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Author: Sallie Grayson

Well deserved recognition for our partners in The Gambia

Well deserved recognition for our partners in The Gambia

When we started people and places – 20 years ago – we decided that we wanted to work with people who were already doing amazing work in their communities. Our partners in The Gambia represent this perfectly. Their lifelong commitment to empowerment through tourism has been recognised again as winners of the African Travel 100 Global Leaders Award. Congratulations Dr Adama Bah and Sheik Tejan Nyang – we are blessed to work with you Adama Bah in this interview shares his…

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New faces for the people and places team

New faces for the people and places team

We are excited to introduce two additions to the people and places team. Mariana Bah works with Sallie on the business management side of people and places, including accounting, marketing, organisational best practice, and on liaison with our local partners.  She has been involved with people and places since the early days, working from 2009-2012 as volunteer coordinator in The Gambia. Some of you may spot that she has the same surname as our partner Adama in The Gambia – she is…

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The Year That Changed My Life – thanks to people and places!

The Year That Changed My Life – thanks to people and places!

by volunteer Zoe File In July 2023, I walked away from a secure and much-loved job as a primary school teacher to pursue a long-cherished dream of working as a volunteer teacher overseas. For years this had been nothing more than a pipe-dream, but at the age of fifty-five it finally felt that the time was right. I was motivated by two things – the opportunity to cash in a small pension which would fund a year out of full-time…

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‘We’ve got all our girls back again now!’

‘We’ve got all our girls back again now!’

Dianne’s report after her recent visit to Morocco Our partners in Morocco, Education for All (EFA), are delighted that things are starting to get back to normal after last year’s devastating earthquake.  When schools and boarding houses were destroyed by the earthquake right at the start of the school year last September the government moved students and teachers to various other schools in Marrakech, and there they stayed for the whole of the 2023-24 school year.  EFA were eventually able…

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Some specific volunteer skills needed-could you help?

Some specific volunteer skills needed-could you help?

The Gambia – we need someone with landscape planning experience for a new eco training centre managed by our partner project ITTOG-Institute of Travel and Tourism Gambia. The Embon Tenda community based training school will serve as a centre for training in sustainable tourism aquaculture and boat excursions – working with the community based tourism initiative Ninki Naka Trails Foundation South Africa – Mentor for Men’s Group with our partners at Good Work FoundationA group of the young men who…

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A placement with the potential to genuinely save lives

A placement with the potential to genuinely save lives

Very few children in The Gambia know how to swim, despite the fact that the majority of people live close to the coast or the river.  Traditionally they are taught to fear the water, rather than how to stay safe in and near it.  Last year we heard of the death by drowning of Robert Jarjue, one of the first children to enrol at Mary’s Little Lambs School.  He was a clever and joyous child with a bright future. Aged…

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Blast from the past – Smoke and Mirrors

Blast from the past – Smoke and Mirrors

This was first published nearly 15 years ago – and (sadly) much of it still holds true – so as ever caveat emptor and please do ask for our advice even if you are thinking of volunteering with someone else! And the smoke just gets thicker as more and more sending organisations use the buzzwords in their marketing! “There’s been a huge increase in the number of chat rooms about responsible travel and volunteering. Even a perfunctory trawl through the…

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Women’s empowerment in The Gambia

Women’s empowerment in The Gambia

I spent a couple of weeks with Fatou and the No Woman Left Behind team in March Fatou and the team are steadily building their business – they have enough income to pay for a full time cook in the kitchen – a cleaner and a shop assistant – 3 incomes for NWLB members! They are also paying for all their utilities! The kitchen is smart, clean and professional and complies with local health and safety regulations Cook Rose working…

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Our partners in Madagascar publish their 10 year plan

Our partners in Madagascar publish their 10 year plan

Working together to build community and environmental resilience in southeast Madagascar “Our RESPONSE initiatives will address immediate emergency needs of communities in the face of natural disasters, climate change impacts, pandemics and localised crises.Our RECOVERY initiatives will support communities transition to more stable periods where the priority returns to increasing access to water, health services, education, food and livelihoodopportunities.Our RESILIENCE initiatives will ensure communities can withstand future shocks and sustain improved social and environmental outcomes. The focus is on strengthening…

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Peru – CREES research and bridging community and conservation models

Peru – CREES research and bridging community and conservation models

Our partner in Peru is The Crees Foundation For Manu  – a non-profit organisation committed to the conservation of the Amazon. Here are some upates from them Searching for amphibians and reptiles from M Sc Joseph Oakley – Research Coordinator This month ( April) at the MLC we have dedicated a lot of effort into two of our long-term surveys – Visual Encounter Surveys (VES) and pitfall traps. Both of these methods focus on herpetofauna, commonly known as amphibians and…

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