Officials of Cemiyetul Hayr Relief Organisation (CHRO) in collaboration with IGMG HASENE, a Turkish Islamic organisation based in Germany on Tuesday visited their project sites and distributed food items to communities across the country.
The project sites visited were Sare Pateh Gassama, Farato and Yerrobell Kunda villages all in the Upper Fulladou district of the Central River Region, and Kantog Kunda village in the Lower River Region, where the organization is constructing hand pump wells for the villagers.
The project is expected to cover a total of twenty wells for twenty different villages across the country.
The food items distributed to the communities include 700 bags of 25kg sugar, 700 bags of 25kg rice, 700 gallons of 10 litres oil, ahead of the Hold month of Ramadan.
Cemiyetul Hayr Relief Organisation was established in the year 2000 with the aim of helping the poor and needy Muslims. Since its inception, the organisation has been embarking on series of donations of food stuffs to the poor and needy as well as constructing hand pumping wells and sponsoring orphans.
The beneficiary villages are Sare Pateh, Sare Ali, Sare Sawdi, Sare Gallen, Sare Yorro Bankunda and Sare Demba all in Central River Region, and Kantog Kunda village and its neighboring villages in the Lower River Region.
Speaking at the various presentation ceremonies, Mustafa Uyanik, vice chairman of the IGMG Hasene Islamic Organisation lauded the villagers for their warm welcome, noting that it is a clear indication of the cordial relationship between the organisation and the communities.
Noting that the organization is mainly out to help the poor and needy Muslims, Uyanik, said Muslims are known to be sharing and caring particularly during the holy month of Ramadan.
He stated that as a result of its main objective, which is to help the poor and needy Muslims, his organization has spread its tentacles in giving support to Muslims to other parts of the sub-region.
Uyanik explained that it is also part of his organisations objectives to help communities have access to clean drinking water through the construction of hand pump wells.
Adnan Saglan, director of West Africa at the IGMG Hasene Islamic Organisation, said the project is ready to help the poor and needy communities and urged the beneficiaries to make best use of the donated food items.
For his part, Baba Kujabi, Secretary General of Cemiyatul Relief Organization, said his organization was established 13 years ago by a Turkish friend who came to The Gambia as a visitor.
According to him, during his stay in The Gambia, the founder of the organsation realized that The Gambia is a predominantly Muslim country with predominantly poor people. This, he added, led to the establishment of the organization to assist the poor and the needy particularly Muslims.
He revealed that the organization started with giving out animals to the needy during Ramadan and for the past three years, the number has increased.
Kujabi stated that the organization has also been engaged in providing access to clean drinking water for communities by constructing hand pump wells.
Currently, he went on, the organization is sponsoring 50 orphans across the country, giving them monthly allowance of D1200.
Highlighting some of the achievements of the organization, Kujabi noted that the organization last year distributed over 700 bulls to communities from the Greater Banjul Area to the Central River Region.
He stated that this year, the organization deem it fitting to expand its coverage by targeting the construction of 20 hand pump wells, ten of which are currently under construction in various communities within the country.
While commending the founder of the organization for coming to the Gambia to see for himself the work being done by the organization, Kujabi also lauded the Speaker of the National Assembly, Mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council and the Gambia Supreme Islamic Council for allowing them to visit their offices.
Musa Jallow, coordinator of the organization in The Gambia said the organization was set up and registered with the sole objective of helping the poor and needy.
He disclosed that this year, the organization was able to raise €30,000 amounting to D1.2M to help the poor and needy during the month of Ramadan.
Jallow noted that the organization is not only focused on assisting the poor and the needy with food items during the Holy month of Ramadan but also setting up wells for the communities as well as support Madrassas and vulnerable children.
He urged the communities to take ownership of their wells for its sustainability if completed, as water is very important in life.
Ousman Sowe, the Alkalo of Sare Pateh village thanked the donors for the gesture, while calling on others to emulate the organisation.
According to him, water was a big problem for his village but thanks to the intervention of the organization, the problem of water will soon be history in his village.
Momodou Cherno Ngaido, Imam of Sare Pateh, who is also a beneficiary described the gesture as timely and prayed for the continued progress of the organization
For his part, Alonso Baldeh, also a beneficiary said the gesture will go a long way in addressing some of their needs during the Holy month of Ramadan.
He also noted that the construction of a hand pump well for his village will ease the difficulties that the villagers face in getting water.
