Young women and men leave their African home countries because they thought there were only prospects for them in Europe

In 2014, we founded the Zuflucht e.V. association in Müllheim to enable the many refugees to be optimally integrated with the help of volunteers. Our encounters with the Gambian refugees in Müllheim im Breisgau, for example, their reports and the circumstances on the ground affected us.

The continuously growing number of arrivals very soon led to questions about "why" and "what now...". It gradually became clear that there was a need for action that could not be provided by public authorities. "We have to go there and understand first-hand what's going on." A mixture of perceived urgency and vague curiosity first set Samuel Gebert in motion. In July 2016, he set off to explore the country and its people in The Gambia by bike. His "grassroots situation report" presents a complex reality of the circumstances and - if you listen carefully - very different reasons for leaving the country to embark on the literally life-threatening journey across the "backway" to Europe. The real challenge - namely building a sustainable life perspective "at home" that defies all adversity - would be much better tackled locally. And the best way to do this is to recognise what is already there. This gave rise to the idea of providing training in The Gambia.

TeSito Providential Developments was founded as a non-profit organisation in Germany in 2018 and a partner company of the same name was founded by Gambian friends in The Gambia in 2021. TeSito means "rolling up your sleeves" in the German sense and "tying up your skirt" in the Gambian sense in order to be able to work in the rice fields. Yes, there are enormous prospects in The Gambia. It's worth training for it.