By Yero S. Bah
The existence of philanthropists, and their positive impacts on the lives and livelihoods of Gambians in various sectors of society, cannot be overemphasized.
In an exclusive interview this medium via WhatsApp from Scotland, the chairman of Project-Gambia, Mr. Frank Devine delved into the activities of his humanitarian organization in the Gambia.
Helping needy students through its impressive feeding programmes in schools, the Project-Gambia, which has been in existence in the country for 10 years now, provides feeding to various schools across the Gambia.
Chairman Devine recalled the idea started years back when they were on a holiday in the Gambia and the saw the need for such philanthropic gestures upon their visits to certain schools, inter alia St. John School for Deaf where they are sponsoring school feeding program for these needy physically-challenged students.
“We visited this school and realized that students don’t have any feeding program, so we felt the need to do something for them,” recalled Devine. He added that Serekunda Primary School, St. Patrick and St. Joseph are also part of the schools they support on their school feeding program.
As the philanthropist told Mansa Banko Online, the project’s main aim is actually feeding over 1000 school-going children, stating its intervention areas also include the provision of educational equipment like computers and taking children to Europe who need special medical attention. A case in point he cited was a particular Gambian child who was “earless” and was taken to Scotland for a special surgery operation, and “the child was operated and treated well”.
The chairman said Project-Gambia also distributes school uniforms to students, and that the entire food ration that was in store in their various intervention sites had been distributed to the teachers and students following the coronavirus outbreak and its subsequent lockdowns of schools in the Gambia.
The philanthropist noted that, having meals in schools boosts student’s learning performance, saying they also cover another school in Darsilami village and St. Joseph Nursery school. He used the opportunity to hail the commitment of his partner, Mr. Paul Lafferty, who has been in the Gambia for over twenty years (20) with his family, and serves as the treasurer of the organization.
Besides, Project-Gambia is in partnership with Professor Arunachalam Perumkulam Iyer who delivers life-saving medical equipment to the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) in Banjul as he liaises with a Gambian nurse in Scotland called Ms. Maimuna Drammeh. Intimating these materials are expected to deliver vital support to the Gambian health sector, Devine said they also target Brikama Major Health Center (as a beneficiary institution).
As the Project chair further recounted, it was Ms.Drammeh- a Registered Nurse who approached the NHS in Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as Med Aid for help, noting their response was phenomenal; that NHS donated life-saving medical items like Defibrillators and Suction Units for emergency situations whilst Med Aid donated medical equipment that are vital for providing good quality care for the people of Brikama.
He said Project-Gambia has stepped in to help ship the donated items to Banjul, and Paul Lafferty participated in the Great North Run on Sunday to raise funds for the shipment of these medical items to Banjul as well as for the purchase of face masks.
The Project-Gambia head concluded by apprising that at the moment, the project sponsors over one thousand (1000) Gambian children and also distributes bicycles to Gambian students for effective learning process.
