Kathy Burrington of The Gambia Experience Wins Responsible Tourism Award

26 February 2009

Kathy Burrington, who is a graphic designer for The Gambia Experience, has received the prestigious AITO Achievement in Responsible Tourism Award. This is the first occasion that the winner of the award is based on the responsible tourism efforts of an individual rather than that of a company.

Kathy, with a couple of her friends, founded a charity called ‘Nyodema’ which means ‘Helping Each Other’ in Mandinka. To raise money, they organised a ‘World Music & Arts Festival’ in Bognor Regis, West Sussex that proved a great success and now looks set to become an annual event. A number of fundraising evening gigs also mean that the charity continues to operate throughout the remainder of the year, as well as promoting multi-cultural awareness. Moneys raised in 2008 have funded:

· 120 insecticide-treated mosquito nets distributed to Gambian children in Brikama (bringing the total to date of 260 nets)
· 40 teachers at two Gambian schools have been trained in “Jolly Phonics” - a method of teaching English widely used throughout the UK educational system
· Sponsorship for one Gambian teacher, enabling her to finish her teacher training course
· First-aid training for five Gambian teachers

To find out more about AITO (Association of Independent Tour Operators) visit www.aito.co.uk
To find out more about Nyodema visit http://www.gambia.co.uk/Docs/About-Us/Charity-Work/Nyodema.aspx or http://www.myspace.com/nyodema

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The Gambia Experience is a trade name of Serenity Holidays, a fully bonded operator under ATOL 1866 and a member of ABTA, IATA and AITO.