Gambia Expedition 2008

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Thank you
2008-02-04 11:54:00
Many thanks to Jill Mansfield for donating a wonderful collection of children's books for the Sambel Kunda Lower Basic school library, and to Freecycler "Jilly Bean" for donating skipping ropes and juggling balls. These items are much appreciated and will be put to good use.

Fundraising ceilidh - a good time had by all
2008-02-02 11:35:00
The Gambia Expedition 2008 Ceilidh Night was a huge success, both in terms of everyone enjoying themselves and raising funds for the expedition!It was good to see everyone putting their social dancing skills into practice for old favourites such as the Gay Gordons, the Dashing White Sergeant and the Canadian Barn Dance! A special mention goes to the brave bare-footed dancers - never mind sore heads, I think there will be a few sore toes today!A total profit of £565 was raised and will go towards the cost of running the expedition.A huge thank you to everyone who came and made the night the success that it was - we hope you had as much fun as we did!
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Clothing
2008-01-20 14:29:00
Gambia Expedition 2008 clothing is now available to buy! As always, all proceeds raised from the sale of clothing merchandise will go towards covering the costs of running the expedition.Grey hoodie - £20Navy t-shirt - £10Range of sizes available. Please state which size you require when ordering.Email gambia08@yahoo.co.uk to place an order, or use the contact form on this site.
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Can you help us?
2008-01-09 13:12:00
There are lots of ways of supporting the Gambia Expedition 2008.Maybe you or your company can offer....items that we may raffle or auction at fundraising events?publicity? We are trying to create as much awareness of our project as possible. Maybe you can link to our website to help spread the word!printing services for promotional materials? **much-needed - donations/discounts welcome**outdoorwear? (the expedition takes place during the wet season)Or maybe you know a primary school class that would like to become penpals with the children of Sambel Kunda Lower Basic School? This would be a great opportunity for Gambian children to practice and improve their English, but would also allow children from 2 entirely different countries to have fun, learn about another culture and make new friends!Financial donations can, of course, also be made at any time using PayPal's secure server by clicking on the orange button on the right.Some examples of what money can buy in The Gambia:A bike...

Ceilidh Night!
2008-01-04 11:53:00
Dig out your dancing shoes and come twirl on the 31st January at the Gambia Expedition ceilidh night!The ceilidh is to be held in the Debates Chamber of Glasgow University Union. Tickets are £5 and can be obtained from any of the 8 expedition members, or by emailing gambia08@yahoo.co.uk.Don't worry if you don't know any dances, all will be explained on the night, and learning and getting it wrong is half the fun!
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Fundraising Raffle!
2008-01-01 14:22:00
Hi everyone, I am having a raffle to raise vital funds for the University of Glasgow Gambia Expedition 2008, which will combine scientific studies of Gambian biodiversity with humanitarian work & education in the rural community of Sambel Kunda. The Gambia is the smallest country in Africa and, as such, is often sadly overlooked.The prize is my beloved lifesize Die Another Day cardboard cut-out of Pierce Brosnan & Halle Berry. These are LIMITED EDITION promotional items only found in selected locations at the time of release of the film. Die Another Day was released in 2002. You don't come across a chance to win a prize like this every day!Raffle tickets are ONLY £1.50, you will recieve a unique code by email and 1 ticket will be picked out of a hat. There are no rules as to how many raffle tickets you can purchase - you can buy as many as you want if you want to increase your chance of winning!GOOD LUCK!!
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2008 Calendar!
2007-12-23 20:01:00
The Gambia Expedition 2008 calendar is now ready to buy! It contains a collection of great photos taken in The Gambia by Laura Jane Weir and Laura Dalgetty, and all proceeds will go towards the 2008 expedition, which aims to combine humanitarian work at the local (and only) school in Sambel Kunda, with with much-needed scientific studies on a wide variety of animal species in the overlooked country of The Gambia - the smallest country in Africa.It's only £2 and it is for a GREAT cause! It will come in handy for noting university deadlines, business meetings, birthdays and other important dates - EVERYONE needs a calendar in their life! So if you haven't bought one yet, buy this one! And if you have bought one already, well why not buy another one for another room!If you would like to order one, you can do this by clicking on the orange "Make a Donation" button on the right hand panel of this site, using Paypal's secure server. Postage is FREE! And what better time to buy than th...
