MUHAMMED BALDEH

ASSIGNMENT ON HISTORY OF NURSING IN THE GAMBIA

Nursing has a history as long as that of human kind. Human beings have always faced the challenge of
fostering health and caring for the ill and dependent. Those who were especially skilled in this area stood out
and, in some instances, passed their skills along to others.

In The Gambia, nursing was then a British colony and to some extend similar to that of the Western world.
The first sets of nurses were women in Holy Orders, the Sisters of Cluny. Prominent amongst them was
Sister Ann Marie Jahavoney of Blessed Memory. These women in Holy orders worked with some Gambian
young women who had the calling to nurse the sick.

Around 1935, some Methodist missionaries initiated the training of The Gambian women to become
midwives in what was later called The New Street Clinic in Bathurst (Banjul). Before the establishment of a
school of nursing, the training of nurses and midwifes was carried out on an apprenticeship basis at the
Victoria Hospital now later (RVTH), and now (EFSTH). It was a three-year course in General Nursing
Characterized by study periods/lectures in the classrooms twice or three times a week. The trainees were
known as Probationers who were also members of the hospital’s clinical workforce. Some of our early
nurses and midwives were: Nurse Sarah Goddard, Nurse Julia Williams, Nurse Georgianna Warner, Nurse
Stapleton, Nurse Alice Brown, Nurse Hilder Touray, Nurse Techam to mention, but a few (all of Blessed
Memory).

During the Second World (1939-1945), some young Gambian gentlemen were enlisted into the Royal Army
Medical Corps (RAMC) based in Fajara in what was the Fifty-Fifth (55th) General Hospital. The male nurses
were then called Dressers.
After the war, some of the staff of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) of the Royal West African
Frontier Force (RAWAFF) was also recruited as Probationers and they were also provided with a three (3)
year training in General Nursing. Some of The Gambia’s first male nurses called Dresser Dispensers, Ward
Masters and Druggists were; Sir Farimang Singhateh (The first Gambian to serve as Governor General), Mr.
Emmanuel Sambou, Alh. Kebba M. Njie, Mr. David T. Johnson, Alh. Abdoulie Saye, Alh. Malick O.
Manga, Alh. Mustapha Saine, Mr Bob Johns, Mr George Artley, to mention but a few (all of Blessed
Memory) These deceased gentlemen worked in various parts of the country when there were no good roads.
They trekked ‘rain to shine’ on push bicycles or motor bicycles whenever the latter was applicable. These
were times when crossing the River Gambia and streams were hazardous and were carried out on dugout
canoes or wooden landing crafts (now called ferries). There were also times when bush tracks passed
through bush infested with insects like the Tsetse fly which causes Trypanosemiasis (sleeping sickness) and
wild animals like hyena, baboons, gorillas, snakes to mention but a few. May their souls rest in peace?
Amen!

In 1963, The Gambia School of Nursing & Midwifery which later on became The Gambia College School
of Nursing & midwifery was founded with Technical Assistance from WHO. The same year, The Gambia
Nurses Association was also formed. In 1964, at the inception of The Gambia School of Nursing &
Midwifery, various groups of Trained Nurses attended 6-weeks Refresher Courses in General Nursing. They
received specialized training to enable them to practice competently in their areas of specialty. Until
recently, The Gambia College School of Nursing is continuing in producing quality nurses and midwives for
service delivery in the country and beyond.