Professor Shannon Marquez will for the second year lead a group of 24 students and professors from Drexel University, United States to Gunjur in August 2018.
Professor Marquez with Ahmed Manjang at Gunjur Bolong Feyno during a visit last year
This year’s planned trip follows a similar trip of 15 post graduate students led by professor Marquez to Gunjur last year where they visited various areas of interest as part of their study tour. They were assisted by Ahmed Manjang.
The group visited the sand mining sites in Gunjur where they were given an overview of the sand mining activities and how it was affecting the livelihoods of women vegetable gardeners. The group also visited Gunjur Beach led by Lamin Mbakau Jammeh, Buba Touray and Omar A.J. Saho where they explored the beach surroundings.
The visitors were also given a conducted tour of the Gunjur Environmental Protection And Developmwnt Group (GEPADG) offices and the “Bolong Fenyo” Community wildlife reserve, led by Badara Njie Bajo, Executive Director of GEPADG.
The group concluded their activities with refreshment and short discussion at Gunjur Project, where the role of the Project in promoting eco-tourism in the Gambia was presented by a local staff member of the project.
Speaking about the group’s interest in learning more about the environmental issues the community is faced with during their forthcoming visit to Gunjur, Professor Marquez hinted: “I would very much enjoy the opportunity to have an education tour of the environmental issues in Gunjur once again this year, including the conditions at the beach/fish meal processing, turtle hatchery projects, sand mining, and forest/bolong hike.”
The Drexel University visitors will also make visits to Gunjur health centre where they intend to make a donation to the health facility for the second year running.
Additionally, the visitors from the United States will coordinate this year’s visit with a tree planting campaign or some other environmental initiative during their stay in The Gambia.
Reacting to the news that Drexel University students and professors led by prof. Marquez will again visit Gunjur this year, Ahmed Manjang who was the coordinator of last year’s visit had this to say:
“Firstly I would like to thank our local environmentalists for their dedication during Drexel University’s last visit. Sadly, I would not be on the ground this time around due to family engagement, but our ground team are excited about the tour and are all determined to make this year's visit more exciting and educative than last year's.”
Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus located in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted financier and philanthropist.