More families in the West Coast and North Bank Regions have benefitted from the gestures of Houston-Gambian Community in the USA.
The latest gesture, which forms part of the Community’s “Feed a Family” initiative, went to two beneficiaries: Oustass Kabir Dem’s Arabic School in the North Bank Region and a needy family in the village of Besse in Foni, West Coast Region.
The gesture, a total of four thousand dalasis,(D4,000) followed a similar one last month which also went to two needy families in the villages of Essay and Fass in the North Bank Region.
In presenting the cash on behalf of the Houston-Gambian Community to the needy families, Baboucarr Senghore, Editor-in-Chief of The Point Newspaper, conveyed greetings to thebeneficiaries on behalf of the Houston-Gambian Community,(HGC).
Mr Senghore explained to the beneficiaries that the project, initiated by members of the HGC in the US, seeks, among other things, to provide assistance to families in rural villages who otherwise have very little access to opportunities for basic necessities.
According to Mr Senghore, who served as a trustee in identifying deserving beneficiaries for the assistance in the targeted population, the community seeks to maintain this gesture as an ongoing initiative with more assistance to be delivered to selected families on a monthly basis.
He further explained that the number of beneficiaries may range from 1 to 3 depending on the amount raised in a given month or the presence of an urgent need that may require the total sum to go to one family.
“The monthly amounts to be given to needy families may vary from month to month based on how much the HGC is able to raise in a given month,” Mr Senghore said.
He called on the beneficiaries to make best use of the money, noting that though faraway, members of the HGC are contributing their quota to the development of their own country.
In receiving the cash, Oustass Kabir Dem commended the donors for the gesture, saying it came at a time when they were in dire need of assistance.
“We cannot express how grateful we are to the Houston-Gambian Community for coming to our aid at a time when we are even thinking of expanding the Arabic school to cater for the growing number of children,” he said.
According to Oustass Dem, as Gambians “we are so inter-related that we should always have at the back of our minds, the need to always stand by those in need. He prayed for God’s guidance for the members of the Community in the US.
Promising that the gesture will be properly utilised, Oustass Dem called on others, especially Gambians in other parts of the world to emulate the gesture of the HGC, whom he described as good ambassadors of The Gambia.
Kaddy Badjie, another beneficiary in the village of Besse in the West Coast Region, applauded the donors saying the financial support was timely.
A widow called Badjie said the gesture came to her as a surprise because “it came at a time when feeding was a very big problem” for her and her children.
“I cannot say much but I will pray that may God continue to guide and protect members of the Houston-Gambian Community,” she said.
She also assured the donors that she would make best use of the money donated to her.
