Buba Badjie is a Gambian–

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

and entrepreneur born 1967 in the village of Jambanjelli,

the 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 ...

. Badjie was born into a farming community. His parents had

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

and grew

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

and

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

s. He excelled in the village school and got the opportunity to attend an elite school, also used by the president of

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 ...

's children. His interest in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

and

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

inspired him to become a

. He looked for scholarships around the world to acquire such a degree. He ended up attending veterinary studies in ''

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Agriculture University'',

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

(then part of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

). He learned Russian in 6 months and graduated a few years later. Badjie made regular visits to Sweden and met his future wife Cecilia.http://gd.se/nyheter/monkmoter/1.304210-monk-moter-buba-badjie When he arrived in Sweden it turned out he could not work as a veterinarian with a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

degree and attended Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, faculty of veterinary medicine in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

, Sweden. After graduating as a veterinarian for the second time, Badjie worked as DVO in the province of

Gästrikland Gästrikland () is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Uppland, Västmanland, Dalarna, Hälsingland and the Gulf of Bothnia. Gästrikland is the southernmost of the Norrland provinces. Other forms of ...

as station manager and as the Manager Veterinary Services and Veterinary Technical Manager for Sweden and Finland for Procter & Gamble/ The Iams Company Europe (based in Switzerland). While he enjoyed his job with Procter & Gamble his dream was to return to his new home land Sweden and open his own veterinary clinic in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. Today he owns and operates animal hospital ''

Bromma Bromma () is a borough (''stadsdelsområde'') in the western part of Stockholm, Sweden, forming part of the Stockholm Municipality. Bromma is primarily made up of Bromma Parish and Västerled Parish. The fourth largest airport in Sweden and the th ...

Djurklinik''.

Television and media

Badjie came to national attention in 2000 when he participated in

Expedition Robinson ''Robinson'', formerly ''Expedition Robinson'', is a Sweden, Swedish Reality television#Reality competition.2Fgame shows, reality game show and the original version of the international ''Survivor (franchise), Survivor'' format. The television ...

(see

Expedition Robinson 2000 ''Expedition Robinson 2000'', was the fourth edition of Expedition Robinson ''Robinson'', formerly ''Expedition Robinson'', is a Sweden, Swedish Reality television#Reality competition.2Fgame shows, reality game show and the original version o ...

). It was the first production worldwide of the show that has since been produced in many countries under the name

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: Actual survivors * *Last survivors of historical events Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Found ...

. In 2005 he was the focal point in a documentary called ''Mitt jobb: Buba – veterinär'', the program was produced by The Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company to educate Swedish high school students about being a veterinarian. In 2007, he was featured in ads and became a

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for ''Fri Företagsamhet'' promoting entrepreneurship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badjie, Buba Swedish people of Gambian descent Swedish veterinarians 1967 births Living people