Camp
Africa, an organization established to promote youths and children in the
country, is set to organise a local youth camp and African heritage week later
this year.
According
to Camp Africa, this initiative is geared to contribute to primary and
secondary education in The Gambia by helping children the future leaders of
tomorrow, to develop key skills and attributes for their career and personal
development.
Camp
Africa realises that most Gambian children are shy, and find it difficult to
perform in public places and have not also develop the culture of writing
stories, books, public speaking, storytelling, acting and drama.
School
graduates, primary and secondary, often lack the ability to speak publicly,
write stories, acting and drama; despite the cultural impact embedded in the
children’s upbringing, such skills and attributes are fundamental for
educational development.
Therefore,
Camp Africa aims to contribute its quota in national development through
educational empowerment of youths by promoting public speaking, story writing,
acting and drama.
The aim of the youth camp and African heritage
week is to encourage public speaking.
The
youth camp and heritage week is aimed at encouraging students to know the
historic figures with significant impacts on African history, particularly in
The Gambia.
The
youth camp and heritage week is also meant to encourage students in the field
of research, and develop a research database on historical influencers of
Africa and The Gambia, in particular.
‘This
will give students confidence and ability to speak in public, and will hugely
benefit the aspiring future politicians, lawyers, and public speaker, in
general.
Shyness
and lack of confidence is embedded in the Gambian youths often attributed to
the culture and tribal upbringing.
However,
in modern society, public speaking qualities and attributes are crucial, and
thus needs to be enhanced and promoted.
Camp
Africa is taking the lead in ensuring that students and youths are provided
with the platform in which they can develop their skills and mature in public
speaking.
Camp
Africa seeing the need for education on historical and cultural bearing, and
its importance and impact on the shaping of the future Africa (Gambia), wants to be at the forefront of
ground-breaking research on African (Gambian) legendary figures, to help us
understand their respective contribution to continent and national development;
then and impacts now; in order to record accurately or with significant
certainty as recording of historical happening, especially unrecorded, but
dependence on word of mouth or historical research is never full proof.
As
a result, Camp Africa is encouraging youngsters (school children) to support this
research programme to make them aware of their motherlands legends, to be among
the shapers of future research and future literature on legendary research.
The
Gambia’s young generation is deficient of its forefather’s knowledge because of
lack of extensive research, and historical records of personalities who
contributed to then Africa, and the birth of the new Africa.
At
which ever spectrum or historical corner one might sit, Africa and The Gambia,
in particular, do have records of her heroes or legends be it in the political,
religious, cultural and sporting arenas.
The
local youth camp and Africa heritage week is set to bring together students
from various schools in the country, for the camp is meant to write history on
their heroes or legends.
George
Gomez, Director of Plymouth Banjul Challenge, said the youth camp and heritage
week will give the students the opportunity to write stories about their heroes
and legends, and learn public speaking.
