Children & Giving:
In
Gambia, you will see plenty of children. The median age of Gambians is
17.5 and few are shy when it comes to toubabs. Most will at least
stop what they are doing to stare and call "Tubaab!" when you pass,
and a good percentage will ask for minties, pens, or dalasi. Some
kids will
hold your hand or shake your hand or present palms for a high five.
No
matter how cute the children of Gambia are, it is unadvisable to give out
money or candy
to random kids on the street, as this promotes begging, and at the
very least surprisingly vicious fighting over scarce goods. Instead,
give donations to a children's charity operating in West Africa.
One
of the most disturbing sights is seeing a tourist throw candy
from the back of a jeep. Not only is this extremely
dehumanizing, but kids sometimes do hurt each other when scrambling to get a
coveted minty. If you want to give
away candy or writing utensils, it is best to give them to a school or organization, or to the head of a family you have befriended, where
they can be distributed fairly. You could also do teacher volunteering in schools or
other places that provide education or assistance to children. There
are many ways to help children sans money or minties, and the
reward—little beaming faces with bright eyes and huge smiles—is
definitely worth aiming for.
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Child Abuse:
Research
shows that children abused through prostitution can be as young
as 10 years old in the Gambia. In some cases older girls, aged
over 15 say that they are younger and virgins
in order to attract customers. Research also found that some
tourists convince themselves that a child is older than they
really are to allay their guilt in having sex with them. Child sex tourism is particularly prevalent around the Tourist
Development Area, which includes Kololi, Senegambia and Pipeline.
Although there are some cases of children being pressurised into
prostitution by their family, an intermediary is often absent
and children work alone or in a small group. Sometimes an older
‘brother’ may set up the transaction, but may not be forcing the
girl to prostitute herself. In other cases, a man may become
known to tourists as a good ‘intermediary’ and be recommended to
their friends. In this case, the ‘intermediary’ will be paid by
both the tourist and the child to initiate contact.
(Immediately above is an abridged summary).
Unicef
(2003)
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