28 years old Abdou Manjang and his students at the Freetown pre-school in Gunjur combo south of Gambia. 

Abdou on the forefront cleaning the made house blocks with a wooden stick. In the background his brother collecting the mixed soil and water to make new ones. In the top right corner of the photo their hand made house where they two other brother, sister and mother live.

Abdou and his brother Sanna in the back of their compound collecting soil to make house blocks mixed with water.

Abdou's brother packing soil mix with water inside wood block.

Making house blocks regularly, Abdou & his brother dug a meter deep to keep getting soil in the back of their land. 

Abdou cleaning off his feet with a wooden stick after a long labor.

Abdou´s class level 3 at the local pre-school in Freetown, payingclose attention to a lesson in english.

Abdou´s class, level 3. The young teacher gathers them outside into groups for some outdoor activities in between the lessons.

Abdou´s class, level 3 in the sandy school yard. In 2006, with the help of sponsors in Gotland, the local pre-school was founded by Amadou Fadera to start educating children for free at a young age. Amadou is a Gambian man from Freetown currently living in Sweden.

Aboud and his class in the school yard, playing African drum and dancing to keep them alert and energised between the indoor lessons.

Children from level 2 at the Freetown pre-school having lunch before going home. Sponsors in Gotland covers the rice cost so children not only have access to free education but have free lunch while in school.

Abdou Manjang visiting a family in the village to congratulate them on their new born boy, Selomon. The young man has not only taking the full responsibility to provide for his family and to educate most children but despite the poverty him and his family face, he still manages to contribute to other people in Freetown who are in need. “ It is part of our culture here in The Gambia. We are so poor we have to try help and support each other. If someone comes up to me in the village and tells me they need bread to eat or a light box so they can see at night in their house, I will buy it for them even if I don´t have the money. I will borrow money or pay it back to the shop keeper next month”, he explains.

A child from the village which Abdou and his mother takes care of. Some children in the village end up having vitamin deficiencies as the parents can not always provide a well balanced diet.

Children in the Freetown village working on digging soil to help their parents making blocks for their compound.

Abdou and other pre-school teachers from various parts of The Gambia holding a banner to collect donations for Gambia's independence day on the motor way between Banjul airport and the next door town Lamin. "Soon it will be independence day on April 2nd this year since the official date, January 18th has been pushed back due to these political issues. We need to find money so we can fund a party for the children so they can celebrate our country´s special day.”, explains Abdou.

Pre-school teachers trying to collect money from cars passing by on the motor way between Banjul airport and the next door town Lamin.

Abdou and a biker on the motor way between Banjul airport and the next door town Lamin. The energy is still very high in the new Gambia, many are still celebrating the arrival of their new president Adama Barrow who came in power officially January 19th 2017.

A young child at the entrance of a green compound between Banjul airport and the town of Lamin, The green colour painted is representing the former president Jammeh ´s party APRC (Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction). “ If you look at all the shops and other building in most towns you will see this green colour. This green is a representation of Jammeh's party and this means that he had shares in all of these businesses that this colour is painted on. If you refused to deal with him, he made it to difficult for a person to open his own business and even shut you down at times. He even created kilometres of compounds where he had people living there for free but also labouring for free, he would take the profit of what was produced there.” Shares a 39 years old Mechanic. 

A child Between Banjul airport & Lamin working at his father's garage fixing cars. Many children help their parents with their daily work while still go to school. For the poorest families many children stay at home and work all day around their compound.

A young man standing in his family's living room wearing a t-shirt in support of former president Yahya Jammeh. When asked why he support Jammeh, the young man answer's " I just like his heart."

Abdou in the living of a family from the village who delivered a baby, waiting for the new born ceremony to start outside.

The younger & the older generation come to celebrate the arrival of the new born baby in the village. As there are practically new born ceremonies every week, it is also a way to have a good time among each other.

