By Sophie McLaughlin
A doorman in Belfast, Ireland, has been able to give a special gift to his home village in The Gambia this Christmas with the help of his bar colleagues.
Amadou is a familiar face at the front door of The Harp Bar in the city and is loved by all the staff that work alongside him.
Earlier this year, Amadou decided he wanted to bring some extra joy home to his father’s village Mbollet Ba on his next visit by collecting gifts to distribute to the local children.
After hearing the plans, his “Harp Bar family” rallied behind him to give an extra hand collecting gifts, toiletries, clothes and other items to send to The Gambia this Christmas.
A spokesperson for the Harp Bar said: “The staff decided they wanted to get involved and send some items home with Amadou who is easily one of the best doormen in Belfast.
“Over a number of weeks, we collected toys, books and stationary, clothing, toiletries and more before packing them up and getting them shipped off from Hill Street to Africa.”
After the pallet of gifts arrived in England for the first leg of its journey, the Harp Bar staff also paid for its shipping on to The Gambia.
Amadou then returned home last month to receive the items and transport them from the nearest town to Mbollet Ba where they had been shipped to before the local children gathered to receive his presents – with Amadou becoming somewhat of a ‘Santa’ ahead of Christmas.
Last year the owners of The Harp Bar and The Duke of York also donated £5,000 to Amadou ahead of a trip home in order to build a well and bring fresh water to the area.
The donation also allowed a pipe to be run from his village of Sare Yewtu where the well is located to a neighbouring village without access to fresh water.
The Harp Bar spokesperson continued: “Amadou is such a loved and valued member of our team that we were honoured to help him help his local village back home.
“He is always here with a huge smile on his face and it was great to see him light up even more faces with the gifts.”
belfastlive.co.uk
