Burris Devanney - The Gambia Saga: The Epic Tale of a Unique NGO and A Fearless Little Country in Africa

Pre-publication Reviews

The Gambia Saga is a wonderfully observed and beautifully written narrative that will keep you captured throughout an eloquent and accessible story punctuated with humour, blunt honesty, and local and cultural context. It is a rich portrait of the lives and development work of an ordinary Canadian couple and their family, the challenges they faced, the people they worked with, and the programs they implemented through the Nova Scotia Gambia Association (NSGA) over many decades.

Burris Devanneys ability to drive local and global change through appropriate and sustainable quality education and delivery of social services such as peer health education, coupled with his willingness to take bold risks, is inspiring. He is a big thinker, a calm, dedicated and great thought leader in development and human capital advancement in Africa.

The anecdotes, stories, struggles and reflections of the various actors and agents make this book an epic piece not only for Gambians and friends of Gambia and our development partners, but a reference for community-based organizations, international NGOs and multi-national agencies. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers, university development studies programs, and professionals implementing projects in Africa. It unmasks the myth that poor developing countries are passive recipients of aid and that you need big projects to bring about sustainable socio-economic development in Africa.

If Devanneys narrative has any faults, it is this: he is too generous to all stakeholders, giving everyone a voice and risking overwhelming the reader, yet the sense of humor and the twists and unexpected turns and outcomes, as well as the connectedness of the various episodes, hook the reader to the last page.

As we struggle to build Africas sustainable human capital, we may lament the scarcity of transformational leadership. In this context, The Gambia Saga is an inspirational story. It demonstrates that, although the times might be unfavorable and conditions limiting, you can achieve a lot with a can do attitude. Burris Devanney proves that with passion, enthusiasm, experience, commitment and partnerships, you can navigate the vagaries of donor funding and even the limiting confines of a military government, to work effectively toward sustainable socio-economic development.

Prof. Muhammadou M.O. Kah, former Vice Chancellor, University of The Gambia & current Vice President of Academic Affairs, American University of Nigeria

I enjoyed every chapter and appreciated refreshing my memory on all that the Nova Scotia Gambia Association has contributed to my countrys development. The Gambia Saga bears witness to the organizations impact in building the human resource base of the Gambia, and I am living testimony to that, as I rose from the junior ranks of NSGAs field staff at a steady pace, during which I developed the knowledge, skills and competencies to lead NSGAs country-wide programs. I recommend this book to all those who have interest in international development work and north-south cooperation.

Abdourakhman A. Kanteh, National Program Manager, NSGA - The Gambia

The Gambia Saga is a treasure trove of fascinating stories and insights. Years after living in Africa as newlyweds an adventure story told in Burris Devanneys first book, African Chronicles the allurement to return overwhelmed the Devanneys, Burris and Louanne, and they set out again, this time with three school aged children in tow, headed for The Gambia. Devanneys account of what follows is a series of connected anecdotes with the larger story unfolding one good tale at a time, each told as though over a cold beer in a banyan tree bar, or with friends at a dinner party.

The challenges encountered are many: What do you do with a bus full of Canadian and Gambian high school students in rural Africa when you receive news that a military coup dtat is taking place in the capital? How do you keep everyone safe while the coup is going on? Or later how do you rescue hundreds of kids in a program for street children when the new military government suddenly deports them en masse to a neighbouring country they have never seen? Or later still where do you turn when funding sources disappear?

Beyond challenges and adventures, Devanney provides a meticulous account of what it takes to turn an overseas high school tour into a fledgling NGO and then into a full-fledged development organization, providing educational programs ranging from services to street kids to the establishment of The Gambias first university. The mercurial complexity of it all is made clear in the detailed chronicling of the Nova Scotia - Gambia Associations struggles and victories. The AIDS pandemic, changes in government, social taboos, policy shifts, bureaucratic failings, financial constraints, and various human peccadilloes: these are the swells and tsunamis upon which the homemade NGO, NSGA, was forced to stay afloat. And float it did. Using peer educators, action research, street drama, community video shows, and many other approaches, NSGA developed inspired programs that mastered the waves and became a beacon to many.

Devanneys frank prose, with its thought-provoking stories, tells us that dreams, plans and money are not enough, and reveals the strength of character, team work and humanity required to effectively address poverty, disease and ignorance for thousands at home and abroad. Its an amazing story or an amazing collection of many stories!

Alex Davidson, International Programs & Social Justice Officer (Rtd.), Canadian Teachers Federation, Ottawa

THE GAMBIA SAGA

The Epic Tale of a Unique Canadian NGO
and a Fearless Little Country in Africa

BURRIS DEVANNEY

New World Publishing (Canada)
P.O. Box 36075
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 3S9
1-877-211-3334

www.newworldpublishing.com

Although all sources have been thoroughly researched to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this book, we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any inconsistency included herein. As a memoir, the people and places are real, and the praise and criticism are intentional, but all other perceived slights to individuals or organizations are unintended.

Published by:New World Publishing, P.O. Box 36075,
Halifax, NS, B3J 3S9Canada1-877-211-3334

New World Publishing acknowledges the Province of Nova Scotia and ACCESS Copyright for their ongoing support of our publishing program for the benefit of all Nova Scotians and Canadians.

Copyright: 2016, 2017 Burris Devanney
2018, 2019 New World Publishing
First printed in 2019 by New World Publishing

Managing Editor: Francis G. Mitchell

Editors: Francis Mitchell, Virginia Houston (proof reader)