Maria Angels Numo for Disability Orphans, with the acronym MANFDOA, yesterday donated 10 bags of secondhand clothes, library books, markers among other materials, to St. John’s School for the Deaf.
Speaking
at the handing over ceremony held at the school ground, Numo Sorra, founder and
CEO of MANFDOA in The Gambia, informed the gathering that the foundation was
established in 2013 in Barcelona.
It
was also officially registered in The Gambia in the same year by him and his
Spanish wife Maria Angels Serra Sorra.
Mr
Sorra added that they are assisting a lot of associations and schools because
they have found out that in The Gambia a lot of schools need assistance to
improve their livelihood.
He
divulged that they also want to help the disadvantaged because not everybody
could afford to be schooled.
He
recalled the previous assistance rendered to about 15 schools in Lower and
Upper River Regions, as well as a recent donation of 20 wheelchairs to Gambia
Federation for the Disabled, 2 wheelchairs to Kiang Nema and 5 wheelchairs to
Sibito Health Centre.
Sorra
disclosed that the materials are donations by friends, institutions, partners
and parastatals within Barcelona, adding that they hope to send more containers
to The Gambia to support disadvantaged students in the near future.
“Extending
our hand to other regions of the country is part of our plans,” he stated,
saying that his wife who is physical challenged was very instrumental as she
conceived the idea of helping the physically challenged is of paramount
importance.
He
further stated that they have also brought a bus which would be made available
to students in need who want to go on excursion but could not afford to hire a
bus but could meet fueling cost.
He
expressed their readiness to continue supporting St. John’s school for the
Deaf, noting that the school really needs support.
“Disability
does not mean inability and therefore we need prospective people to give
physically challenged people a brighter future as well as upgrade their
academic field,” he remarked, while thanking Daniel Mendy for his dedication
and commitment to the school.
Daniel
Mendy, Principal St. John’s School for the Deaf, while expressing appreciation,
said the materials were value for money especially as they could not afford
them.
He
thanked Mr Sorra and wife for the kind gesture on behalf of the students and
their parents, saying they would use the clothes as an a bait to encourage the
children to return to school in the first week of re-opening when they would
distribute to them.
“It
is one way of facilitating their return to school as well as take home
something,” he said.
“You
have given us an opportunity and a ladder to climb higher,” he told Mr Sorra
and wife.
