The 2001 former Commerce 2 students of Nusrat Senior Secondary School-both at home and abroad-have donated bags of rice, drums of cooking oil and bags of sugar to Kanifing General Hospital (KGH) and Brikama District Hospital.
The food items are intended to support the feeding of patients admitted in the two health facilities, and address their feeding challenges. Each of the two health facilities received 10 bags of rice, five bags of sugar and five drums of cooking oil.
Speaking at the presentation held at the Brikama District Hospital, Mr. Seedy Jatta, a member of the Nusrat ex-Commerce 2 students’ group, said: “We realized that food is usually a challenge in hospitals which is why we did the donation. This is part of our Covid-19 relief support. We hope that it will help.”
Another member, Mr. Muhammed Sinera, recalled that during the Covid-19 pandemic, they had several common discussions on what they could do to help [the patients], which led to the provision of the said relief support.
“Our purpose is to mobilise resources that can directly help the patients. We appreciate the work of health officers during this pandemic, and we regard them as heroes and heroines,” he said.
The Officer-in-Charge of Brikama District Hospital, Mr. Lamin Sanyang, informed the gathering that, the hospital is the main referral health facility in West Coast Region with different departments.
“It has no board like other hospitals; which is why we usually encounter problems, especially in accessing support,” he disclosed. Sanyang went on to state that the hospital registered more than eight hundred (800) deliveries last week alone, which translates that there is an urgent need for help. He used the opportunity to appeal for urgent support to the health facility, reasoning that providing one meal support to a patient is a huge gesture.
On Constraints, the Brikama District Hospital chief divulged they are in dire need of the much-needed support to the health facility. Noting detergents are important during this Covid-19 pandemic, Sanyang indicated that more support, in both food items and detergents, would be appreciated.
Officer-in-Charge of the hospital’s Pediatric Ward, Ms. Tida Juwara, expressed appreciation to the benefactors, assuring that the donation would help in their meal package to patients. “We have lots of malnourished children here who definitely need help,” Juwara told her audience.
At the Kanifing General Hospital, Mr. Baboucarr Saine said they are the biggest hospital in the Kanifing Municipality and the second biggest in the whole of The Gambia.
The hospital’s Administrative continued, “As a public institution, we work towards improving the health of the people of this country.”
Saine informed that they provide a lot of services to the people, ranging from surgical, accident and emergency to gynecological services. He thanked the donors for the gesture, while reassuring that the food items would greatly help the feeding of the patients in the hospital.
