Hello!

Hello all!

It is with great excitement that I say hi for the first time from...The Gambia! I’m the lucky (or crazy) girl that is traveling, working and living with Matt in The Gambia (MattyInTheGambia). I am happy to note that we are 2 weeks in and no fights! More specifically I’m the grateful Health Education Intern with ACIC and the NSGA.

Things have changed dramatically in my life over the past month. I went from nursing in PEI (the beautiful Island I call home) to a short chaotic month in Halifax, NS and now waking up to the African sun and heat. I’m am so proud to be working with The NSGA as in the little time I have been around this organization their work and impact on Gambian youth is remarkable. I have lots to learn about just what it is they do and how they go about it but each day I learn more. Hopefully with time I’ll be able to use some of nursing background and help along the way. The staff here have already proved to be amazing hosts and so very welcoming! They are also ever so patient as they try to teach me Wolof (one of The Gambia’s spoken dialects) and I struggle to even catch on to “hello” or “my name is”...I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

An important lesson I’ve learned in my short time in this country is to trust the cute little girls in the market when they sell you peppers and giggle while saying “they are very hot”. This is not to be underestimated. For instance using all of them in the spaghetti sauce or touching your eyes after cutting them leads to a bad scene. Your eyes feel like they have been pepper sprayed (or what I assume this would be like) and Matt is forced to flush your eyes out under the shower. Eiik. That was the start to my first attempt at a meal in our new place. Things can only get better?

I will be in touch from time to time. This will vary depending on the access to the internet. As you’ve heard from Matt it is a big challenge here! But we are currently in a air conditioned cafe with the best connection we’ve had so far! Life is good.

Take care,

M.C