Genieri is a village in mid-central

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

. It is located in Kiang East District in the

Lower River Division Lower River Division is one of the five administrative divisions of the Gambia. Its capital is Mansa Konko. The city and area council elections were held during April 2002, when Wally S.M. Sanneh, an APRC candidate became the Mayor, winning uno ...

. As of 2009, it has an estimated population of 694. Located around 110 km from the capital of

Banjul Banjul (,"Banjul"
(US) and ), officially the City of Ba ...

, Genieri is predominantly

Mandinka Mandinka, Mandika, Mandinkha, Mandinko, or Mandingo may refer to: Media * ''Mandingo'' (novel), a bestselling novel published in 1957 * ''Mandingo'' (film), a 1975 film based on the eponymous 1957 novel * '' Mandingo (play)'', a play by Jack Ki ...

. According to the founding story of the village, Genieri was founded sometime in the early-to-mid 19th century by a man named Mamba Sanneh. Genieri is twinned with

Yate Yate is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies just to the southwest of the Cotswold Hills and is northeast of Bristol city centre and from the centre of Bath, with regular rail services to Bristol and Glouceste ...

, a town in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, a link that arose in 1986 as an initiative by a group of students. Yate has been active in funding development in Genieri. In November 2018, the people of Genieri financed the development of a self-sufficient water source. Genieri is home to a “Youth Skill Tailoring Centre”, opened in 2014. In 2018, Genieri was struck by a

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

epidemic, which killed an 18-year-old boy. Genieri was able to afford treatment for all cases of Malaria thanks to a donation from Yate, though the village was still severely affected by it and was still recovering as of February 2019. As of October 2020, Genieri had not been directly hit by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, but lockdowns imposed by the Gambian government had negatively impacted the town's economy by preventing villagers from commuting to nearby towns for work. The lockdown had also caused a severe food shortage.

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