The Gambia government had enough of warning elderly British women: "Don't look for our young people again!" Don't spend money on spring! ”
The Gambia was once a British colony, and although it gained independence in 1965, it only withdrew from the Commonwealth in 2013 and returned in 2018. In addition to the subordination of sovereignty, the people of this small West African country have also escaped the clutches of the British over the years – the Gambia has gradually become a golden destination for middle-aged and elderly British women looking for a second spring.
Since the Gambia is one of the least developed regions in the world, in order to change its international reputation, the Gambia government tried to attract tourists through cheap flights and cheap tour groups in the 1990s, hoping to develop the economy from the perspective of "tourism". Yes, tourism accounts for about 20% of Gambia's GDP.
But unexpectedly, sex tourism began in the Gambia.
A large number of british women with aspirations have traveled to the Gambia to realize the "dream of lighting in old age", often with the goal of young boys who can be their grandchildren, some of whom are not yet adults. On the beaches of the Gambia, young, sunny, healthy "toy boys" can always be seen going in and out of the noisy clubs with older female tourists, and then disappearing into the night...
When the sun rises the next day, they get some "subsidies" from the guests.
Some tourists said, "This is paradise!" You can have a different man every day. ”
You may ask, these boys are young and strong, why are they selling their bodies? Most people can't find a job or have too low wages – you know, the average monthly wage in the Gambia in 2022 is only 400 yuan. As a "toy boy", they can earn nearly 2,000 yuan from British women in a few days.
The money comes so fast, who has to work hard. So black boys scoured the sultry sands for older women from the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany. There are also people who "fall in love" online in advance, in which case they will go directly to the airport to pick up.
In fact, Gambian boys not only want to make quick money, they also hope to use these white women in love as a springboard, directly across the class, to find long-term meal tickets for a lifetime. Or take the opportunity to get a visa from a Western country and get rid of poverty from the motherland...
A local guide said: "The Gambians are poor and they have no choice. The boys thought it would be better to go to Europe, where they would have a better life. They hoped the old ladies would take them. ”
Middle-aged divorced or widowed white women are vulnerable and want to find their other half in the gentle countryside of the Gambia. So, there were boys who succeeded.
There's a famous case: Heidi Hepworth, 44, a mother of nine, left her 48-year-old husband Andy for a Gambian "toy boy", even though they had been married for 23 years. Heidi even converted to Islam for her new husband.
Heidi said: "No one thinks we can go on, but we love each other and I've never been so happy. Andy was very helpless, "She is in a midlife crisis and has been brainwashed." ”
But more often than not, women who are already vulnerable are being lied to again. Denise, 51, spent a fortune on her "true love", and when she brought him home, he disappeared.
Although Denise was devastated, 3 months later she fell in love with another Gambian boy...
They have been deceived a lot, and the grandmothers are not stupid, they distinguish between feelings and pleasure, and simply run to the Gambia to enjoy the young flesh of the boys, but they look at their wallets and dare not give their hearts anymore...
Gambian officials, fed up with the dirty, ageing sex trade, announced they wanted the old girls who had promised to leave their homeland. "We want high-quality tourists, tourists who come to enjoy the country and culture, not tourists who come just for sex."
The Minister of Tourism also said with a straight face that he hoped that everyone would shift the focus from nightlife to nature. "We have more than 300 different species of tropical birds in The Gambia."
As for whether the minister's words will work, the pumpkin does not know.