A Phone Call From Gambia 🇬🇲

in photography •  7 years ago  (edited)

As I was outside in the evening enjoying a #fire on a cold #winter day in #Portland #Oregon. I received a phone call. It was a Facebook video chat. I looked at my phone and saw a boy holding a candle.

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I’m the type of person that usually screens unknown numbers by sending them to voicemail. When I saw his photo it caught my attention. So I answered. His name is Wuyeh Jamba. Wuyeh is pronounced We.

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My initial reaction was skepticism. I thought ok I know what this is. It’s the rich #Nigerian prince that is looking for a bank acct to transfer his wealth into. I proceeded with caution.

I began to ask him questions about his life and what he does. I wanted to see what his motives were. Where was the bait he was going to use to scam me. He never went there.

Turns out Wuyeh is a 16 yr old boy from #Gambia which is in West #Africa. He got a hold of a smart phone and is reaching out to the outside world. Here he is with his sister Merry.

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He proceeded to tell me about his life and what he does for a living. He said he collects firewood to sell in the market. This gives him the ability to buy fish for his mother. His mother is 57 and has trouble walking. Here he is with his other sister Jade.

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He told me the weather there was very hot and humid this time of year. That was nice to hear as I brave the Portland winter. He sent me this photo of the hot African sun.

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I’m continuing to speak with him to see if I can help him in a meaningful way. I want to see if I can help him become an #entrepreneur of some sort. Maybe I can help him come up with a way to enrich his #community.

I’ll keep you updated. Make sure to upvote. I’m planning on donating all the #steem generated from this post. If I generate enough I will document how we help together. Please comment and share your thoughts below.

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Can’t wait to see where this goes! Let me know how I can help. That story you shared about the Utah man was inspiring! Go for it!

It would be great if we can somehow set the economy in motion to help them. We can drastically increase the quality of life for them with technology.

Upvote and resteem. I would like somehow to help this boy

Hi Tina
Yes. What an amazing story this could be. Maybe if I believe in him I could radically alter his life in a beneficial way. I’m thinking of helping him become a photographer or something along those lines.

Cool. Awaiting updates. :)

@jebur27 yes I will keep you updated. Here is the most recent update. I showed him the article I wrote about him and he was amazed. Here’s his response.

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