By Fatou Saho
The Chinese Association in The Gambia in partnership with the Confucius Institute at the University of The Gambia and the China Medical Team have donated items worth over D100,000 to the SOS orphanage.
Among the items donated include rice, sugar, cooking oil, baby food, diapers, learning materials alongside toys and other play kits.
The donation was accompanied by medical services carried by doctors from the China Medical Team who specialized in various areas; general surgery, anaesthesiology, amongst others.
The director of China Medical Team, Dr. Wang Yong, said the objective is to improve medical services in the country.
“We are offering free medical service to the SOS family because it is the biggest orphanage and child care centre that we know in The Gambia. We want to cultivate a better next generation hence, children are the future so that they can also contribute back to the societies,” Dr. Wang highlighted.
Chao Zhang, director of Confucius Institute, said their visit aims to foster change, strengthen the China-Gambia relationship and for the children at SOS to feel the love from Chinese people.
The national director of the SOS Gambia, Jean Pierre Kouaman, expressed delight over the items received and extended gratitude to the China team and called for more contribution.
He said: “We have been operating for 41 years now and we rely on donations like these and funding from other partners. We are taking care of more than 200 young people without parental care and children at risk of losing parental care to provide them family setting where they can be happy and attend to their basic human rights”.
