Since the establishment of their friendship some three years ago, the relationship between the young people of Taiwan and those of The Gambia is taking a rathercongenial direction with the two sides strongly integrating in both cultural exchange and as brothers and sisters.

The relationship commenced in 2010, after Presidents Jammeh and Ma found the need to extend the bilateral ties between the two sides by introducing their young people together for them to share cultures.

The Taiwan Youth Ambassadors, as they are called, arrived in the country last week for a two-week intensive skills and cultural exchange programme with Gambian youths, mainly from the University of The Gambia (UTG).Six students from the College of Designs at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, accompanied by a professor are attending the two-week programme with students from the National Union of Gambian Students (NUGS).

Some of the key objectives of Taiwan Youth Ambassador (TYA) programme are to initiate series of goodwill missions around the world, and to exchange goodwill visits to sister cities as well to advocate Green Tech Solutions through field trips, and to establish new sister-cityhood during visits.

Since 1995, Gambia has established diplomatic relations with several countries like Taiwan and Cuba. These ties are exhibited more in development areas such as education, agriculture, health and host of others. This demonstrates the cordial ties between the two countries. In 2010, a group of young people came to The Gambia to integrate and make friends with Gambian youths through learning each other’s culture.

The feature of the camp is a combination of cultural activities including Taiwanese customs, Chinese Kong Fu, ice breaking and the misery of physics – Water Rocket; and lots of Gambian culture and traditions. It was a wonderful and memorable experience, and the two cultures together have demonstrated the unlimited possibility to actualise the global village’s vision of love, care, and friendship without boundaries. It was a sad moment for all the participants on the final day of the camp; people were dropping tears. The youth exchange programme is organised by Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The International Youth Ambassador Programme aims at strengthening Taiwan’s bilateral relations with allies. The programme enables students to befriend peoples from different parts of the world and showcase the culture of Taiwan. The 2011 International Youth Ambassador Programme attracted 107 proposals, out of which 37 were selected. This is the second consecutive year for NDHU to participate in the International Youth Ambassador Programme.