Bridging Cultures as an Education Volunteer in The Gambia

An interview with Isabelle Tuveson

In this interview, we hear from Isabelle Tuveson. Isabelle is a Peace Corps volunteer working as a Education volunteer in The Gambia. What Isabelle shares gives us a better understanding of the work volunteers do. We learn about the challenges, rewards, and personal growth that happens from volunteering in a new place. Isabelle talks about living in a different country, working with local people, and dealing with surprise situations. Join us as we learn about Isabelle’s journey and see how volunteering with Peace Corps can change lives.

Table of Contents

• An interview with Isabelle Tuveson
• Volunteer Experience and Motivation
• Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
• Surprises, Challenges, and Personal Growth
• Community Projects and Interactions
• Advice and Support
• Practical Tips and Language Learning
• Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
• Final Thoughts

Volunteer Experience and Motivation

1. Can you provide an overview of being an Education volunteer in The Gambia?

Truthfully, my experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in The Gambia has been nothing short of incredible. This country and its people never fail to challenge me – and sometimes frustrate me – on a daily basis, but they do an amazing job at counteracting any negative emotions by providing me with countless laughs, delicious food, incredible hospitality, and lots of love in all forms. My host mothers, sister, three little brothers, co-teachers, and fellow Peace Corps volunteers have been incredible support systems to me and make having a 24/7 job quite a lot easier. Overall, my seventeen months in The Gambia have been some of the greatest months of my life, and I wouldn’t take back or change anything about them.

2. What motivated you to join the Peace Corps and choose The Gambia?

Although there are many reasons why I wanted to join the Peace Corps, my three main motivating factors were:

1. My passion for volunteering and drive to make a difference in our world,
2. My love for learning about new cultures, and excitement for sharing my own life experiences with others
3. My openness to challenges and the opportunity to discover new ways of improving my perspective of the world and the people that call it home.

Shockingly, I did not choose The Gambia as my service destination. When I first applied to the Peace Corps, I stated that I was open to serving anywhere, but I had a preference for Africa and more specifically Eastern or Southern Africa. For months I was under consideration for a health position in Eswatini, which I was very excited about but later asked to be placed under consideration for a new position due to civil unrest there. After submitting that request, I received my invitation to serve as a Primary Teacher Trainer in The Gambia and promptly accepted!

Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration

3. Can you tell us about living with your host family?

My immediate host family consists of my father (Yusupha), his two wives (Yama & Alima), and their ten collective children. However, my three grandmas, their five children, and a few male cousins also live in my compound. At anytime, there are typically around 20-25 people living in Drammeh kunda (the name of my compound). My father is a grade 3 teacher, a marabout (traditional healer), and a farmer. My mother Yama is a national park ranger and my mother Alima sells delicious breakfast sandwiches, soaps, and produce from our family’s garden.

Integration is such an important part of every Peace Corps volunteer’s journey, and a couple of the tactics that I have used to help me integrate into my family have been to help out with chores (watching my little brothers, cooking, sweeping) and to engage in everyday activities (brewing attaya [a highly concentrated and sugary green tea], playing cards/Ludo, chatting) as often as I can. Gambian culture is forced around family, community, and conversation, so if you are planning to apply for a position in The Gambia, prepare yourself to spend lots of time with friends and family engaging in many conversations over a few rounds of attaya.

Surprises, Challenges, and Personal Growth

4. What has surprised you most about The Gambia?

I never anticipated that The Gambian diet would consist of so much sugar!! Every morning, my family shares a large bowl of monoo (very sugary porridge made from pounded cous) and every day you can find men and women in my village, and throughout The Gambia, drinking shot-sized glasses of attaya (highly concentrated, sugary green tea) or wonjo (sugary hibiscus tea) from reused plastic bottles. Although these sugary treats were something I happily indulged in during the first year of my service, I have since learned just how intense sugar crashes can be and how much happier I am when I mostly eliminate sugar from my diet.

Fortunately, my family has been very understanding of my decision to ditch the monoo, attaya, and wonjo, although it did take me telling them that my doctor in America does not want me to eat sugar to finally convince them to stop giving me my morning monoo.

