Name: Sabrina Claydean Tindal
Born: July 18th
Age: 23
Hometown: Summerton, South Carolina
Siblings: None
Mommy: Ms. Roberta Tindal - The Love of My Life
Dad: Deceased

Eyes: Dark Brown
Hair: Beautiful Black Locks
Height: 5'7"

Education: BS in Law and Legal Assistance
Future Plans: Career in International Health and Development…Marriage, Kids and all that good stuff
Other Endeavors: Publish a couple of books, Work in the arena of empowering African American women to pursue their dreams, maintain healthy relationships and promote positive representation

Hobbies: Reading, Writing Poetry, Dancing, Traveling, Meeting People, Listening to Music, Yoga, Cooking
Favorite Genre of Music: Raggae
Sports: Tennis, Swimming, and Volleyball

Rules to Live By:
Ø Through Faith and Perseverance…all things are possible
Ø You are exactly where you need to be to determine where you are going and why you need to be there
Ø Honor your past, present and future for it has been ordained
Ø Share your story - be open and honest with your mistakes - someone needs to hear it
Ø Love you for all that you are - remember there's only one of you!!!
Ø Manners will take you where money cannot (thanx Mom!)
Ø The cycle continues in the same order until you correct the mistakes and change the pace

I was born in Sumter, South Carolina. I grew up in a small town by the name of Summerton where I attended primary, elementary and high school with predominately the same classmates my entire life. At the age of 18, I left South Carolina to attend Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia as a Law and Legal Assistance major (Paralegal Studies). During my junior year, I interned at the District Attorney's office in Downtown Atlanta. It was at this point that I realized that the legal profession was not as lavish and eventful as I'd imagined.

Through the international students and professors I'd met, my interest to travel abroad began to expand. By spring semester of my senior year, I found myself steadily pursuing "The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love"…Peace Corps. In mid May, exactly one week before my graduation I received my acceptance letter to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer. The weeks that followed were filled with tears, excitement, stress and jitters as I prepared to leave The US for two years. On July 5th I departed from Hartsfeild Airport headed to DC to meet the fellow trainees that would accompany me to The Gambia. On July 6th we departed for The Gambia and arrived on the 7th. I can still remember how hot and humid it was as we stepped off the plane - 30 in number. From that moment on my life became an emotional roller coaster. Everything from excitement and amazement to loneliness and isolation then again up to achievement and accomplishment and back down again to annoyance and aggravation

After ten weeks of village-based training and a semi-successful effort of learning Mandinka, we were off to our site placements where we would spend the next two years (now 27 in number).

My initial excitement of living on a small island and in a family compound that had electricity, a television, and a water tap just outside of our compound vanished quite swiftly as I experienced the never ending fury of culture shock. Everyday - literally - brought with it new challenges. After about 8 months at site I'd switched jobs, as well as compounds and was on my way to finally feeling settled and more at ease

At this present time, I feel more at peace here in The Gambia. It took a while for me to realize that just as easily as I pointed fingers and accused people of offending me, they to had the very right - and even more so - to do just the same. I realized that American culture is just one of many; all with their advantages and disadvantages; morals and values; rights and opinions. And no matter how much one agrees, or disagrees, respect is due, especially when occupying another mans land. So my present days are spent attempting to do just that: maintain balance between what I respect, believe in and am comfortable with while, as much as possible, being culturally sensitive.

I now feel a new sense of serenity and peace as I have grown to appreciate so many things here, especially those things that are more difficult to attain in America. Not only have I learned a great deal about Gambian and West African culture, but about myself in general. The times that I have missed my friends, family and sorors at home, my mom's home-cooked meals, my times in the AUC and the like have been incomparable to the revelations and growth I have experienced here.

Hopefully through the construction of this web page, questions /answers and thoughts shared- we will be able to recap upon some of my most memorable moments thus far, share some of the lessons learned and discuss where it all heads now.………..