{"id":93675,"date":"2026-02-10T18:15:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T18:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/rotary-delegation-returns-from-gambian-trip"},"modified":"2026-02-10T19:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T19:36:19","slug":"rotary-delegation-returns-from-gambian-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/rotary-delegation-returns-from-gambian-trip","title":{"rendered":"Rotary Delegation Returns from Gambian Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong> <\/span><b>After an eye-opening trip to The Gambia last month, local service club delegates hope to continue their collaboration, as well as their new friendships.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Fate played a role in making the journey to the small west African country a reality, according to Rotary Club of Chatham Sunrise\u2019s Glenn Smith, past-president and current treasurer.<\/p>\n<p>Fate played a role in making the journey to the small west African country a reality, according to Rotary Club of Chatham Sunrise\u2019s Glenn Smith, past-president and current treasurer.<\/p>\n<p>Mayor Darrin Canniff and municipal chief administrator Michael Duben were at an international mayors\u2019 conference in Orlando, Fla., and struck up a friendship with Mayor Saihou Jawara of the Kuntaur region in central The Gambia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty large area, just over 340 communities and 103 schools,\u201d Smith told The Daily News Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Kuntaur region is a very poor area&#8230; They have medical centres, but no hospitals. They have really wonderful people, they just don\u2019t have any money (or) much of an economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Gambia, on Africa\u2019s west coast, is the continent\u2019s smallest mainland country.<\/p>\n<p>During the trip, the Chatham-Kent delegation of 14 people visited Kerr Demba Gambu School, meeting with teachers, students, local government officials and village elders.<\/p>\n<p>The group brought in, or had shipped, various supports for the school and village, including 30 water filtration units, 60 bicycles, 60 school desks, 160 backpacks and teaching aids. They also provided monetary support for the future drilling of a bore hole for a fresh water well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to formulate plans to continue to help them,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThere\u2019s so many things that we can do to make a big impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the years, he has travelled \u201cquite a bit,\u201d but this was his first time in Africa.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy takeaways were (the Gambia) feels like a forgotten country in Africa,\u201d he said. \u201cThe people are wonderful. They\u2019re called \u2018the smiling coast.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone is happy. They\u2019re well-fed, even though they don\u2019t have much of an economy. They have a barter economy. So, people have goats and chickens, and they go to the weekly market&#8230; people can do their shopping.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said resort areas within the country have more modern amenities compared to rural communities further inland.<\/p>\n<p>Self-sufficient and innovative, the people build their own homes, fences and whatever else they might need.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt does look like the Serengeti, just like you would imagine Africa to look like,\u201d Smith said. \u201cBut you don\u2019t see giraffes and lions, you see horses and goats, and chickens and cows.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Canniff, who travelled with his wife, Christine, at their own expense, called it a worthwhile trip for the bonds the delegation made in the country.<\/p>\n<p>This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn a personal level, this volunteer experience was deeply meaningful. The connections we made with residents, local officials, and especially the children, were genuine and lasting,\u201d he said in an email.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a powerful reminder of how much impact can be made through direct engagement, listening, and showing up with both humility and purpose. It really struck me that, for so many reasons, we\u2019re all truly privileged to call Chatham-Kent our home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Canniff thanked the local businesses that helped sponsor and support the initiative, including Winmar, Schinkels\u2019 Gourmet Meats, and Krunal Patel from Shoppers Drug Mart.<\/p>\n<p>Smith said their delegation was the largest ever to tour the country and didn\u2019t go unnoticed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were national news. We visited with the vice-president at his residence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The trip also underlined for the visitors how fortunate Canadians are.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have everything here. We absolutely have everything,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAnd people still find reason to complain&#8230; which is wrong when you see what people really don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t take things for granted. Like, access to health care is really remarkable, what we have here. We\u2019re so fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smith said the delegation looks forward to staying in close contact with those they met.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe loved them and they loved us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Gambia<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. After an eye-opening trip to The Gambia last month, local service club delegates hope to continue their collaboration, as well as their new friendships. Fate played a role in making the journey to the small west African country a reality, according to Rotary Club of Chatham Sunrise\u2019s Glenn Smith, past-president and current [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":93674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-93675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rotary Delegation Returns from Gambian Trip - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Gambia. 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