Introduction - UNDP The Gambia

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collected in the field regarding the
reproductive health of women are stories of
TBAs who are confronted with the daily
scourge of some of the traditional practices in
their communities. Raising their
consciousness about such issues has made
some positive changes on women’s health
and well-being.
Civil society organisations have used these
existing structures as their entry points for the
development of the local
communities. Notable among the local NGOs
are GAMCOTRAP, BAFROW and the
Gambia Family Planning Association. These
NGOs have projects working with
circumcisers and their assistants in improving
women’s health. Systematic and effective
engagement with the TBAs and herbalists
will contribute to achieving the set target for
the MDGs in a sustainable manner.
Griots: Griots are historically regarded as
custodians of the country’s oral traditions.
Over the years, they have nurtured a highly
retentive memory to narrate events and stories
to people. They are outstanding in giving
eyewitness accounts of events, and are able to
do this through oral narrations, songs/music
and poetry. They have also lived through
generations of families whose history they are
specialised in. Thus they form the repository
of knowledge of the oral history of the
villages, towns and districts throughout the
country.
Some griots have been able to record events
in the local language and have been reference
points to community leaders regarding some
important events. Foreign anthropologists
have referred to them on many occasions.
They contribute to both the traditional and
colonial history in the communities despite
the low social status accorded them
culturally.
Currently, the Department of State for
Education, under its girls’ education
programme, uses griots to promote girls’
education in the various languages. Some of
them constitute themselves into theatre
groups to promote some of the development
issues through popular theatre.
The Jammeh Foundation for Peace, under its
Girls’ Education Scheme, used the skills of
the griots to sensitise communities to the
education of girls. However, the creative use
of this critical group will require developing
their capacity to move from retention to
documenting events accurately without being
influenced by the subjectivities of individuals,
regimes and self-interest.
Kanyelengo: The kanyelengo are generally a
group of women who symbolically identify
themselves in various forms. Culturally, they
believe that after several stillbirths or loss of
their babies at infancy, they are ‘unlucky’,
and that a supernatural being is in control. As
such, they are always pleading for support
through their songs and drama, which carry
powerful messages that are didactic in nature.
It is also a cult which tries to respond to their
infertility by engaging themselves in prayers
in order to attain their desire to bear children.
As a result, they are very good at creating
songs and metonymic expressions that carry
sensitive and powerful messages about their
plight. This groups of people can be very
useful agents of change if effectively engaged
to take part in creating awareness about
reproductive health and other development
activities.
The kanyelengo are important development
targets in the fight against HIV/AIDS
programmes currently being run by the NGOs
and CBOs at the community level. The
National Aids Secretariat has been supporting
programmes geared towards this group.
Women’s rights organisations have always
used them in their empowerment programmes
to come up with songs regarding family
planning, early marriages, teenage
pregnancies and other gender-specific issues
in the local languages.
In a highly illiterate society such as The
Gambia, the kanyelengo can be very effective
in the rural areas as they are culturally
relevant and acceptable because the issues
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Building Capacity for the Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in The Gambia National Human Development Report 2005
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