By Omar Bah
The Ecomig-Ghana contingent stationed in Barra has extended medical assistance to the community of Njongon village.
Held at the grounds of the Helping Gambia Children Foundation Project (HGCFP), a Holland-based group-sponsored health centre in Njongon village, the medical outreach provided the villagers with the opportunity to undergo a rigorous medical checkup and receive quality medicines from the troop’s doctors.
The new commander of the Ghanaian troops serving with Ecomig (GHANCO 7), Lieutenant Colonel Kwasi Ware Peprah, said the exercise is part of the troop’s social corporate responsibility.
“It is one of our contributions to the development of the Gambia. We cannot come here and leave without having any impact on the development of the country and its people,” he said.
He added that it is in the interest of the troops to have a cordial relationship with the civilians they serve.
“We cannot have a successful peacekeeping mission without the people we are working for feeling our presence positively because we cannot be operating with people when there is tension between us. So, it is important for us to build that cordial relationship that will help us understand how the people we serve feel about us. It is unfortunate that these people are less privileged, so if we have the means, we should help,” he added.
He said some of the things they do in the communities they serve have given them a very good rating among the people.
The Ecomig spokesperson, Major Asola-Fadola, said the West African troops across the country are going the extra mile to support the communities they operate in. He said community outreach is very important for Ecomig to achieve its goal in the Gambia.
The village Alkalo Njaga Joof said the medical assistance could not have come at a better time, especially at a time when people rarely visit hospitals for medical checkups.
“This will help many of the villagers to know their health status and to be able to take good care of themselves medically,” he said.
Bintou Sarr, a beneficiary, thanked the Ghanaian troops for the medical support. She said villagers face difficulties when it comes to accessing quality medical services. “We want to call on the government to support the village clinic with the required medical supplies to ease the difficulties we face in accessing medical services,” she said.
