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NBR authorities, tycoons donate to NAYCONF

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:05:43 GMT

Monday, November 10, 2008

Officials and some business people in the North Bank Region (NBR) have made pledges to the local organising committee of the forthcoming Nayconf, which is slated for Farafenni, at the end of the year.

Kerewan Area Council pledged to donate D100, 000 while a group representing the women folk in Farafenni gave D29, 000 as their contributions to the successful implementation of the youth gathering. Hamidou Jah, a businessman in the region, also pledged D25, 000 as his personal contribution.

Speaking at the ceremony, last Tuesday, in Farafenni, the governor of NBR, Edward Seckan, praised the donors, describing their move as a demonstration of patriotism.

The announcement of the donations came following appeal made by the region’s local organising committee for funding.

Sheriff Gomez, Secretary of state for Youth and Sport thanked the donors for the gesture. He also urged the local organising committee to double up in their effort to looking for funding for a successful hosting of the youth gathering.

Alagie Kebbeh, Chairperson of the National Youth Council, said anything that the NAYCONF national organising committee would do would be in collaboration with the NBR local organising committee. He urged them to refrain from “last minutes complaint.”

Chairman Kebbeh then called on the youths of North Bank to come together and lend a hand. He further urged the young people to take up the challenges and to continue on their concerted effort for national development.

Author: by Amadou Jallow

People of Someta Village Benefit from Philanthropists

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:18:47 GMT

Friday, October 24, 2008

The people of SometaVillage in Foni Berefet District recently benefited from the donations of both a Dutch and Belgian Philanthropist. The donors gave a milling machine value at 2000 Euro, 120 bags of cement for the construction of the ArabicSchool and four taps to the village of Someta. During the handing over ceremony all the V.D.C members were present. Mr. Erect, from the Netherlands, the Chief donor, urged the beneficiaries to take proper care of the items. In the event that the machine gets any minor problem they should rise and rejuvenate it. He added that the people of Someta are hard working and that they need to be credited.

Mr. Gabriel, the Belgian donor, has pledged to transform part of the primary health care centre into a eye surgery clinic, since the Government cannot do all. Mr. Gabriel further pointed out that they are on the crusade to construct a structure in the premises of P.H.C. He further added that, they will train two people from SometaVillage to become eye surgeons. He finally promised the villages that the issue of medicine or drugs will not be a problem.

The chairman of Brikamabe area council, Mr. Sunkurr Badjie, thanked the donors for the job well done.

Gabriel, the chairman, revealed that if people heard that there is an adequate supply of drugs in Someta they will come and call. He said, “if the word is advancing we also need to advance.”

Author: Malamin Conteh

Armed Forces get sports gear

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:36:55 GMT

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

The Gambia Armed Forces FC on Friday, received donations in the form of football jerseys, shocks and caps, from Ralph Bernard, a Jamaican, and his Gambian business counterpart, Lamin Saidy. The donated items were formerly presented to the chief of defence staff of The Gambia Armed Forces, Major General Lang Tombong Tamba, the president of the club, who doubles as the first vice president of The Gambia Football Association.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony held at The Gambia Armed Forces headquarters in Banjul, the donors, Ralph Bernard and Lamin Saidy, all expressed gratitude to the CDS and head of state, stating that it was a personal gift from them towards the development of sports in The Gambia. They were unanimous in their belief that the contribution of the Armed Forces to the sustainability of peace in the country cannot be emphasized; something that warranted such a gesture.

CDS Tamba, in giving his statement, congratulated the donors for their ‘wonderful gesture,’ assuring them that it would go a long way in boosting the preparations of The Gambia Armed Forces FC in their pending trip to Uganda, on a regional sporting competition. Major General Tamba emphasised on the need for security, saying there would be no peace without the army. He expressed fervent appreciation of the donated items, while thanking the donors for using their resources in supporting The Gambia Armed Forces.

Jammeh Bojang, secretary general of The Gambia Football Association, also thanked the donors for their ‘unbeatable gesture,’ saying such a donation would go a long way in the development of sports in the country. He said the donation came at the right time when The Gambia Armed Forces team were preparing for their trip to Uganda.

Author: by Alieu Ceesay

Donations roll in for Presidential Treatment Programme

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:05:28 GMT

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Thursday, August 28, 2008

The Kairaba Beach Hotel and R & R Laundry Services Staff Credit Union presented a cheque for D20,000 and 100 bedsheets, 100 blankets, 100 bed protectors, 100 bath towels, 35 pillows and pillow cases, worth D175,470.

The donations were received by Dr Tamsir Mbowe, the director general of the Presidential Treatment Programme, at a presentation ceremony held at the new Serrekunda Hospital on Wednesday.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Janko Drammeh, the purchasing manager at Kairaba Beach Hotel, who is the treasurer of the Kairaba Beach Hotel and R & R Laundry Services Staff Credit Union, said the presentation was possible after a fundraising activity they organised in July.