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Donate Online
2007-12-22 22:03:00
It is now possible to make a donation at the click of a button to the University of Glasgow Gambia Expedition 2008! Just click on the "Make a Donation" button on the right hand panel of this page and you will be directed to a secure server where you can safely make a payment online.A few pence will go a long way to help raise vital funds to enable this project to go ahead as planned, and the benefits will be felt by an entire community and it's future generations in Africa's smallest country, which is sadly often overlooked.Please give generously - it is the season of good will after all.
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Summary
2007-12-22 21:13:00
The University of Glasgow Gambia Expedition 2008 will give 8 undergraduate students the opportunity to strengthen the links made between the UK and rural Africa by the previous 3 expeditions. It gives us the chance to make a real difference to people's lives at ground level and to carry out vital and fascinating studies on a relatively untouched and understudied area of the world.During the expedition, we will work alongside a number of Gambians at the Sambel Kunda Lower Basic School. In Sambel Kunda we will be running a summer school for local children, with the aim of increasing local knowledge about the work carried out by the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Trust and the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust, combining themes of conservation, animal welfare and sustainable development.We will also focus on teaching English and creative lessons, an area lacking from the current school curriculum due to a lack of teachers and resources. We will also aim to increase disease prevention awareness...
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The Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Trust
2007-12-22 21:05:00
During our time in the Gambia, we will be staying almost entirely in the main base of the Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Trust (UK charity number 108115).Extinct throughout much of its former range (it was wiped out in The Gambia in the early 1900s) the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) remains a globally endangered species. The Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Trust has also been heavily involved in education of the local population and this is seen as one of the most important factors in the continued success of their work. Stella Marsden writes:Managing the CRT and protecting the islands is an ongoing task with noforeseeable end. The chimps will need to be protected as long as humans pose athreat to them. If the children of the villages surrounding the Project can bebetter educated they may well go on to be people of influence in The Gambiataking with them some of the CRT's values for conservation and protection and ameasure of goodwill towards the CRT. Education is also a vital element in thede...

Aims and Objectives
2007-12-22 20:54:00
The University of Glasgow Gambia Expedition 2008 aims to blend zoological studies with local education and community work, combining to promote conservation and environmental awareness in the next generation of young Africans.Working with local professionals the team will split into two separate but intertwined projects: study of the fauna of the park, and the community work which will be carried out in the village; running a summer school for local children, evening classes for adults, and a crèche for young children, continuing the work done by the highly successful 2005, 2006 and 2007 expeditions.The work we will be undertaking will be focused in Nyassang Forest Park and bordering village of Sambel Kunda.We will:Accurately record the population density of the endangered red colobusmonkey (Procolobus badius) within the area.Provide an estimate of the local warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) population and attempt to find crop raiding deterents.Establish the population size and terr...

Warthog Study
2007-12-22 20:50:00
The common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) is known in The Gambia as the bush-pig and has been described as a serious cause of crop damage in the Sambel Kunda community. As a result of this, the warthog is viewed as a pest and is frequently hunted, despite the fact that it cannot be used as a source of food due to religious beliefs.The aim of this project is to carry out a population study of warthogs to provide an accurate estimate of population size and habitat use. This will be done using the line transect method. A pilot study will be carried out in the first week to establish the transects and the size of the surrounding area that can be viewed from the path. As a diurnal grazer, warthogs should be easily seen from the transects, where they exist. Changes in the height and thickness of vegetation during the changing seasons will also be recorded, along with indirect measures of presence such as footprints, digging, and dung pellet groups.The maximum sighting distance will be s...
