The items which were funded by the British Embassy’s bilateral funding programme, were presented to Permanent secretary Babucar Bouy of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
Speaking at the occasion, the executive director of Arrdo Ansumana Dibba explained that the initiative to solicit the water filters for Gambian schools vulnerable to consuming unclean water was born out of his organisation’s desire to improve the livelihood of Gambian children. He reported that MoBSE and the department of water resources were consulted and both have supported the proposal for the items which was sent to the British Embassy culminating in their provision. He thanked Safe Water Trust UK for their inputs into the project.
“This water filters are operated through pumping by hand and they can clean lots of water for drinking by school children. They may not be the solution to the overall need for clean water at rural schools but it will go a long way to help protect children from drinking unhygienic water,” he noted adding that Arrdo shall continue in its drive to alleviate the problem of unsafe drinking water in rural schools.
In response, permanent secretary Bouye thanked Arrdo and the British Embassy for the donations. “I have no doubt that the children will appreciate this. As you said it may not be the long term solution to the need for safe drinking water at the schools concerned but it will help improve the level of cleanliness of water for the children at least in the schools, if not their entire community,” Mr Bouy said.
Demba Jallow of Sololo School, one of the beneficiaries gave the vote of thanks. The ceremony was attended by the officials of MoBSE, Arrdo and the department of Water Resources which conducted the needs assessment and identified the beneficiary schools, guided by the Unicef funded water quality assessment report.
]]>
