By Maimuna Sey-Jawo
Former students of Nusrat Senior Secondary School in Bundung recently donated food items to Kanifing General Hospital and Brikama Hospital in the West Coast Region.
The items donated by the 2001 batch of Nusrat Commerce 2 students included bags of rice, 20 liters of cooking oil and bags of sugar. The Nusrat ex-students comprise those in The Gambia and the Diaspora.
The gesture officials said is part of their efforts towards supporting the country’s health sector with the objectives of supporting the feeding of patients in the beneficiary institutions. Each of the hospitals received ten bags of rice, five bags of sugar and five 20 liters of cooking oil.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony held in Brikama District Hospital, Seedy Jatta, one of the members of the students, said: “We realized that food is usually a challenge in hospitals, hence that’s why we support the two hospitals in order to complement their efforts in terms of feeding the patients. This is also part of our Covid-19 relief support.”
For his part, Muhammed Sinera underscored the importance of the donated items to the beneficiary institutions, saying their members are committed to supporting institutions that were encountering some difficulties especially during the pandemic.
“We have discussions among ourselves in ensuring that we at least provide a relief support for certain institutions in the country, thus which led to today’s gathering. We are committed in ensuring that we mobilize the necessary resources so as to directly help patients,” he said, while commending frontline workers for tireless efforts in making sure that the pandemic is put under control and it doesn’t spread.
Lamin Sanyang, officer in-charge of Brikama District Hospital, said the hospital is the main referral health facility in West Coast Region which comprises different departments. “It has no board like other hospitals, hence that’s why we usually encounter problems, especially in accessing support.”
Mr. Sanyang disclosed that the hospital registered more than eight hundred deliveries last week alone, thus there’s need for urgent support to the hospital. He further appealed for more support to the hospital, saying: “Providing one meal support to a patient is a huge gesture.”
Commenting on some of the challenges affecting the hospital, he said, detergents and food items are on top of the list.
“The gesture will go a long way towards complementing our efforts in providing meals for the patients that are admitted at the hospital. The resources that we would have use in buying food items for the patients will now be used in purchasing other items that the hospitals are in critical need of,” Tida Jawara, in charge of the hospital pediatric ward, said.
Kebba Manneh, officer in charge of Kanifing General Hospital, said the donated items have come at a time when the hospitals are in critical need of support, claiming that Kanifing Hospital is the biggest in the Municipality and the second biggest in the country, hence supporting the hospital means you are supporting the entire country.
As a public institution, he went on, we are committed towards improving the country’s health sector especially on patients that are visiting the hospital on a daily basis.