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Red Colobus Monkey Study
2007-12-22 20:48:00
The red colobus monkey (Procolobus badius) is classified as endangered, which means it is ‘facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future’ (www.redlist.org). It is also severely lacking in data and no studies had previously been carried out as to its population density in the Nyassang Forest Park area of The Gambia. Procolobus badius is known to inhabitat this area due to sightings during the 2005 expedition. This project was fully set up by Anna Harrison (2006 expedition leader) last year, but she was unable to carry it out due to leader commitments, and an attempt to carry it out in 2007 was severely hindered by illness of the fieldworker, Laura Dalgetty. Laura will be joining the expedition again this year, and will utilise the experience she gained from last year to refine her study and use it for her 4th year honours projectRed colobus monkeys are distinguishable by the rusty coloured markings on their otherwise black hair. They differ from other monke...
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Vervet Monkey Study
2007-12-22 20:46:00
The vervet monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops) is one of the most common and widespread primates in Africa, ranging from South Africa up to the Sub-Saharan belt. It owes much of its success to its unspecialised body plan and generalist omnivore diet, which allows it to utilise a range of habitats. Preferred habitat is riverine forest, but their adaptable nature allows them to live in almost all wooded habitats outside the equatorial rainforest. They have also been described as the 2nd worst primate for causing crop damage after baboons. They are one of the few African primates that will happily forage on the ground, which should make behavioural observations easier to record than in other monkey species.C. aethiops lives in territorial troops ranging from 8 to 50 individuals in size, with there being familiy groups within the troop. Although there is a dominance hierarchy within the troop, there is no one single dominant individual. Instead, it is the higher ranking females that initia...
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Raptor Recording and Avian Behavioural Study
2007-12-22 20:43:00
Gambia is famous for its ornithology and the country attracts tourists from all over the world who come to study the birdlife. Despite there being 60 species of Falconiformes described in Gambia and 11 species of Strigiformes (Emms & Barnett, 2006.), only 8 Falconiformes and 2 Strigiformes were reported in Stephanie Ballantynes 2005 study. It is likely that this was due to the survey techinique used (the MacKinnon List Technique) rather than there being a lack of raptors in the area. With Guillam’s long experience working with raptors over the last 9 years, he hopes to be able to use his skills in raptor identification to provide an accurate impression of the species composition in the Forest Park during the 2008 expedition. Birds of prey are such charismatic animals, that being able to give a good impression of the species present and their abundance could potentially attract more visitors to the area.In addition to co-ordinating the fieldwork recording the raptor species enc...
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Guillam McIvor
2007-12-22 20:41:00
Guillam McIvor (22) – Fifth Year, ZoologyGuillam is a currently studying the fifth and final year of his MSci course in Zoology. Though this is his first expedition with the Exploration Society, Guillam has spent the last four years gaining experience in a number of studies. In the summer of 2005 he was involved in both field and lab based work as part of a study by the University of the effects of nutrition on development and learning in Blue Tits (Parus caeruleus). In 2006 he was accepted onto the IBLS faculties MSci work placement programme, and subsequently spent 11 months working for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the Scottish Highlands radio-tracking juvenile Red Kites (Milvus milvus). Following this, Guillam then spent the summer of 2007 in Iceland, studying the incubation of Eider ducks (Somateria mollisima), before returning to University and embarking on the Level-4 Tropical Rainforest Ecology Field Course to Ecuador.Outside University Guillam greatly e...

Jessica Ryder
2007-12-22 20:39:00
Jessica Ryder (21) – Third Year, ZoologyJessica is a third year zoology student at Glasgow University. She spent a year living and working in a very remote Amerindian village in Guyana, South America, where she was a maths and science teacher in the local secondary school. During this year, she gained invaluable experience in teaching, lesson planning and classroom management using only very limited supplies and equipment. These skills will be extremely useful when in the Gambia, as Jessica will be working closely with the school and community, helping organise and run the summer school, adult education classes and the crèche.Outside university work, Jessica has been elected captain of the university 1st XI hockey team for the last two years and has enjoyed this experience greatly. Heading the hockey team has given Jessica great opportunity to develop her leadership and team management skills, whilst at the same time being one of a team working towards the same goal.Besides hocke...
