A group of 34 Pilgrims from the United Kingdom, led by Rev. Femi Cole-Njie and Mr Kenneth Njie, arrived on Tuesday  30 October 2007  in The Gambia for a ten-day visit. The purpose of the visit, is to commemorate the bi-centenary of the abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade.

Most of the pilgrims are of Carribean origin, and according to them, it is their first time to visit the motherland.
This, they noted, has given them the opportunity to see for themselves what had actually happened to their ancestors.

According to Rev. Femi Cole-Njie, facilitator of the visit, during the course of their stay,  they  have visited so many historical sites, notably Albreda, Juffureh, Bwiam Hospital, Banjul, among others.
“We paid a courtesy call on Angella Colley , Secretary of State for Tourism and Culture, a moving encounter for some pilgrims. However, the visit has been an eye-opening experience for the majority of the pilgrims, who had never been to Africa,” she explained.

For her part, Shabnam Khademian, one of the visitors, described the visit as a good experience,  noting that they have had the opportunity to get a better understanding of the history of slavery. “We went to  the  Island, where we saw a statue with a writing at the bottom saying slavery never again,” she said.

Frances Anderson hailed Rev. Femi Cole-Njie and her husband for  arranging the trip, which she described as a fruitful one.
“It’s an interesting experience.  I can take my children back home. I hope and pray that God will bless and develop the people of this country,” she said.

Similarly, Sarah Jones, Vilma Grissell and Patsy Constantine, all described the trip as a fruitful and successful one.  “We want to express our profoud gratitude to all the beautiful people of this country.  We wish we will be able to come back again,” they said with a great sense of joy.