African Adventure Tours' guide Fanta Jawara had seen the image of Canadian Black history advocate Rosemary Sadlier in the Juffureh Slavery Museum many times. However, instead of seeing her in the "Kabo Nying Fa" (Mandinka) or "From These Shores" (English) exhibit, she was standing right in front of her and about to lead her on a day tour through Banjul and to Juffureh, the home of Kunta Kinteh.

Jawara recalls their meeting with excitement: "I have taken a thousand tourists to the museum looking and taking pictures of Rosemary Sadlier, and now I was taking her in person!" When the duo arrived in the historic village off the massive Gambia River, Patrick Gomez, the destination manager of the Juffureh Slavery Museum, greeted them. "He was good, patient, and explained things," added Sadlier.

When Gomez showed the Torontan her picture in the exhibit, she shared a tear, he recalls. Sadllier says, "I felt excited, thrilled, and honored. I said, 'That's me.'"

After touring the museum, they took a small boat to Kunta Kinteh Island, the home of the Fort James ruins. The fort and the island were the scene of many European fights, with the winner taking control of the fort and the lucrative trading along the river. The French, who sided with the Americans during the American war of Independence against England, attacked the then-British asset in 1788, giving Fort James its final blow.  A year later, the French, with African-Caribbean fighters in their ranks, would try to duplicate their Gambian success in Savannah, Georgia, but failed.

Though not in as good of a condition as Goree in nearby Senegal, Sadlier remarked, "It (Fort James) is a reminder that slavery was part of the establishment."

Tour guides do not always include the Juffureh mosque in their showings, however, Jawara led Sadlier to the mosque Alex Haley promised to his cousins in Juffureh. However, it was funds from Louis Farrakhan that fulfilled the promise. "It's modest. It reminded me of country church that has been there for a long time, but it fits the small community," she says, her voice filled with a sense of connection and understanding.

The Port of Harlem Gambian Education Partnership (POHGEP) created the "From These Shores" (English) or "Fi  Lan Jogei" (Wollof) exhibit that was fully funded with a bequeath from Kevin Turner, Esquire. Since 2002, the POHGEP has been creating connections such as these two.