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Fraser Bryden
2007-12-22 20:38:00
Fraser Bryden (20) – Third Year, ZoologyFraser is 20 years old and currently in 3rd year studying Zoology. By going to Gambia he aims to carry out the fieldwork for his 4th year honours project, and in focussing on Vervet monkeys realise a long standing ambition to studying primates. To do this while experiencing a part of the world that will be completely new to him is a very exciting prospect.Last summer, Fraser worked in a surf shop in North Carolina, USA. He was required to work with people from a new culture while being far away from home. By doing this he developed his personality and became much more confident and outgoing. He has a great interest in football, playing every Saturday for a local team and follows Manchester United passionately. He hopes that by going to Gambia he can develop his skills in field biology and feels he will be an excellent addition to the expedition.

Laura Dalgetty
2007-12-22 20:37:00
Laura Dalgetty (21) –Third year, ZoologyLaura is in her third year at Glasgow University. She is currently studying zoology and hopes to go on to do forth year honours next year. This will be Laura’s third visit to Africa as she previously spent time hiking in the mountains of Morocco and was also a member of The Gambia 2007 Expedition. Laura will be repeating a population density study on the local Red Colobus Monkey during her time in Gambia. This study will hopefully be used as her honours project as well as helping increase the conservation status of The Nyssang Forest Park. Outside of university Laura likes to spend time horse riding and spinning poi. Laura has taken part in many fundraising events such as abseiling for a new small animal hospital, helped raise over one thousand pounds for a new MRI scanner at her local hospital and contributed to the previous expedition's fundraising. Laura hopes to bring a lot of enthusiasm and experience to the expedition and is looking...
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Gordon Hall
2007-12-22 20:36:00
Gordon Hall (20) - Second Year, Biology and GeographyGordon is fascinated by nature and is interested in environmental issues. He broadened his horizons travelling to Australia in his gap year. Here, he helped Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) by removing invasive plant species and planting trees. He has also participated in UK conservation projects removing gorse and rhododendrons. He loves working as part of a team and meeting new people. In his free time Gordon enjoys playing his fiddle, debating, and cycling. The bush pig potamochoerus porcus is currently a major pest in Gambia through destruction of local agriculture. In Gambia, Gordon will be working to find environmentally sustainable methods to help reduce their impact. He will also spend two days a week teaching in the summer school.
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Jennifer Iles
2007-12-22 20:34:00
Jennifer Iles (20) - Second Year, BiologyJenny is currently in second year at Glasgow studying Biology, with the view to go on to complete a degree in Zoology. She has a keen interest in conservation and feels that gaining understanding of how ecosystems function is the key to ensuring that conservation measures are successful. The expedition to Gambia appealed to Jenny because it offers the opportunity to represent the University by conducting studies in a region of rich diversity where our findings will be directly beneficial to the local community. During her time in Gambia, Jenny will work with Gordon and Laura Jane examining the population dynamics of the warthogs found in the area. She is especially enthusiastic about this study, due to the potential benefits it holds for is of importance as it will enable the local people to understand more about the species which causes problems for the farmers, this will hopefully lead to better management and control measures for warthogs.
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Sabrina Rossi
2007-12-22 20:32:00
Sabrina Rossi (18) - Second Year, MedicineSabrina Rossi is a second year medical student in Glasgow University. She will be part of the 2008 Gambia expedition, focusing on community based activities with Jessica. Last summer, Sabrina spent 3 weeks in Malawi with the association SKIP(Students for Kids International Project), made up of University health care students. In Malawi, Sabrina did volunteer work in an orphan care and social rehabilitation centre, working with pre-school children and discussing health issues with the youth group. Sabrina enjoys working with children, and in high school she was an assistant for a physical education class for 10 year olds. She attended an American School for 12 years and learnt English as a foreign language herself, so is looking forward to teaching English in Gambia. She is very excited about the expedition and hopes to be able to make a great contribution to its success.
