By Mr. Hamadi Vincent Bah, Denmark.
Mr. Hamadi Bah fondly Vincent, a Board member and Chairman of the Danish-Gambia Friendship Society (DGFS) based in Denmark hails from Sintet, The Gambia. Vincent is greatly involved in nation development through the DGFS, and has been working with many local communities to better their standard of living. In this documentary (Part Two), Vincent walks our readers through on some of the contributions the DGFS made in the Gambia.
From Sare Bojo we drove to George Town where we spend the night. After breakfast in Georgetown, we went to the School Principal, Mr. Allen Sulayman Keita. He was really happy for the great help the school received from the Gambia, Friends, and hopes that the association will continue to help the school. The school received a 40-feet container, filled with school furniture and hospital items. They also received more than 100 school chairs and tables.
Then it was time to visit Kuntaur Upper Basic School and Hospital, located far from Georgetown. Helsingor Middle School in Denmark, in collaboration with Gambia Danish Friendship Society in Denmark, have donated learning and teaching materials, office equipment, sports materials and home science utensils to Kuntaur Upper Basic School and Kuntaur Health Centre, and the community of Kuntaur Fula Kunda. The donated items also included garden tools, second hand clothes, medical equipment, sewing machines, uniforms, wheel chairs, gloves and bed sheets.
When we arrived at the hospital in Kuntaur, we met the assistant officer Mr. Baatoua Camara. The hospital has received equipment from the association previously and they were in good use. We were well received and had the opportunity to talk about the association’s efforts for the hospital. Mr. Camara showed us around the hospital. We had a very thorough briefing and he hoped that we will continue to help them. We then drove to the school far away from the hospital. Upon arrival at school the school we met, Mr. Momodou Camara`s sister Aja Metta Camara. Momodou himself, a prominent Gambian who has done a lot of work in sensitization through his media outlet, “Bantaba in Cyberspace” lives in Denmark. Aja Camara is a sweet lady who is always ready to contribute to the school development. Aja Camara introduced us to the school principal Mr. Lalama Manneh and the school’s chairman Mr. Sulayman Jawo. We went around the school. Mr. Manneh thanked the Gambia-Friends and Helsengor Lille School, which has also contributed a lot to the school’s development. Principal Manneh, Aja Camara and Sulayman Jawo thanked for the great effort Gambia Friends is doing for the school especially in the workshop area.
After a good talk with the school principal, we continued to Panchang, where we visited Panchang health post in the Upper Saloum district. This is the clinic that was sponsored for renovation by auditor John Torp , one of our members. After Panchang, we visited the Computer & IT Training Centre, located in Farafenni. The center has received computers and computer tables. Mr. Ensa Touray, Director of the school gave great expression of gratitude for the association. We were shown around by Mr. Touray and showed the computers and furniture’s, which they received from the society and they were taken into good. It was nice to see that everything worked perfectly. Mr. Touray assured us that the Gambia-Friends are always working to ensure that things get to recipients on time, adding that he is very grateful to the Danish people and say thank you for the wonderful help he and Gambia are getting from the Gambia-Friends. Below is a link to Ensa Touray’s IT center in Farafeni from our website. http://www.gambias-venner.dk/Projekter/index.htm I travel to Gambia at least once a year together with our sponsor administrator and our project administrator, to do the payments for the school children our organization is sponsoring as follow-up; to name few schools; Bakau New Town Lower Basic, Bakoteh Lower Basic, Banjulunding Lower Basic, Banjulunding Upper Basic, Bondali School, Gambia Senior Secondary School, Greater Banjul Upper Basic , Kabafita Lo Basic, Killy Lower basic, Latrikunda Sabijie Lower Basic, Latrikunda Upper Basic, Nusrat Sen. Sec. School, Pirang, Presentation Upper Basic, Sibanor Upper Basic, St. Augustines Junio, St Augustines Sen. Sec, St. John Bosco`s Basic circle School Sintet Village, St. Peters Upper Basic Sec., St Therese`s Lower Basic, Sunris Nursery and Primary school and many more. We were initially sponsoring 45 schools in the Gambia, though currently only 16 schools. Big thanks for the support from the Danish foreign minister administered by DMR-U , who made it possible to send containers of various emergency equipment to the Gambia. A special thanks to Hiba and his team at the Danish Relief Group in Naestved, whom we have worked together for many years in packing organization relief containers and this collaboration has evolved a lot.
Thanks to Ousman Dampha our container administrator in the Gambia and Amadou Bah for their voluntary efforts in the Gambia, effort s that cannot be appreciated enough. They have done very much to have Gambian Friends on the map and into people’s minds, both in Gambia and Denmark. Thanks also to Ivar Christensen for an incredibly good cooperation on container shipments to the Gambia during the years, which has been running without any problems.
Thanks for a great partnership over the years and especially to DMR-U, for their always great helpfulness when there has been a need for help or guidance.
Source and Link to Part 1 publication:
Danish-Gambia Friendship Society (DGFS) Changed Gambia’s Living Conditions; Part 1