Naritaba Foundation

ENGLISH

The goals of the registered society: Statutes

DEUTSCH

Beeing at home Water and Food

People help people. We do something.

		In 1888 the English made the area along the river Gambia into a colony. The current land border results from the scope of the ship's guns. Perhaps the pushy visitors from Europe wanted to secure a strategic road to the mineral resources in the southeast in the mountainous areas of Senegal. Gambia is now completely enclosed by Senegal, or Senegal is cut off by the artificial separation from the south. To this day the inhabitants in this area have hardly recovered from this cultural interference: The way of life, which has been learned and passed on over many generations, harmoniously harmonized in this area, the access to its own roots is now missing. Self-determination and self-responsibility can not unfold properly. The organizational coexistence of human beings is something living, like life under the earth: A fine network of interdependencies and learned habits.

		Since then, monocultures have been forced on, which, to this day, leach the soil unilaterally. The revenues are delivered to Europe. If the soil does not give any more, the next adjacent areas are cleared. The forest disappears in coordination with lucrative wood spurts. For the very poor, it is partly the only source of money: For example, teak from Gambia is traded on the world market. Tropical wood is very popular in industrialized countries. One more reason why Europe should and should be interested in the topic. In Gambia, there is almost no industry, most have no access to electricity. The only agricultural product of which the inhabitants of Gambia really have a lot is the peanut. The domestic market has come out of balance because of food imports from Europe. This dependency can only be adequately answered in the long term with independence. Ways, how this can succeed, shall be described here. In the industrialized world life expectancy is on average 80 years. In Gambia it is between 55 and 60 years. The main reason for this is an unbalanced diet and poor water quality.
		The body needs these vitamins: A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12, C, D, E, K. If only one vitamin is missing, this is sufficient to cause serious diseases. The body needs at least these minerals: Calcium, potassium, copper, magnesium, Sodium, phosphorus, sulfur, iron, iodine, manganese, zinc, cobalt, silicon, selenium. If only one mineral is missing, the first problems begin.
		One-sided food is, unfortunately, the norm in Africa. What is on the menu simply depends on what is currently there. A reasonable long-term agricultural planning is not available at the moment. The population lacks the knowledge about the nutrients in the food and the understanding of a balanced diet. It is the Deficiencies that make this particularly clear: For vitamin A deficiency, the first external symptoms are problems with the eyes (blinded children). In the body, however, there is much more impact. Vitamin A is indispensable for growth and defenses. In vitamin B12 deficiency, all basic body functions are affected together. Iron deficiency interferes with oxygen transport. The oxygen is used everywhere. This can be clearly discerned by a lack of concentration, a lack of strength, and fatigue. Invisible in the body, it leads to the under-supply of the cells with energy. In some areas iodine is absent (then the entire metabolism in the body is disturbed). And zinc deficiency weakens the immune system, but is rarely diagnosed.

		There is a high number of diseases in Africa, all of which are related to the immune system that obscures these facts. In addition there is a diminished vegetation due to climate change, because forests are lost all over the world. Sometimes there is just too little food. There are too few goods that change quickly. And ultimately there remains little room for maneuver for the planned, targeted constructive change. An increase in the population figures is to be expected. This will make the existing problems even more apparent. It is therefore a commandment of the hour to do something urgent and to change the socioeconomic conditions. There is no mountain in Gambia, the drinking water comes in the rural areas exclusively by wells to the people.


In the last 55 years the forest stock in the Gambia has declined from 70% to 5%:

Since 1970:	Bush fires, drought disasters
Since 1985:	Sandstorms lasting more than 3 days almost every years
Since 1995:	Coastline damaged by erosion during storm floods
2004:	Locusts-plague
In recent years:	Every year floods
Drinking water:	The water level has fallen

Watersupply is given for 70% of the inhabitants. The rest goes every day many kilometers to get water. The quality is questionable. You can drink the water only when the body has become accustomed to it.


A unbalanced ecosystem has an impact on people's lives:

- Food supply is critical.
- Economic dependencies.
- Power supply is only partial and only at certain times.
- There is little money in circulation. Projects remain.
- Young people without a future perspective leave the country.