Updated
February 4, 2001

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GTS Aid Container
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Many people have asked me questions about GTS....
What it is, - is it a business, is it a charity
What does it do, - do you have sponsored events, do you raise money
Who does it help, - victims, starving children, who
How does it help, them, - do you send money, food - what

I refer them to this site so they can see for themselves, but GTS really is something NEW and so it is hard to describe in just a few words.

The process of setting it up has defined what it is and what it does.

One of the more nebulous aims of GTS was to take materials to Gambia that could be used to provide employment to local people. It started in a financial way by providing an interest free loan, so one person (Lamin) could buy a car and use it to provide services to tourists.

We thought of it as 'enabling' - anyone in the West would think of it as a business loan. BUT this is not a reality for ordinary Gambians, loans are just not possible for people with only themselves as loan security.
SO GTS WAS STARTED BASED PURELY ON TRUST

We then decided that an introduction method was required.
The Gambia has dozens of hopeful tourist helpers, some very genuine but many with the aim of tapping a rich source of revenue by using scams, cons or simple by emotional stealth, exploiting trust and friendship.
The GTS web site provided the means to show off our Gambian hosts in words and pictures, so visitors would know their host before they arrived.

GTS membership and membership benefits soon followed.
Members can get discounted travel insurance to Gambia. Discounted holidays with an agent of The Gambia Experience. They also get discounts at restaurants, clubs, beach bars, activities, visits, tours, accommodating and every week there are more outlets offering members discounts.
The money from Membership subscriptions resources interest free loans, helping people to be properly employed and money to sponsor children through education.

The savings in discounts during a Gambian holiday should more than cover the membership costs and GTS hosting gets the holiday off to a start as soon as people arrive, making their holiday even better value.

SO GTS HELPS PEOPLE - BUT PROVIDES A VERY GENUINE SERVICE IN RETURN - BY THE UK DEFINITION OF A CHARITY GTS DOES NOT QUALIFY BECAUSE IT PROVIDES A SERVICE.

We think this is crazy, GTS is helping people to become self sufficient rather than charity reliant - Maybe you have an opinion on this and will let us know your opinion.

In the UK we saw old sewing machines, welding equipment, IT equipment, old bicycles, old school books, unused paper stock with old headings or logos.
Everywhere, resources that would be valuable in The Gambia.

Each time our family visited, our cases were crammed tight, but the pile of things to take was always bigger than the weight allowance for our luggage, and we started thinking containers...we asked the price and were horrified that £3000 would hire a 20 foot container and provide a couple of hours at either end to load and unload it... the idea was shelved.

In early 2000 GTS moved forward - our website was generating members and their feed back (with one or two exceptions) was excellent - GTS needed its own Gambian centre, its own plot of land.
None of our hosts had places of their own, all were in rented accomodation or staying with friends.

Most of the bigger hotels will not allow our hosts through their gates.
GTS needed a visitors centre, a home, accomodation for members, room to run activities, a restaurant, a meeting point an administrative base, a 'school room', a library, a workshop and much more - the search was on.

Once GTS had bought a plot of land in Gambia, the idea of a container to bring essential materials from the UK came to the fore again and then became definite when we were offered 20 working computers and a dozen boxes of all sorts of school books.

The cost was still £3000, but GTS would at least own the 20 foot container and this would provide secure storage while building goes on at the compound. Later it could be sold or maybe returned to the UK loaded with Gambian goods for sale and then return with more aid materials.

The container with its contents of: computers, books, some old bicycles, welding equipment, garden, building and engineering tools, a boat hull, furniture and a very wide assortment of other practical items was sent in November 2000 and is now installed on our compound in Brufut.

Maybe this is a warning, not to trust anybody, but sadly Lamin, who has now withdrawn as a GTS partner is holding up all construction at Brufut by holding up the transfer of land papers.

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