By Fatou Saho
On Friday, the Global Emergency Welfare Response Association has donated items to the Tanka Tanka psychiatrist hospital in Salagi.
The association was formed by Gambians with the aim of complementing government’s efforts and helping the needy.
The chairman of the association, Modou Lamin Sima, said their donation to Tanka Tanka is just the start, adding that they want to empower the government.
“This is our first presentation and it is not going to be the last. We have identified areas where government cannot reach sufficiently to help those sectors and Tanka Tanka is among the areas that we have identified,” the chairman stated.
A matron at the psychiatrist hospital, Bakary Camara expressed delight over the items which are: rice, sugar, sanitary pads, detergents, soaps, flour, oil and bleach.
Camara said the items came in time and also lamented the challenges they face as a result of deportation and irregular migration.
“This place is the only psychiatrist hospital in the country; we have a bed capacity of 150 and sometimes we exceed the limit of admitting patients especially during the Covid. Due to irregular migration and deportation, most of the migrant returnees develop mental health illness when they arrive and that becomes a challenge for us. We are grateful for your support and these will go a long way,” Camara stated.
Abdoulie Cham, the public relations officer of the association, said they feel it as a necessity to start their activities with Tanka Tanka to help the patients.
He added: “It is our mandate as an association to support our fellow Gambians. The people at Tanka Tanka are here because of their situation; that is why they are being managed here and we have to help them”.
