Dr Diana Sloane, the country director of Peace Corps, said the volunteers were rigorously screened for professional skills, personal character and medical fitness. "They were selected from among all racial and ethnic groups. They have learned the local language and culture. Most have been placed at a site with a Gambian family and in a village, where they will live and work for two years," she said.
Peace Corps Volunteers take oath in the Gambia
16 Peace Corps volunteers sworn-in Print E-mail
Written by Ebrima Jaw Manneh
Tuesday, 13 December 2005
Sixteen Peace Corps volunteers were on Friday sworn-in by Joseph D. Stafford, the US ambassador to The Gambia, at his Fajara residence.
The volunteers, who hold degrees in various disciplines, including sociology, social work, anthropology, agriculture, biochemestry, liberal studies, history, journalism and corporate communications, are expected to carry with them a legacy that began in September 1967, when Peace Corps volunteers first arrived in The Gambia.
Addressing the volunteers, Mr Stafford said the relationship between the US government and The Gambia is influenced by the "good work of 100 volunteers in areas critical to the development of The Gambia, including environment, education and health."
He then underlined the essence of the Peace Corps, initiated in the early 60s by the slain American President, John F. Kennedy. He said: " Peace Corps is an important symbol and tangible evidence of our values as Americans. It embodies and projects abroad our idealism, enthusiasm, generosity, companion, optimism, and support for human freedom and individual dignity."
Acknowledging that Peace Corps has been significant element of their ability to inspire and persuade rather than coerce, Stafford opined: "We look to volunteers to perform a service that we cannot. Long after we are gone, it is the Peace Corps that communities will remember. As you proceed to your sites, remember how important you are to what we are trying to achieve here. You are truly ambassadors and we know that you will carry on the excellent work that those before you have."
Dr Diana Sloane, the country director of Peace Corps, said the volunteers were rigorously screened for professional skills, personal character and medical fitness. "They were selected from among all racial and ethnic groups. They have learned the local language and culture. Most have been placed at a site with a Gambian family and in a village, where they will live and work for two years," she said.
According to her, the group is "eager, resilient, thoughtful, bright and motivated," adding that they have "exceptional technical skills."
Kotu Cham, Permanent Secretary at the Department of State for Forestry and the Environment who stood in for his Secretary of State at the ceremony, said: "Gambians appreciate the Peace Corps volunteers’ attitude towards our traditional values and cultures. In spite of the differences in our backgrounds, they adapt so quickly and easily into our way of life that effectively attracts local community members to quickly take up to them, and accept them as members of the community."
He assured the volunteers of government’s commitment and resolve to integrate environment and natural resources into the framework of "our national poverty alleviation programme".
According to him, there has been a rethink and refocus on the collaboration with the US in providing volunteers in these sectors to respond to the needs of The Gambia better.
"This refocusing of our priorities stemmed from the fact that The Gambia is basically an agrarian economy with most of its natural resources centre on the wild flora and fauna in the form of the forests, the marine and riverine systems, as well as our ground water resources," he said.
He disclosed that the Vision 2020 and the Gambia Environment Action Plan (GEAP), which form the basis for "our actions" within the natural resources and the environment sectors, have called for the optimum utilisation of these resources.
This reasoning, he noted, was strengthened by the experience the country had gone through from the mid 80’s and 90’s, when it had a devastating drought that affected the regeneration of these natural resources. "Agricultural production fell, the recharge rate of The Gambia River dropped, a high population growth exacerbated the vegetation and forest cover loss, and a heavy pressure was exerted on the fisheries resources. Overall, the level of poverty increases in the country," he said.
In view of this, he added, the GEAP II has "strongly emphasised the need for building ownership and constituency around natural resource policies, and I am glad to note that successes that were registered in the course of GEAP I implementation are being deepened within the communities, where most of you will be deployed".
At the end of the ceremony each of the volunteers was awarded a certificate for successfully completing their 10-week-long orientation in the Kiangs.
Then Jaliba Kuyateh spiced up the ceremony with his ancestral Kora music. Dr Rodney Stubina chaired the ceremony.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 13 December 2005 )
