The success of GambiCats has been largely due to the commitment and skills which Dodou has brought to the work and we thought that you would be interested in knowing more about him.
Dodou comes from Gunjur in the south of The Gambia and is part of the usual extended Gambian family. He is carrying on the tradition with 9 children of his own - the youngest boy was born in 2000 and is named Peter in honour of our Chairman! He also has a dog named SPANA and another named Chris. Dodou went to Technical School and, after working at the Medical Research Council, went to the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) at Abuko first as a Livestock Inspector then promoted to Livestock Assistant. He spent 12 years with the DLS and gained an enormous amount of knowledge in the care and handling of agricultural animals as well as dogs and cats. Much of his time was spent up country working alone in very difficult conditions. Eventually, with virtually no prospects in the DLS, Dodou decided to move to the tourist sector and between 1987 and 1998 worked in hotels and for tour operators in positions of considerable responsibility. This was how we met him and lured him away to be responsible for GambiCats in 1998. What a happy meeting! Dodou's care for animals resulted in him becoming Coordinator for the Dutch Animal Health Care programme as well as the Secretary of the Kindness Club of Africa between 1976 and 1987. As is obvious to all who meet him, his skills and compassion are vital to our work, as is his willingness ("Mr Eveready") and his commitment - his favorite refrain in hard times is "the struggle continues".