Hello loving friends and family, and the occasional reader who may have stumbled upon this blog while they were looking for something else.

Several of you have sent emails asking me what you can send to the people that I am working with. First of all, let me thank you for your kindness and generosity. You are all caring people and I can see that you want to help. Thank you.

Secondly, let me say that it’s a complicated issue, and its not one I’m completely comfortable with. Let me explain.

Westerners are forever coming to The Gambia and giving things. Giving wells, giving schools. Giving money. Giving minties and pens (see entry “One Bob, Toubab, Three Bob, Four”). And just generally giving things away. While this is very generous, it has served in creating some very debilitating attitudes. In short, it encourages a culture of begging. It encourages people here to doubt their own abilities, and to doubt the value of things that are available here.

For example, I have medical supplies given to me by Peace Corps for my own medical needs. I do not, nor will I, dispense these items to the people that I work with. It is far more helpful for me to encourage people to go to their own medical facility to seek treatment. Medical care is readily available, and very cheap. Its free for pregnant women and children under 5. For everyone else, its cheaper than tea, its cheaper than soap, its cheaper than sugar (US government should get on that by the way, we‘re lagging). Gambians always have money for tea. They can afford to go to the medical center, which is well stocked. If I gave out my medical supplies, people here tend to think that anything from a toubab is better than what is available in their own country, even if its exactly the same. Tylenol is Tylenol. A bandage is a bandage. If I gave mine out, people would use it, come to depend on it and think its better than what is at the clinic, then when I left, they would still not go to the clinic. It is much more useful in the long run to encourage people to use their facilities. Of course, in an emergency I would perform first aid, but then I would accompany that person to the nearest clinic. The people in my area are not lacking in access to medical care.
I’m also doing my best to educate on preventative measures--hand-washing with soap, bed nets, staying hydrated, etc.
On that a similar note….I think people think I’m lying when they come to me with an ailment (either real or feigned, sometimes they come with a fake ailment hoping I’ll give them medicine which they will save for another time), and I tell them how to solve it without medicine. Medicine is over-used here, and often over-prescribed at health facilities. Anything that might resemble malaria is treated as malaria, even if the test results have not come back. Malaria meds are crazy stuff, you can’t just prescribe that stuff willy-nilly. And when people complain about headache, I tell them to drink a glass of water go lie down in the shade. I’m not being stingy, its exactly the same advice that I would give to someone in the States.

As for other gifts, its still sticky. People here are so used to toubabs giving them stuff, whether its stuff that they need or not, that that’s all they associate with toubabs. I don’t want that type of relationship with my community. I want people to want to know me because I’m me, and to be able to gain knowledge from a relationship with me, but if I’m giving things away, then that’s all they focus on. Once you give one thing, then everyone wants it, and they will all ask for it again when the first runs out. Its just not a sustainable way to alleviate poverty, and in my opinion the cultivation of begging habits does far more harm than the donation of physical items does good.

Oops, where did this soap box come from? *hops down*

I didn’t mean to rant. If I do find an appropriate and helpful way to give material items, I will certainly let everyone know, perhaps books to a school or something. Again, I’m touched by people’s generous offers. Also, if you look at Peace Corps website there is a donation button, that leads to different countries, and different projects in each of those countries. Descriptions are there, and you can select and donate to individual projects that you find interesting.

Thanks for reading!