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Interested in going to the Gambia for your DofE Volunteering Section?

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Published: Wednesday, 17 December 2014 11:54

Lloyds2014

MBG offers three month plus volunteer placements to work in Gunjur, the Gambia. You may work as teaching assistants in the Upper Basic School, as medical assistants in the health centre or as supporters to TARUD and its development programme. The work you do largely depends on the skills you have to offer and the ability of the school, health centre or project to accommodate those skills. Combined with fundraising for MBG before and reporting/publicity when you get back will make up a whole DofE Gold section.

Download 2014 Gambia Trip Summary

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Read more on volunteer work placements in Gunjur.

Gold volunteers in The Gambia

At the end of November 2014, 15 Gold DofE participants from Lloyds Banking Group travelled out to The Gambia in West Africa as part of their DofE programmes. For their Volunteering section activity they worked together and raised £5,750 to fund the building of a primary school in the country. As the culmination of their Volunteering section they travelled out to the village of Gunjur in The Gambia in three groups, each staying a week, to help build the school. Each person lived with a different local family, sharing their food and managing without running water or sanitation in the homes, despite electricity reaching the village earlier in the year.

Temperatures ranged from 28 - 36˚C so some days the groups could work 9am – 5pm and other days only 9am - 1.30pm. However, the village was so friendly that even when the groups weren't volunteering there were things they could get involved with, including a naming ceremony, a wedding and visiting a family compound. There is no Ebola in The Gambia, however people are still afraid to visit anywhere in West Africa, causing tourism to decline by 80% this year. Therefore, it is more important than ever that trips like this continue to support communities in The Gambia. This visit was organised by Marlborough Brandt Group.