“Since then, we promised that part of the proceeds of the fundraising activity should be donated to the health sector. We therefore thank the general managers of both institutions (Kairaba Beach Hotel & R & R laundry services) and all our donors for the support they have given us,” he remarked.

Receiving the items, Dr Mbowe thanked the staff of Kairaba Hotel and R & R Laundry Services for the gesture. Dr Mbowe elaborated on the numerous successes registered by the treatment programme under the watchful eyes of President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh.

“As said by the president, anyone who contributes to the health sector is a true and genuine friend of the country and your donation manifested this,” Dr Mbowe remarked, while thanking the donors on behalf of the president.

Other speakers at the ceremony included Memunatu Junisa, the human resource manager of Kairaba Beach Hotel and Cecelia Sambou, the sales director at Kairaba Beach Hotel.

Author: by Assan Sallah & Alieu Ceesay

Disaster prevention or control?

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:43:01 GMT

Monday, August 25, 2008

Last Tuesday, the national Disaster Relief Committee, under the auspices of the vice-president, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, presented relief money of over D300, 000, an amount allotted for disaster-stricken victims in the country.

This money, it must be noted, came thanks to the generosity of the UNDP Gambia office, a body that is said to have an enviable history of rendering such gestures of benevolence to these kinds of people.

One thing that is special about last Tuesday’s presentation is that it came at the right time; the period when the country is experiencing worrying tales of disasters, mostly caused by floods, after downpours. Donations like these are quite commendable. In fact, we would want to join calls for the benefactors to keep up with the spirit, especially given the nature of rainfall we have been realising in this season.

However, it is worthwhile discussing the fact that giving donations like this might be just part of the solution of the problem; the money might only be important for control measures. But the issue of what we have at hand is such that we need to focus more on prevention rather than control. Do they not say that ‘prevention is better than cure’? Well, we ought to go back to the drawing board.

As someone said recently, it is a fact that there are natural disasters; but it is equally true that there are ‘man-induced natural disasters’. We will get the explanation to this if we look at the nature of buildings we have; the manner in which our settlements are planned; our roads; our gutters; these coupled with clandestine wiring systems in congested residential and commercial areas.

These were in fact the concerns raised by the vice-president, during the last presentation ceremony. And, as a matter of fact, she was quite right in this. As she said, in our quest to sorting out this chronic problem, everybody has a stake; the private building contractors; the engineers; the relevant departments of state; and even the individual owners of compounds.

In some areas of the region, as her Excellency said, the eminence of flood is virtually inevitable, because the situation of the houses is such that there is absolutely nothing we can do, at our level, to stop the eventualities. In cases like these, we find out that the only possible way out would be through prevention. In this regard, it is the duty of the relevant departments of state to remain steadfast. If, for instance, a structure is not supposed to be erected somewhere, they must ensure that it is not erected.

It is disheartening, however, to see the way our new settlements are sprouting with new structures, not only poorly constructed but also so poorly planned that disaster becomes inevitable. This should be the focus of the authorities concerned.

Author: DO

Sera Jarju’s transformation

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:23:00 GMT

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

This young lady, now 19, was first discovered with serious medical complications, resulting from serious burns. This was about 11 years ago, at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital children’s ward, where she was a patient.

She was eight years old then and, according to Mr Bijou Peters, who had discovered the young angel, Sera had sustained severe 3rd degree burns on her face, chest, abdomen, arms and thighs. "She was suffering a great deal and, under normal circumstances, the patient should not have survived because patients admitted with severe burns involving more than two thirds (2/3) of the body do not often survive."

Dr Ayo Palmer, the Paediatrician in charge of the children’s ward at that time was said to have requested Mr Peters to visit the burns section of the ward to discover the large number of children’s admitted with severe burns. There were appallingly several cases of patients with various forms of burns; some mild and others serious. Among these was little Sera Jarju who was very severely burnt, and had been in the hospital for a whole year, with her grandmother, Binta, and they were about to be discharged home to Lamin. The surgeon in change of her had decided that the hospital was unable to do anymore for her.

Sera was in an awful plight. During the healing process of her burns, contracture of her muscles had developed (blue muscles of her arms began to contract inward, towards her chest, a common feature of 3rd degree burns).

A splint in the shape of a cross to keep her arms outstretched would have prevented the contractures. But unfortunately this was not used, and very soon the contracture persisted and Sera’s arms became fused across her chest. This rendered the poor child incapacitated; she could not feed, wash herself or do anything by herself; and she was in a terrible dilemma.