5. What challenges have you faced, and how did you overcome them?

The greatest challenge I have faced while/after working with my community members on projects was that everyone thought I had hundreds of thousands of Gambian dalasis constantly in my pocket that I could use to answer all of the village’s problems by funding every project that comes up. Alright, so perhaps this is a bit of an over-exaggeration, but once I finally received the funds from my first grant application and that project was underway, there was definitely a very quick change in how often people talked about money around me.

Soon, my headmaster, one of my counterparts, and elders in my village were approaching me with new ideas for projects that my next grant should fund. One of my cousins even started to ask me––quite consistently––for money to buy phone credit after he saw me pay some block-makers for their day’s work. While this change was frustrating at first, I have learned to accept that a lot of it comes from a place of appreciation and excitement, especially since I, according to the village elders, am the first Peace Corps volunteer in my village to implement a project of this scale.

Now, I have overcome these frustrations by setting boundaries, especially with my cousin and young men in my village who would ask me for money, and using the elders’ requests to help me figure out where best to put the funding from my second grant.

6. How have you personally grown as a volunteer?

Absolutely! Actually, it is difficult for me to pinpoint another time in my life when I have consciously noticed and/or experienced this much growth and development in such a short amount of time. While I have certainly grown in many ways, I am most proud of my increased capacity to face each day – and especially each challenge – with positivity.

Knowing that Peace Corps service was going to test me daily, I have made a very conscious effort to find the positives, or at least a sense of humor, from every thing or situation that brought me some discomfort or felt like a challenge to me in some way. While this certainly isn’t always easy – especially since every PCV is going to experience good and bad days, weeks, or even months during their service – it has been so helpful for me to start off every day with the affirmation that I will face every moment with a positive mindset.

Community Projects and Interactions

7. Could you share some of the secondary projects?

My primary project is working as a primary teacher trainer at my village’s Lower Basic School (preschool thru grade 6) and I have been involved in several related projects, including a phonics workshop targeting 121 primary grade teachers in my region.

Some of the secondary projects that I have been involved in include rebuilding and repairing the wall around my school (grant-funded), co-hosting best gardening practices and nutrition workshops alongside of an agriculture volunteer, facilitating monthly public health trainings at my school, and serving as the secretary in my village’s development committee meetings.

8. Can you tell us about any memorable experiences?

One day last year, after a long day at the school, I was on my way out of the school compound when I passed a group of fifth and sixth-grade girls who were chatting and listening to music. One of the girls called my name and invited me to dance, which was usually an offer that I denied as I worked at the school from 8 am until 6 pm and was often too exhausted to bust out a dance move.

However, this time I decided to give them something to laugh about, so I struck a pose, attempted a dance move, and then turned to continue on my way. That was when the whole group erupted into song and dance, encouraging me to dance more! Soon, the small celebration turned into a full-on parade, including a bidong as a drum, back to my compound where all of the girls continued singing, dancing, and chanting until my father ushered them out.

What this experience taught me is that, when you have the energy to do so, you should take advantage of the opportunities to put yourself out there because they might just turn into a highlight of your week, month, or service!

Advice and Support

9. What advice would you give to someone considering joining and serving as an Education volunteer in The Gambia?

Be prepared to work in a school unlike anything you have experienced in the United States. Anticipate limited resources, rambunctious children, unmotivated teachers, and dusty working conditions. But also expect to form some great friendships (with both teachers and children), and have some great conversations – as the teachers at your school may be the only English speakers in your community – and enjoy the opportunity to really make a difference in the lives of many people.

Side note: If you are at all concerned about your teaching experience, or lack thereof, before accepting this or any education position in the Peace Corps, know that your experience as a student in the American education system has provided you with plenty of instructions on how to be an effective, engaged, and successful teacher. Just think back to your best teachers and the teaching styles they used, and now put those methods into action!

