By Mustapha Jarju
Our Africa Project on Thursday, 1st June 2023, donated valuable materials which include wheelchairs, sunglasses, and sun skin lotions for Albinos, to the Gambia Federation of the Disabled (GFD).
Presenting the items to the beneficiary, the Executive Director of Our Africa Project The Gambia, Miss Claudia Hoffman said the organization was created by her earlier this year, and she expressed her delight in the partnership with the GFD.
Miss Hoffman said she has been giving support to the disabled persons on the streets which made her learn some of the challenges faced by the disabled persons in the Gambian communities. She said people with disabilities are coping and trying their best in making a better life for themselves.
“They are fighting very hard and in Europe, you don’t know how hard it is and what kind of hardship disabled persons face, so I learn in the Gambia that the condition in which most of the disabled persons are living is heartbreaking. And I have visited some of the disabled persons and they are living in dependency and the disabled person are highly motivated, intelligent in trying to do something but it depends on the family system because there is nothing to support them here,” she said.
Madam Hofmann said, her organization’s partnership with GFD is starting now but they are working to develop it positively for the future to
benefit the persons with disabilities in the Gambia.
While receiving the materials at the Federation head office in Kanifing, the Executive Director of the Gambia Federation of the Disabled, Lamin K Fatty said the interest of Our Africa Project is to partner with the GFD to give support to the persons with disabilities.
He disclosed that Mrs. Hoffman Jallow has been giving support to the disabled person on the streets but has now decided to make it formal by giving support through the disabled umbrella body.
ED Fatty thanked Our Africa Project for the items presented to them for the persons with disabilities which include Albinos and those with physical disabilities. “We are saying thank you this is just the beginning and we are hoping for more collaboration and more support from you.
On behalf of the Gambia Federation of the Disabled and its 19 registered organizations for persons with disabilities, he said, “We are saying thank you so much and we promise that these items will be given out to our members and we will also be committed to seeing the rights and that of the welfares of the persons with disabilities are promoted in this country.”
Awa Boye the Secretary General of the Association of the Gambia Albinos, thanked the donors for providing sun skin lotions to the Federation which is the second of its kind being received by the Albinos in history.
She said “In The Gambia, we do not have these sun skins lotions, they are not manufactured here, and the ones available in the country are being sold in the supermarkets and pharmacies which are very costly. And looking at the situation in the Gambia not all families can afford to buy this for their kids.
