There are people who you meet, and then there are people who positively inspire your self-perception.
Oumie is one of those people.
In 2019, I went home to visit The Gambia for the first time as an adult.
It was a graduation present after a job well done — especially considering that I heavily contemplated dropping out right before my Senior Year.
I reconnected with family I hadn’t seen since I was a “lil’ly pikin” (little child) and was blessed enough to meet new people who inspired me and kept me laughing during a very difficult time.
For context, this was the trip I had learned my grandmother, who once grew trees and taught generations, was now a shadow of herself due to dementia.
In a feeble attempt to distract myself from that stark reality, I threw myself into photography and documented just about everyone or thing around.
I even got back into interviewing people.
Oumie, who used to live 3 doors down until she got married, was a friend of a friend.
After a few laughter-filled hangout sessions between the 3 of us, I proposed having a photoshoot with each of them.
Oumie didn’t know it at the time but, the sit-down conversation/interview we had was a source of light for me.
Ms. Mbye (Now a Mrs!) spoke heartwarmingly about a movement she was a part of in The Gambia that included collecting outdated pairs of glasses and re-gifting pairs (with medical provision) to those in need.
Now before you go shaking your head in dismay, it is important to note - resilience, is often birthed by limited resources.
What may seem like an unconventional or even frowned upon decision to the rest of the world, could actually be a means of increasing the quality of life for members in underserved communities.
I believe that org is doing the Lord's work and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to recover the interview audio from my old iPhone.
It would have been nice to hear us passionately carrying on about filling gaps in Gambian society but these photos will do.
