We first came to The Gambia three years ago, with our family for an all-inclusive luxury hotel holiday. The agenda was great, it included trips out to the jungle to visit tourist sites and lovely mangrove lakes. We were to see crocodiles in captivity and to learn some of the history of The Gambia we were going to visit the local museum. Everything was going to plan, the Gambian people were so welcoming, they are known as the smiley people and they truly live up to that name, they are always happy and nothing is too much trouble.

We were nearing the end of the week and had one last trip organised which was to go off road to visit local schools and to go and see a typical village and village home. On the day we all had a good breakfast, we were not sure how long it would be before they ate again. We piled into the back of an open backed truck with tourists from other hotels and set off, when we left the main road it was apparent straight away that is was going to be it was a bumpy ride. As we furthered down through some of the smaller villages the children ran out and cried out minty two bob, which goes back to the early British occupancy, as they drove past they would throw the children sweets, we were two bob which as anyone as old as me knows is old currency.

Our guide Muhammed asked if anyone had finished with their water bottles could they throw them to the children, this was the beginning of the real Gambia, the Gambian peoples struggle behind the scenes. We visited the school first and were shown around the classrooms full of very happy children singing and doing their times tables out loud. The headmaster was a very proud man and you could tell how passionate he was about his job and achievements. As he showed us around he explained that it costs around £195 for a child to go to school for a year which included their uniforms, pens and pencils. Sadly, he said a lot of the children’s families couldn’t afford to pay for them to attend school and many who did attend often dropped out.

Over 900 Children use these toilets which are little more than holes in the ground.