10. What skills or qualities do you think are most important for an Education volunteer in The Gambia?

• Patience (because you will be stuck waiting for a geli geli or bus for hours, or because it will take forever for you to receive the funding for your project, or because your community
• members run on Gambian time)
• Resilience (since your mental, emotional, and often physical strength will be challenged on a daily basis)
• Open-mindedness (to religion, unique traditions, new solutions to problems caused by a lack of resources or cultural differences)

11. How has the PC provided support and resources to enhance your service experience?

As my cohort was the first to be reinstated following the COVID-19 pandemic, it almost felt like the Peace Corps, in many ways, was trying to regain their bearings while us volunteers were trying to acclimate to our new home. Because of this, many of the volunteers in my cohort have had to lean on each other for support and resources, especially early on in our services.

However, one way that the Peace Corps has provided very consistent support has been through my program’s very committed and passionate manager and assistant manager. These two individuals have helped to make my experience as an education volunteer in The Gambia exceptional as they are always willing to talk through ideas, listen to the challenges you face, and support you in whatever projects may best serve your school and community.

Practical Tips and Language Learning

12. Anything yet that you packed or didn’t pack that you’d like to tell future volunteers?

Luci solar lights are so worth their price, especially in a country where electricity is either inconsistent or nonexistent.

Strong clothes pins (I brought metal ones from Amazon) are very versatile––I use them for hanging clothes, closing snack bags, holding open my mosquito net during naps, etc.––and are a great gift to give your host family!

Sharp, strong knives (and extras to give as gifts to your host mom(s) and grandmother(s), although do your best to instruct them to be careful… they are used to dull, flimsy knives!)

My favorite sleep shirt! Although it is a bit thicker and I can only really wear it on cooler nights or during the cold season, it was so worth bringing as it reminds me of the comforts of my family’s home in America

Essential oils. Super helpful to ground myself at the beginning and end of each day.

The five-leaf clover I found before I came here. Currently pressed between two pages of the journal I started (but never finished) at the beginning of my service. Not that I have done anything with it apart from looked at it a few times throughout my service, this clover serves as a great reminder of just how fortunate I have been on this journey and just how aligned my lucky stars were before I decided to jump into the unknowns of Peace Corps service.

13. How has learning the language been? Any advice?

Although I have never been much of a language person, I have really enjoyed learning Mandinka and all of the challenges and opportunities learning the local language presents.

One piece of advice is to listen to how Gambians speak English, including the different ways that they phrase things. Often these differences in speech more closely resemble how it would translate into your local language, which could help a lot with figuring out how to better use and learn the language.

Impact of Media and Final Thoughts

14. How do you think your blog contributes to your overall mission as a volunteer?

Apart from completing the Peace Corps’s third goal of sharing stories, information, and pictures of your host country’s culture with people in America, my blog has served as a great space for processing and writing down some of the most notable moments from my service. 

The time I have spent blogging has helped me to more deeply consider the complexities of Gambian culture, especially in comparison to American culture, and both the beautiful and darker sides of life here. Additionally, maintaining a blog has made it quite easy for me to remove myself from other social media platforms––a goal of mine before arriving in The Gambia––which I have really enjoyed.

One piece of advice would be to find a way to make every blog interesting for you to write or create. Being a Peace Corps volunteer is a 24/7 job, so sometimes writing a blog can feel extra burdensome. Therefore, finding a way to make your blogs exciting to write for you is very important for keeping your posts more consistent. One way that I have done this is to add lots of photos, and sometimes videos, to my blog.

Final Thoughts

Isabelle’s journey as a Peace Corps Education volunteer in The Gambia provides an inspirational look into the challenges and rewards of volunteering abroad. Her stories highlight the personal growth, cultural learning, and community impact that comes from immersing oneself in a new place.

Isabelle’s advice for future volunteers underscores the patience, resilience, and open-mindedness needed to make a difference as a Peace Corps volunteer. Her experience shows how volunteering can transform lives on both sides – for the volunteer and the community they serve. Isabelle’s interview offers motivation to step outside one’s comfort zone and embrace the unknown, demonstrating the incredible things that can happen when we reach across cultures to understand each other. And her story illustrates the power volunteers have to change the world through compassion and service.

Let Isabelle’s interview inspire you to get out of your comfort zone. Consider how your skills and passion could empower communities in need around the world.

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The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or The Gambia Government.