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When May went to The Gambia on holiday, she hadn't planned to fall in love with the country, build a paper mill and marry a Gambian…but she did
May and Amat outside the papermill in The Gambia
May at a local schools distributing exercise books made from the recycled paper.
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May was an art student when she went on holiday to The Gambia in West Africa. Taking more of an interest in the country than a visitor passing through, she noticed that the schools were woefully short of basic equipment, such as pencils and paper. She decided, quite simply, to build a paper mill.
Over the course of a year and with the help of friends, her modest savings and a lot of hard work, May achieved her dream. The Paper Recycling Project was born. In 1999 May moved to the The Gambia, a country with which she felt so much affinity, for good. She expected life to be hard, and for the first year it certainly was, but she never regretted her decision.
Then Amat, now May's husband, entered her life. He had trouble convincing May he was serious (many Gambian men had pursued May because she was a Westerner) but his unceasing work on the project caused May to see him with new eyes.
In spite of their different cultures, there was little opposition to the couple getting married. Respect and understanding, they were told time and again by the village elders was the basis of a good marriage.
They have prospered together - the mill is now is doing well and May and Amat have even begun to train school leavers in the art of paper-making. The couple are in Britain with May's family until the birth of their first child in November and then they will return to the their paper mill with their baby - at present referred to as 'Junior Papermaker'.
ÌýListen again to May and Amat's love story
More information
Paper Recycling Skills Project
email: gambiapaper@yahoo.co.uk
