The Gambia
About
The first Peace Corps Volunteers arrived in The Gambia at the invitation of the Gambian government in September 1967. They worked in skilled trades as mechanics, engineers, and carpenters, and they organized village cooperatives. Now, with 50 years of continuous activity, over 1,800 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in the Gambia.
Today, Volunteers work in three different sectors: Education, Agriculture/ Environment, and Health. Education Volunteers have organized resource centers for primary schools, developed teaching curricula and materials for classes, and worked alongside teachers to develop skills on best classroom practices. Agriculture/ Environment Volunteers have helped improve vegetable crop and fruit tree production in gardens and orchards while working towards promoting sustainable practices. Health Volunteers have worked with local health workers to combat the spread of malaria along with promoting maternal and child health and proper hygiene and sanitation.
Peace Corps The Gambia Volunteers dedicate themselves
to community integration, developing local language skills, and understanding
Gambian culture. Pre-service training is conducted entirely in rural villages
away from the capital region. All Volunteers live with host families during
this training period and continue to live with a host family once moved to a permanent
site. Because they live and work in communities for extended periods of time,
Volunteers appropriately address challenges and issues to be successful at the
community level. A few Volunteers live in small cities, but most Volunteers are
assigned to rural towns and villages.
Peace Corps currently has Volunteers placed in all regions of the
country.