By Moses Emmanuel Mendy
The Lutheran Church of The Gambia through the Anglican Diocese of The Gambia on Thursday, 6th of February 2020 at Banjul, received a donation of items from it’s mother Church in America.
Reverend Father of Anglican Diocese Christopher Manley speaking on behalf of the donors said the items will be distributed by the Lutheran Churches to the needy people in their communities. He points out that some items will be given to the Edward Francis Small teaching Hospital and Institute for Social Reformation and Action (ISRA), an Islamic faith based Organization responsible for supporting Almudi children in the traditional Islamic Centers (Madrassa)
Reverend Manley elaborated that through this support from the Lutheran Church in America, the local Church here will have an impact on the lives of the people in the Gambia “this is how we as Christians we show love to people in the community, the items that are here which include chairs and desk for schools, you have storage cabinets, you have beds, you have clothing for children, clothing for women, you have sewing machines this things [donation] is a way of showing the love for one another“ he said.
“And it is not showing love only for our Christian friends but is showing love for all which includes even the Muslims” he added. He further stated that the furniture will help address the furniture shortage in schools, clothing and the rest will be used especially to benefit the remote areas in the provinces to enable them enjoy the same privilege that is available here In the urban areas.
“Forty boxes is going to be given to the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education so that they can distribute it to needy out of reach communities in the provinces so that at least these schools will be able to use it for their games and sports” he concluded.
Reverend Anthony Sambou of the Lutheran Church of The Gambia says it is not the first time this has happened. He expressed his gratitude to Reverend Doctor John Loum who facilitated the initiative and called out to “any other sensible and patriotic Gambian whoever walk out of this soil to another foreign soil” to think of doing the “kind gesture trying to address different needs of their people” he further elaborated that “this is a claret call to every Gambian, those in Diaspora and those inside even the NGOs to do likewise”, “whatever they see is lacking in most of the institutions in this country then they try to address that”. He added that the equipment will be used to address the constraints that schools, medical and educational sector faces.
Foday Mamud Kebbeh, Executive Director of Institute for Social Reformation and Action (ISRA) hopes to put the items into good use by giving them to the “children in dire need of these materials” he expressed gratitude to the donors and Dr. Loum in particular.
Adama Mbaye Operations manager at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital assured the media that the food products and the items given to them will help them in various aspects at the hospital.