Gambian 'Vous'

In the context of my research on youth and poverty in The Gambia, I have been struck by groups of young men sitting outside on the streets, often for hours at a time.

In a context of a youth unemployment rate in excess of 50%, hanging out with friends in a street ‘vous’ (an abbreviation of ‘rendezvous’) helps to mitigate the stress of enforced ‘idleness’, and limited money.  It not only serves as an important social resource, but can also provide valuable information about job opportunities, the pros and cons of setting-up an informal business, and ways to travel out of Gambia to ‘greener pastures’.  

Fortunately one of the top priorities of ‘New Gambia’s’ post-dictatorship, democratic coalition government is to create training and employment for young people and to stem what had been a growing tide of perilous ‘back way’ migration to Europe.