Women from the village wearing their special dress for the occasion of the new born ceremony. The traditions is to gather around, eat together out of a large bowl of rice & fish while contributing money to the new born baby and family.

Abdou dancing with the women of the village during a new bon ceremony, early evening. In the center of the photo, the mother. While the women perform a dance, Abdou gives money to be collected for the family and the new born baby.

Two women walking back home after the new born ceremony. After 19h00, in the winter time the village becomes pitch dark since there is no electricity in Freetown except for the ones who can afford solar panels. All of the sudden car lights arise and reveal the back of their elegant African dress that they specially wore for the occasion. Abdou looks up in the sky and says “ At night time, the moon is the main light of the village. Our biggest hope with this political change is to finally obtain electricity as most of us can not afford solar panels.” 

Abdou doing one of his daily prayer at a friend´s compound. Most of the population and tribes in the Gambia are Muslims, there are a total of five set times prayer in one day.

Abdou visiting a woman collecting her crops at the village´s garden. The Freetown community has created around one hundred small gardens with five wells, any women in the village can claim a small part of the land to grow their vegetable crops freely. Most of the women then try to resell these crops for extra cash at the local market or other market venders going to various towns to resell. The principle is to use any natural resources available to get by and meet their basic needs.

Children come with their mother and help daily to work around the women's garden. The Freetown community has created around one hundred small gardens with five wells, any women in the village can claim a small part of the land to grow their vegetable crops freely. Most of the women then try to resell these crops for extra cash at the local market or other market venders going to various towns to resell. The principle is to use any natural resources available to get by and meet their basic needs. 

A woman collecting water to grow her crops from one of the five wells that are place in the women´s garden. The Freetown community has created around one hundred small gardens with five wells, any women in the village can claim a small part of the land to grow their vegetable crops freely. Most of the women then try to resell these crops for extra cash at the local market or other market venders going to various towns to resell. The principle is to use any natural resources available to get by and meet their basic needs. 

Collecting water in buckets to water the crops. The Freetown community has created around one hundred small gardens with five wells, any women in the village can claim a small part of the land to grow their vegetable crops freely. Most of the women then try to resell these crops for extra cash at the local market or other market venders going to various towns to resell. The principle is to use any natural resources available to get by and meet their basic needs. 

Abdou in the corner while his brother helps his mother to get sun light in her room made out of dried soil blocks. The young man was able to find a bed for his mother, his three brothers and sister sleeps on a small carpet on the house floor.

Abdou´s mother in front of her house. The 55 years old women intimately shares her worries and her sickness when the raining season comes in the summer. “ My mother start to cry before each raining season comes. She also gets sick during this season and my sister has been sleeping on the floor for four years now as we can not afford beds. We are constantly in fear the house walls will fall on us one day.” further shares Abdou.

“One of my brothers who passed away drowned at sea trying to reach Italy illegally on a boat. He just wanted to come to Europe and find work to support us here back home. My brother Sanna wants to go to Europe but my mother refuses, so instead he decided to join the army as he is feeling stress if he just stays at home” intimately shares Abdou. “ This is my daily struggles, I am the oldest of the family after loosing my father of cancer in 2005 and my two older brothers also passed away when I was young. I am the oldest now and I am responsible to try support my family and the rest of the community here. Sometime I get frustrated but my mother always remind me to stay good, to help others and my time will come”, further goes on the young man.Surrounded by his four bedroom walls made out of his own hands, Abdou looks up to the roof of his house and shares his daily struggle one last time “ If one day I have a nice house, with a stable structure and furnitures, that day I will start celebrating. I know that that I am part of life but right now I am half. Yes, I am half of life… because there is no good water, no good food, just enough money for rice. I feed twelve people, including some children of the village that my mother takes care of. I give lunch money to my sister and brothers for school everyday. I struggle a lot for my family. I wish you all the best when you go back and share this information, I hope the people of Europe understand what´s happening here in The Gambia.”