The Gap (Not referring to the company that had those cool swing/khaki pants commercials 9 years ago)

This week the post is small as a result of exhaustion. Wee been preparing all through Easter break for a massive YMCA Digital Studio/Computer Training Centre marketing day, and I feel much like I would in the build up to a finals week exam. Or perhaps that isn´t quite fitting, it´s more like the final stages of testing a public beta of a massively multiplayer online video game right before unleashing the colossus out into the world*.

In an effort to promote the digital studio production capabilities as well as the entire IT department (computer training classes, internet cafe, and kids' ICT summer camp we are hosting a marketing day at one of the ritzy hotels along the coast. I have been preparing a demo video of our work so far, as well as trying to prepare a 30 minute speech and presentation of what we do. We will be marketing to a large number of NGOs hoping to build partnerships, and I feel overwhelmed at the showmanship, charisma, and general public speaking ability that will soon be required ot me as well as the netire staff.

Partially to take a short break and enjoy the holiday and partially to help prepare for the event I spent Easter visiting with one of my colleagues from the Computer Training Centre. He´s West African but not from The Gambia and we had an enlightening discussion on what it´s like being here as a foreigner, African or otherwise. One of the statements he made during the conversation will stay with me for a long time, and it was one in which I had no words of comfort to offer, ¨The most frustrating thing is traveling to Europe or America to do work with one of our YMCA partners. You know why you are going and you know you will be coming back home, but inevitably you almost always are delayed for a few hours or an entire day because the border patrol thinks you are smuggling drugs. I wish they would try and take it on a case by case basis, but I know that stuff is all figured from statistics. All I can do is do my job well, go home, and hope that respectful citizens will stimulate change.¨

I also discovered that he is one of the first people I have met in The Gambia who not only knew what Thai food is (or Asian food for that matter), but claimed it was one of his favorite kinds of food, especially if it is Phet Maak**.

The next day we had a chance to tour the hotel where the marketing day wil ltake place, and I must admit I was taken aback by the first class facility. Situated on a small cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean the entire design transported us to a sort of Gambian fairly tale village. The hotel, I decided, was a showpiece for the phrase, ¨You can do anything anywhere, as long as you´ve got the money honey.¨

Walking through the reception and guest rooms we were greeted by a soft orange and red atmospheric lighting, hard wood floors, air conditioning, plasma TVs, and a whole host of colorfully painted and textured walls. I found the solid execution of design impressive, which I can best describe as a mixture of western minimalism architecture and furniture design accented in West African colors and textures. It is probably what a lot of tourists want in their time here, a feeling of West Africa but still with western comforts. If that was the intention of the designers then I would have to shake their hands and say, ¨A job well done lads.¨

Of course the tour of fairy tale village reminded me once again of the huge gap between rich and poor here in The Gambia and the world at large. I´ve written about this feeling before, but it bears repeating because it is so easy to situate in one area and lose perspective. In my village I do consider myself rather lucky to have solar power and a chest high fence that offers some protection (what might be considered middle class), but then I went to see a new volunteer in my area who said of her abnormally comfortable home (super high class), ¨This place is nicer than my home in America.¨ Her house is about a 10 minute walk from mine and during the course of that walk I pass a few compounds without any protective fence and a constructed of simple mud brick and thatched roof. Going from the tour of the hotel to just my little section of village I went from the pinnacle of Western posh society to al llevles of Gambian society, contrasts alive and well.

Destructive desire and jealously can become consumption of one´s being. To be content to living within your own means and recognizing the gifts that you do have is the key. It is often forgotten by some in The Gambia as well as all over the world. I´m not sure if I will ever become comfortable with a common phrase that I hear in The Gambia, ¨You have money, take me to America where it is Babylon. There it is easy, not like here in The Gambia.¨

*For non gamers or n00bs, a similar feeling might be the public opening of a new restaurant that you´ve put all of your hopes into. Nerves are high and long term commitment is sinking in.
** Note for non-Thai speaking people, this means very spicy. Left in the original Thai to signify not just very spicy rather Thai spicy. In other words, turning up the volume meter to 11.