"This was very unfortunate, as when I first met Sera she was up and about and actually playing with the other children in the ward who were recovering," said Mr Peters, "I was saddened and disturbed when I discovered that she was about to be discharged home because the surgeon felt that nothing more could be done for her, and that her grandmother was tired, having been with her in hospital for a whole year."

An unhappy situation it was. What was to become of her in Lamin Village, now that she could not do anything for herself? Who would take on the responsibility of caring for her, feeding her, and so on? In no time she would not be properly fed, she would lose weight, and her condition would certainly begin to deteriorate. The nurses at the hospital then deserve unreserved commendation for treating her severe burns until they got healed. God also had his healing hands on Sera and was not going to allow her to die.

On Mr Peters’ return home, he was inspired to write an article about the child’s predicament and put a picture of her on the papers. (That is the picture of her on this page). The result of that article was dramatic. The public was apparently struck by the poor child’s misfortune, so people began to donate to wards her welfare.

This was the beginning of an impressive fund raising spree for Sera - institutions, civil service departments, schools, private individuals - and even the army organised a football match and donated the proceeds realized to Sera Jarju’s fund.

That was a fantastic display of humanitarianism, as nothing of that nature had ever happened before. In a short time an amount of D92, 749.20 was collected for the child. It could be recalled that all donations were sent to the senior accountant at the RVTH, MB Awa John, who had a very busy time writing to acknowledge receipt of every donation, thanking donors, in spite of her busy schedule of work at the hospital.

A committee was subsequently formed, including some of the hospital authorities. And this committee decided to search abroad for a hospital and a re-constructive plastic surgeon that would be willing to treat Sera without charges.

The committee dispatched several correspondences to hospitals in the UK and elsewhere, hoping to find a hospital willing to help this unfortunate child. "We were so lucky to have received positive responses from various hospitals ready to help her. We succeeded in choosing the best hospital that would suit our purpose regarding proximity to The Gambia as well as a plastic surgeon with experience in re-constructive plastic surgery. All that entailed a great deal of work and correspondences to and fro.

Finally, Mr Dimonkay, an experienced plastic surgeon in re-constructive surgery, took on the challenge and offered his services free of charge, provided we could get Sera to the UK, to her hospital in Leeds, and accompanied by a trained nurse to assist with the nursing care of the sschild while in hospital.

Sera went to the UK on two successive occasions, and underwent two major operations; the first one was to free her fused arms, while the 2nd was for the re-constructive plastic surgery, both of which, thankfully, were successful. It was a great achievement for Mr Kay and his team. He reportedly stated that he had never seen contractures as extensive and severe as Sera's. "We were happy that Sera survived the two major surgery operations."

After so many sufferings, recounts Mr Peters, Sera made a good and speedy recovery when she returned home. There after she was much better, she began to agitate to go to school. She received the needed encouragement and was accepted at a primary school in her home village of Lamin. She enjoyed being at school and soon made a lot of friends. Sera, according to him, was a very courageous child, undaunted by her disability. And she was not the least embarrassed by her deformity.

"She plodded on slowly but surely through primary school, until she reached grade 9." At that stage, they succeeded in getting her sponsors from the UK. Sera did not want to go to a skill centre.

Rather, she preferred to continue her education up to grade 12. She proved adamant about that, and was able to find herself a school all the way in Brikama, where she managed to stay with a family member. She has now completed grade 12. "We say well done and bravo to this girl of 19 years, for her determination, courage and resourcefulness, to have achieved so much in spite of many difficulties and much suffering. A good member of Gambians will remember all that she endured at the age of 8."

In conclusion Sera’s right hand, fortunately, was not terribly burnt, but her left hand was, and she actually lost three digits, for which she still requires surgery. Mr Kay is said to be willing to help to treat her, but not free of charge this time round, because he is no longer at the Leeds Hospital where he was in charge of.

An appeal is hereby sent to any philanthropist who may be willing to help Sera Jarju even further. Her recovery was indeed a real miracle!

Courtesy of Mr Bijou Peters

Author: DO

Thank you President Jammeh!

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:20:44 GMT

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Editor,

Please, on behalf of the Alkalo, Council of Elders, women and youths of Foni Jarrol and on my own behalf, I hereby write to appeal for a space in your newspaper to extend our sincere thanks to His Excellency, Alhagi Dr. Yahya A.J.J Jammeh, president of the Republic, for the handsome gesture he extended to us recently, on the occasion of our recent cup celebration.

Sir, these donations came at the right time, without which the celebration would not have been successful.

Once again, on behalf of the entire community of the village, I seize this opportunity to congratulate you for your wonderful development programmes such as herbal treatment, peace building, your support for education, sports, Agriculture and other fields and, indeed, for your attitude of caring and sharing.

May Allah the Almighty reward you and your family abundantly. We wish you long life, wisdom, peace, progress and prosperity in ruling this country, forever.

