Ian Langley, 56, and Hilary Ratcliff, 51, first went to the Gambia six years ago on a holiday and were taken with the hospitable people they met, but also distressed about the poverty that many of them lived in.

While preparing for one of their trips to the popular winter sun destination they came across a charity called Gambia Tourist Support (GTS).

The aim of the charity, which was started by a British family, is to raise money from tourists to improve vital services and infrastructure in the country, which they do partly by running a restaurant in the tourist base, Sennegambia, and running excursions.

On their holiday Ian and Hilary became one of the charity's customers and became interested in getting more actively involved.
The pair have been out on two, six-month trips and are now preparing to help run a grand project for the charity in the building of a school for 900 pupils near the country's international airport, including the provision of new eco-toilets.

For the majority of the population, the sewerage system amounts to holes in the ground, resulting in contamination of water sources. To combat this, Ian, an electrical engineer by trade, wants to encourage the use of toilets that double as compost heaps, aiding the fertilisation of crops and preventing water pollution.

Ian said: "There's a big problem in Africa with water shortage and contamination. There's no sewerage system, they just use long drop toilets with cess pits. It means you can't dig a well and get clean water, it's all absolutely polluted."

As well as the toilets, Ian and Hilary also have a plan for the newly-created compost – an otherwise rare commodity because the heat dries it out – which is to use it as fertiliser for potatoes grown in barrels.
The use of the barrels is to conserve water, as if they are grown in the soil a lot of it disappears into the earth. Ian calculates that each potato plan grown on open land needs 10 litres of water, while seven grown in a barrel need just two litres.

Although the potato project will start as a pilot near the school, eventually the couple want each extended family, who live in compounds, to have three barrels and sell the crop on. This way Ian reckons they can earn the equivalent of three months' wages.

Hilary's main role in the project is to set up a health centre with a midwife on the school site offering basic medical advice. As with the other projects, they hope that the centre may expand over time into a more comprehensive service.

But for now for the couple, who have three sons in their twenties between them, are back home in Hartford, toiling away at their day jobs to earn the cash to fund their voluntary work.

Heather, who works with disabled children, explained what it was that attracted her to Gambia: "They have nothing, but there's a great sense of community and genuine happiness. They have lots of things that we have lost in this county."

Ian added: "Their respect for their elders is amazing."
The inventive Ian has already designed a kettle with a central cavity for a fire that he claims to be the most efficient for boiling water and it is clear that he takes great pleasure tackling the problems presented by the nation of under two million people.

He describes his relationship with the people as one of extremes.
He said: "I hate them at times, but then I go back to loving them. I can't think of one of them who has not done me down at one time, but I always go back. The potato project could be a commercial venture, but we are doing it mainly for the Gambian people.
"We really do care."

>> GTS is a non-profit-making organisation, founded in 1997, dedicated to creating sustainable employment and the improvement of educational opportunities for Gambians.
Visit the charity's website at
www.gambia touristsupport.com