Atention to holidays in Gambia

Bumsters come in all shapes, sizes and ages.

The really obvious bumsters are easily recognised, they chat for a few minutes then just ask you for money, in some ways these are the most honest, they want money - they ask, end of story.

The next level of sophistication are the bumsters who will work on you for a whole holiday - the nice guys, helpful, attentive, charming, ask for nothing even offer to pay for you. They say they expect nothing, but have found that they usually do very nicely out of you when you leave for home and they get a nice time of free meals, free trips, free cigarettes and free nights out with free drinks, your old clothes, toiletries, even watches and sunglasses. After you leave, they write and send cards just in case you might return or send them parcels to Gambia.

Taking the scenario further and you get the multi year - mulitiple trip bumster, these might get lucky enough to get a car out of you, land bought for you but in their name, all the money for building materials, annual presents, a visa and a trip to your country all expenses paid - the list just goes on and on, with endless variations.

So how do you recognise the really genuine people from the Bumsters? That is a hard one to answer, time generally does it, but there are a few very recognisable characteistics.

Bumsters generally are unemployed - They always say they want work but simply can't get it. The truth is, you are their work and generally it pays them better than any proper job in Gambia.

The clever Bumsters make a big show of their religion - Of course not everyone who prays 5 times a day is a bumster, there are many more genuine Muslims than there are bumsters, but

• be wary if they drink alcohol - no matter how many times they appear to pray they know that drinking alcohol for a true Muslim is far worse that NOT praying.
• be wary if they don't keep Ramadam, self discipline is one of the keys to Islam and no real Muslim breaks the Ramadan fast at least not in front of another human, God seeing them break it in private seems to be OK - a sure sign of their false religious zeal.
• be wary if they do a lot of "swearing to Allah that this or that is true" as in Christianity using Gods name in vain is a very un-Muslim thing to do - but it serves to convince tourists that they are genuine.
• the real Muslim will not make a big show of their religion, Islam is a very modest religion, people go off privately for their prayers, except Friday prayers which is a big communal thing, so be wary of the ones who have to go and pray where you can still see them.

Not much to go on, but it helps to build a picture.
Awful bad luck strikes most bumsters or their families.

Bad luck can strike anyone and in Gambia there are few families that are not afflicted. This is a society with no household insurance and no welfare state, so there are numerous bad luck cases that are totally genuine, but not generally wandering about the tourist area with no jobs making a big show of how religious they are - the genuine ones are getting on with it in their local villages and local communities - so beware of the bad luck stories that just need a few hundred dalasi to sort out.

Finally the only real test is the passage of time and eventually the truth will come out, but before that point - if you ask any questions especially financial ones - bumsters general respond with "WHY? - Don't you trust me?" Experience has taught me that the answer to that should be a definite NO in all cases - genuine people will explain themslves not resort to making it an issue of TRUST. So, if you get the "don't you trust me line" - then, be wary - a bumster is lurking in there.

What can you do about it if you discover that this nice young man or woman you have trusted for months or years, turns out to be a greedy, cheating, lying, con merchant - well sadly - very little. You can go to a lawyer, it will cost anyting up to or over £1000 and might take 5 years or more to sort out. Gambia is a small country and so everyone knows someone who knows someone who can help, not only help you, but the person you are taking to court. SO - There is no guarantee that you will win in the end even if you take legal action.

"This is the "process of law Jim - but not as we know it" ( to mis-quote the StarTrek oldie )

In Europe we like justice to be neatly handed out by a judge and a jury in a court room. This is not the Gambian way. The victim is at least partly to blame for the crime against them, their reward is hopefully a lesson learnt, but the fate of the "criminal" is handed out by God - not at the last judgement but in their mind almost immediately the crime is discovered - This works in Gambian society because there is still a close everyday connection between the individual, God and tribal justice..