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Laura Jane Weir
2007-12-22 20:30:00
Laura Jane Weir (25) – First Year, BiologyLaura Jane is a 1st year biology student and hopes to go on to study zoology. Before starting at university, Laura Jane worked at Edinburgh Zoo, where her passion for primates was cemented. She enjoys carrying out voluntary work whenever she can and has previously run animal handling sessions at Edinburgh’s Butterfly and Insect World. Most recently she has taken on joint responsibility of tending to the animals in the university’s Zoology Museum.Laura Jane has thrust herself into university life since she arrived and found herself abseiling down the 177ft bell tower within her first couple of weeks to raise funds for a new small animal hospital... despite her fear of heights! She loves the outdoors, exploring new places and meeting new people.This will not be Laura Jane’s first time in the Gambia. She visited the country in February 2007 and is delighted to have been given the opportunity to return with the university’s Exploration...
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Sambel Kunda Education Project
2007-12-22 20:18:00
Sambel Kunda Lower Basic is the only school in the village, educating to the UK equivalent of primary level, and is deeply impoverished and lacking in basic educational resources. During 2005, 2006 & 2007 expeditions, expedition members observed a great enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge in the students, who also demonstrated much progression in all areas taught during the summer school. Their ability, enthusiasm and confidence grew a tremendous amount even in just two months.Lessons in The Gambia are all taught in the official language of the country which is English, however levels of spoken English in Sambel Kunda is very poor. This is mostly due to the fact that many families are unable to afford send their children to school. Without a competent level of English it is very hard for the children to learn other subjects and subsequent employment prospects are greatly impaired.Due to teacher shortages, the standard curriculum taught in the school features a very narrow select...
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Tilibola Skills Centre
2007-12-22 20:09:00
A meeting was held at the end of the 2006 expedition. At this meeting, a request was made by the village women that a skills centre be built in order to provide a place where the women from the surrounding villages could congregate to share and develop skills such as soap making and sewing. The 2007 expedition took this on board and, working alongside Future in our Hands, a Swedish N.G.O., they provided the funding and equipment so that this centre could be built. One of the aims of the 2008 expedition is to assess how the skills centre has been used during it’s first year, and to offer support if required.
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Logistics and Planning
2007-12-22 19:42:00
ItineraryThe expedition is planned to run for nine weeks from the end of June to the end of August 2008.As two of the members of the expedition has previously visited the country no further reconnaissance will be required. The team will fly out together and a preparatory week will be spent in the coastal town of Bakau. This period will provide time to acclimatise and focus on the project as well as allowing preparatory logistics to be worked out. The group will then move up river to Nyassang Forest Park where they will spend the next 7 weeks (including a short break mid-project), supervised by Stella Marsden, before returning to Bakau for a further week to start analyses and the report process.TransportThe expedition members will make their own ways to London Gatwick, and then the whole expedition will fly to Banjul. In country, we will be hiring a vehicle with a driver who is used to local conditions.AccommodationWhilst on project the expedition members will live in the camp of the...
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Risk Assessment
2007-12-22 19:21:00
Potential HazardsPhysical·The Gambia is a humid and highly precipitous country. The time we spend in country will be during the wet season with typically hot days and wet afternoons/evenings. Road conditions may be treacherous.·Long exposure to sun and heat may cause problems of overheating, dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Tropical downpours may also make roads and walking in the forest dangerous.Biological·Diseases prevalent in The Gambia are Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Diphtheria, Yellow Fever and Rabies. Malaria is also a huge problem. In addition, there are poisonous snakes, scorpions, centipedes and spiders in the forest where we will be working, as well as several biting insect species such as mosquitoes, army ants and leafcutter ants. Some plant species present a problem due to harmful spikes or irritant secretions.Man-made·Fieldwork can be dangerous with many physical hazards.·As with all Sub-Saharan African countries the political situation is liab...
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