Standard Chartered Bank Gambia (SCB) at the weekend
held the 2nd edition of its ‘Seeing is believing’ carnival programme outside
the bank’s branch at the traffic lights on Kairaba Avenue, as part of the
bank’s annual activities.
The SCB event was meant to raise funds to pay for eye-care treatment for preventable blindness.
The event also witnessed the display of food and drinks for sale, which included fufu, ebbeh, mbahal, nanburu, cakes, chicken and chips, pizza, ice cream, meat pie, oleleh, and various types of drinks.
Speaking on the occasion, Bintou Demba, a staff of SCB, who doubles as the coordinator of ‘Seeing is believing’, said: “Seeing is believing is our flagship community investment programme launched in 2003 to tackle avoidable blindness.”
According to her, the programme had raised over D2.2 million (including bank matching) and had reached over 1000 people to date in The Gambia with essential eye care.
She said: “We have partnered with Sheikh ZAYED Regional Care Center to provide free-eye-testing exercise to women and children, catered for a total of 440 cataract operations and cost of follow-up drugs and contributed towards the education of the blind and the visually impaired people.”
Ms Demba added that the bank had invested over D1.2 million into the initiative, donating a cumulative total of over D700,000 to various schemes under the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare including 5 Braille machines and food items to the GOVI School for the blind.
“We remain committed to raising awareness on avoidable blindness by consistently commemorating World Sight Day by conducting over 150 eye screening sessions in partnership with Sheikh Zayed Eye Care Centre over the years,” she said.
“In 2014, we raised the bar on our awareness campaign by organizing year-round events and launching the annual SIB fundraising carnival. This brought together the community to raise funds for preventable blindness.”
In February 2015, she also stated, the global initiative announced a D20 million funding for a sustainable eye-care project in The Gambia, calling on all eligible NGOs to submit proposals.
