It’s yet another humanitarian trip embarked upon by the Gambia Red Cross Society (GRCS) as a delegation comprising its Secretary General, officials, volunteers and partners converged at a very remote community in Central River Region North (CRR-N) to inaugurate a new borehole system in Sare Nyanga Sambaka, worth over 1.5 million dalasis; hence addressing the pressing water needs of, and restoring hope for, one of the most vulnerable communities in the country.
Mr. Alasan Senghore, Secretary General of GRCS, in explaining their five-year partnership with SolHEALTH and UB-ONE, said it has two components: providing water and sanitation, and supporting the Ministry of Health, in terms of promoting primary health care services in the communities.
Expressing their pride and joy over the partnership, Senghore stated GRCS’ strategy is to provide water to inaccessible communities across the country, “so, we don’t really discriminate; the only part that we look at is how vulnerable the communities are and how inaccessible water is to those communities”. The SG reassured them that such humanitarian gestures by GRCS is going to be a continuous process.
In his remarks, the Alkalo of Sare Nyanga Sambaka, Mr. Jawondo Bah, expressed delights in having such a project in his village, revealing that since its founding, the village never had access to clean drinking water. Therefore, he intimated, this “is the first of its kind in the history of the village of Sare Nyanga Sambaka”.
The Chairman of Village Development Committee (VDC) Mr. Ahmed Bah was thankful for the munificence, informing his audience: “For 51 years today, [of the village’s existence], we are [now] fortunate to have [safe drinking] water here in Sare Nyanga Sambaka. We are really delighted and grateful to GRCS and its partners for this project.” He held the view that someone who has given you access to clean water, had indeed given “you everything in life because water is life”.
Madam Hawa Kah of Sare Nyanga Sambaka community has vouched that GRSC and partners have brought ‘almost everything’ in their village. “Since the coming of GRCS in our community here, the village has progressed,” she remarked.
Project Coordinator of Gambia Red Cross Society Ms. Fatou B. Gaye, recalled that when they first visited the said village, they found out that women there were using donkeys to draw water from the well, describing it as ‘very sad’. She said they were also told the village is 51 years old but they didn’t have access to clean drinking water. “And we really felt that they are really in need of water in order to promote personal hygiene and the well-being of the community people,” she disclosed.
Mr. Lamin Kinteh, the contractor of the borehole project, thanked officials of GRCS for the trust they have in them (the Contractor) to do the work, reasoning because they are not the only company that could do this borehole work. He told them the two tanks of the borehole have the capacity of 10,000 litters, with each tanks containing 5,000 litres.
Contractor Kinteh further urged the villagers to take ownership of the project for its sustainability.
Mr. Simon Colley, Board Chairman of SolHEALTH, also spoke at the gathering.
It could be noted that, as part of the Konkonbayo project, GRCS and other partners had also reached out to the Upper River Region’s settlements of Jagula, Sare Jallow and Mbafafu, respectively, where similar inauguration events had taken place.
