help in my village and the surrounding communities.