Please accept, your Excellence, the assurances of our unflinching support to your calls for nationalism.

Sheriffo A Sanneh

Jarrol Youth Development Association

Author: DO

World Blood Donor Day observed

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:35:19 GMT

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Dr Luis G Sambo, WHO Regional Director for Africa, has said that for many patients blood transfusion is the only means of survival. Dr Sambo said that in the rural areas of some member states blood is either not available or not safe.

The WHO Regional boss for Africa was speaking on the commemoration of World Blood Donor Day, which was observed throughout the world on June 14, on the theme: "Giving blood regularly". According to Dr Sambo, the commemoration was in recognition of the fact that an increase in the number of people who give blood voluntarily and regularly is the only means of ensuring that safe blood is accessible to every patient who needs it.

"It is gratifying to note that an increasing number of countries in the Africa region have committed themselves to provide safe blood to their populations by developing and operationalizing policies on blood safety. Due to these policies, clear strategic directions and the WHO regional strategy on blood safety, an increasing number of countries are collecting blood from voluntary blood donors".

The target for 2012, Dr Sambo added, is for countries to collect more than 80% of blood donations from voluntary non-remunerated donors. " In 2006, 79% of the total donations in the African region were from voluntary donors.

Similar improvement has occurred in testing of blood for diseases known to be transmissible by transfusion and in promotion of appropriate clinical use of blood. These encouraging advances, however, need to be consolidated and improved in order to meet the blood requirements of the region, estimated at about 8 million units per year, for a population of over 773 million".

In the celebration of world blood donor day 2008, the WHO expresses gratitude to the countless voluntary donors who, over the years, have contributed blood to the survival of so many individuals without expecting any immediate tangible rewards. The only reward for donors, Dr Sambo said, is for them to know that their donations have meant the survival of so many individuals, unnamed strangers, who have benefited without distinction of age, sex, medical condition, income, class, religion or ethnicity. "Our request to donors is that they continue to donate regularly so as to ensure sustainable availability of the gift of blood to all deserving patients.

Health authorities and partners should continue to be involved in recruitment and management of blood donors, encouraging and requesting them to donate regularly. They should create mechanisms as well as conducive and enabling environments that will motivate blood donors to participate periodically," he concluded.

Author: by Lamin M Dibba

Foundation stone laid for Brufut LBS mosque

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 05:15:50 GMT

Thursday, June 05, 2008

A foundation stone for a new mosque at Brufut Lower Basic School was recently laid by Alhagie Kebba Sheriff Hydara, Kaliph of the Hydara families in The Gambia.

The mosque, with a dimension of 11m by 10m, is a self help project initiated by the school through its Islamic conferences and donations organised by the staff and students of the school.

Speaking shortly before the laying of the foundation block, the Kaliph of the Hydara families in The Gambia, Alhagie Kebba Hydara, used the occasion to pray for continued peace and stability in the country. He urged the muslim Ummah to be united and work as one family, noting that islam is a religion born with tolerance and obedience.

He described unity as a fundamental principle of islam. He then prayed for progress and prosperity of the project and seek for Allah’s blessings it.

The ceremony was attended by the Alkalo of Brufut, Alh Yunusa Sano, religious leaders, as well as members of the Brufut community. The food vendors of the school provided the feeding during the ceremony as part of their contribution towards the event.

Author: by Musa Ndow

World Red Cross Day observed

Thu, 08 May 2008 08:09:02 GMT

Thursday, May 08, 2008

The Gambia Red Cross Society [GCRS] in fulfilling one of its mandatesyesterday embarked on a weeklong celebration of the World Red Cross day, on the theme ‘together for humanity’ .

In commemoration of the day, The Gambia Red Cross Society held a press briefing on Friday to highlight the activities of the week long celebration.

Speaking to journalists during the press briefing held at the Red Cross headquarters in Kanifing recently, Mr Lamin Gassama the IEC Chairperson and dissemination officer of The Gambia Red Cross Society, said that the national society is concious of the need to enhance the recognition of the Red Cross emblem. He further recognise the efforts of the volunteers as a result, the GCRS will join hands with the government and all its partners to commemorate this very important day.

In his overview of the itinery for the celebration Mr Gassama said there will be a five minutes statement to be delivered by Dr Malick Njie secretary of state for health and social welfare On the regional activities he said that there shall be a host of activities in each region . He added that there will be matchpast at regional levels. as well as VTC’s and bloood donations.

For his part Fabakary Kalleh the youth director said men can become saviours and be of benefit to their fellow men through their actions as a result “we have seen God choosing the likes of Henry Dunant to bring men together in the service towards humanity.

Because of his success in this noble cause ,192 states are following in his footsteps in serving humanity”. He called on all and sundry to come out and support the red cross in the service for humanity.

Author: by Ebrima Jatta