Lauren with children from SOS Children's Village Bakoteh - A child filming for 'Our Africa'
I visit Gambia every Christmas for a couple of weeks and have done for the past four years. I love meeting the locals and getting to know them as people.
- “Visiting SOS Children's Village Bakoteh”
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Lauren Fowlis, SOS Children Supporter
I visit Gambia every Christmas for a couple of weeks and have done for the past four years. I love meeting the locals and getting to know them as people.
Over the last couple of years, I decided to start taking over things for the local children such as clothing, stationary and toys. One year I visited a small nursery school which was brilliant, the children where so excited with their gifts and the BIG smiles made my day. From this day on I decided to visit somewhere different every year and make children's days.
When I returned in 2010 I decided to ask my employer to help with my decision to take over more things for the children. By Christmas 2011 I was inundated with clothing, toys, balls, shoes, toothbrushes and much more. I decided to look online for charities that helped in The Gambia and came across SOS Children. I chose this charity due to the hard work that seemed to be put in to the project and the SOS mothers that give up their time to give children a new and healthy life.
I contacted SOS Children and enquired about visiting the Children's Village with my family. They helped me to organise my visit and even offered me a letter for my airline so that I could receive a further 10kg free allowance for the charity, which meant I could take over more things.
I visited the SOS Children’s Village in Bakoteh on 19 December with my mother and father who had never been to The Gambia before, and what can I say? They absolutely loved the SOS Village and cannot wait to return. It is very humbling to see the difference the gifts made and the footballs especially went down a treat with the young boys.
A lady called Marie Gomez Manga showed us around. She does an amazing job and is very efficient! She was a little wary at first with us walking around each of the SOS houses giving out the gifts, but when she saw we had enough to go around, she was happy to spend a couple of hours introducing us to some of the children and the SOS mothers.
I would recommend that anyone travelling to The Gambia and wanting to make a difference (just by taking a couple of hours out of their holiday) visit the SOS Village. Meeting the children is not only interesting, it leaves you with a smile of you face for days.
I would like to thank staff at the SOS Village for taking the time in show us around and letting us hand out our gifts. I will definitely visit again in December 2012 and have already looked in to getting more help from work and asked friends and family for their donations.
SOS Children supporter Kate Humble set up the charity ‘Stuff Your Rucksack’ in 1999 which helps responsible travellers make a practical difference to the lives of those in developing countries by giving gifts to those who really need them. Find out more.
- "Why I love working on ‘Our Africa”
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Will Osborn, Web Editor, SOS Children UK
If, like me, you haven't had the chance to visit Africa and you have built up a mental image of what it 'might' be like, I urge you to have a quick look at Our Africa.
This new site aims to educate children and young people about the continent, through films made by the children living there. Whatever your age, before you know it, you may well have spent an hour or two searching through the countries on the site, watching the videos and being amazed at the colour and vibrancy of a continent that we are often told is in a bleak situation, but yet clearly has passion and humanity coursing through it.
I have been working on the site since it began, and I am amazed by the consistent quality of the films we have received. Whether it's a feature about how a marimba is made in Zimbabwe; a visit to a cocoa plantation in Ivory Coast; or the magnificent Meskel festival in Ethiopia, the skill of the reporting and the diversity of the footage is often inspiring and sometimes even moving. Some of the young people who are living in SOS Children's Villages are clearly very talented; they have charisma, maturity and a sense of humour which shines through in every video (just watch the 'Welcome to Uganda' video to see what I mean).
It is always a pleasure to receive a new set of films, to get to know a new Chief Reporter and to experience their country from their perspective. Working on this site has completely changed my perspective of Africa. Whilst poverty and conflict in Africa is terrible and extremely sad (Our Africa doesn't shirk from these truths), overall, the videos in Our Africa present an optimistic, often joyful perspective, which can't help but rub off on whoever watches the films. It will more than likely fuel a personal passion to go and explore Africa for yourself, to meet just a few of these people who are so naturally happy, despite having few of the technological and societal benefits that we in the West tend to take for granted.
The purpose of Our Africa is to educate and inspire young people to discover what Africa really is, country-by-country. It teaches them about the continent and helps them to understand and challenge their perceptions. I hope young people will learn something new from our project, whether that be facts they can use in their schoolwork and exams, or simply more about what life is like for children growing up in the 54 unique and diverse countries that make up Africa. Check out the site now.
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