Al Rahim Trust, an international NGO supporting the needy and the underprivileged people, Wednesday inaugurated a new borehole in the community of Kerr Mot Ali in Upper Saloum.
The borehole will provide safe drinking water for the people and serve as a vital water source for women gardeners, empowering them to boost their food security and increase income.
Speaking at the inauguration, women focal person Kumba Seck expressed gratitude to Al Rahim Trust for coming to their aid. She said the borehole will change the lives of her people, especially the women. “We suffered a lot of problems accessing water. This borehole will go a long way in helping us enhance our economic activities. We can now grow crops around the cycle to feed our families and support our children’s education,” Madam Seck added.
Alpha Salieu Keita, AI Rahim Trust representative in The Gambia explained that the foundation started its activities in the country 5 years ago with a mission to serve humanity. He added that they have since provided support to communities in many parts of the country ranging from health, water for communities and helping orphans and education among others.
Keita explained that the borehole was provided through a partnership with the Women’s Association for Women and Victims’ Empowerment (WAVE-Gambia) which has been supporting and advocating for the rights and inclusion of Kerr Mot Ali residents who faced persecution under the previous regime forcing them to vacate their homes.
“We realised that this community has gone through a lot of hardship and right now they need water, they need medicine and a lot more. This is why we came up with this initiative to provide them with water so that they can help themselves with gardening and improve their livelihoods,” he said.
Mr Hussein, a member of AI Rahim Foundation from UK, commended the community for the reception accorded to them. He reiterated AI Rahim’s commitment to serving humanity.
“We are a charity. We want to help people to make their lives better and I am happy that they are making a good use of the water and hopefully within a couple of months we should be doing more projects where they could generate income and go on with their lives,” he said.
The foundation also donated cash to the women to purchase seeds to start their gardening and also donated a sheep for them to support their Eid celebrations.
Several beneficiaries expressed delight and described the borehole project as timely while thanking AI Rahim and WAVE and prayed for the success of their foundations.
