This is a story about The Gambia, an MA student of Tourism, Environment and Development – and the mutual benefits gained through a well-matched and well-prepared volunteer placement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following quotes are from Anke’s report:

“My topic was “monitoring the impact of trainings which ITTOG (Institute for Travel and Tourism in The Gambia) provided for ASSET (Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism) members”.  

“I am studying for an MA in Tourism, Environment and Development and developed an interest in Responsible Tourism and pro-poor tourism during my studies. Inevitably, the names Harold Goodwin and Adama Bah occurred frequently when I started considering responsible tourism to be my dissertation topic, so which volunteer company could have been more suitable than p&p, which are strongly connected to both of them. Initially, the aspect of being a volunteer seemed interesting for my thesis, but I learned during my time in The Gambia that letting local voices speak is much more interesting and relevant.

“I could not have asked for a better placement. I met the most amazing and ambitious people from all sorts of walks of life. I feel that the contacts I made will continue far beyond my volunteer placement and I really hope to have the chance to go to The Gambia.  

Kate and Sallie (and all previous volunteers I spoke to), your support has been great from the initial contact until now after my return. I loved being able to chat with you through facebook messenger, which meant I could keep you in the loop about my whereabouts and thoughts while abroad. Thank you!!!”

 

I shan’t go into any more detail – you can listen to Anke’s own explanation by watching the videos in the following links – her own explanation is far better than mine!

Click here to watch Anke talking about her volunteer placement and experience and click here for Anke’s German language interview about people and places ! And here you can watch an interview with Hayley

and news ‘hot off the press’ – Anke graduated with distinction ! Congratulations !