Not
much is known about the organisation’s benevolence, but MGI Mobicell Foundation
has been positively touching the lives of many Gambians through its support to
education, health, sports, disaster relief and women empowerment.
The
foundation is formed by two different entities; MGI, an international gateway
company, and Mobicell, a renowned ICT company.
The
two companies have been working together and collaborating on different
projects and they used to individually extend helping hands to people and
societies in need. They eventually
formed MGI Mobicell Foundation out of the mutual desire to help humanity in
different areas.
“The
foundation is all about helping people,” said Jerreh Ceesay, chairman of MGI
Mobicell Foundation, adding that one of the main partners of the foundation is
MGI in Switzerland. The foundation has
offices in Guinea Bissau, Chad and South Sudan all under the supervision of the
Gambia office.
Even
though MGI Mobicell has not been barking or trumpeting its support like some
big-noise, little-impact organisations, it has been positively touching the
lives of several people in different facets of live since registration.
Mr
Ceesay said presently, the foundation is sponsoring about 100 students at the
University of The Gambia and the Management Development Institute.
Not
only do they support tertiary education in The Gambia, but it also sponsors
Gambian students for studies in universities around the world. The foundation is also currently supporting
Gambian students in Ghana, Germany and Canada, university.
“Presently,
we are preparing the overseas trip of one girl who we are sending to a
university in Malaysia,” the chairman of the foundation said. “Our sponsorship is not limited to any
particular field of studies; it is opened to both males and females.”
MGI
Mobicell Foundation also supports primary and secondary education, in addition
to the support being offered to the tertiary education.
“Right
now, we are supporting more than 200 students in primary and secondary
schools,” Mr Ceesay said, adding that they have a football academy, Sanchaba
Sulay Jobe Football Academy, which has 75 kids and all of them on the
sponsorship of the foundation.
The
foundation is also the main sponsor of the senior national football team, the
Scorpions. The foundation is
specifically in charge of the salary of the teach coach and do offer financial
support for the operations of the team.
Health
In
the area of health, MGI Mobicell Foundation supports the treatment of patients
both in and out of The Gambia.
“We
have been sponsoring people to Dakar for medical treatment,” Mr Ceesay said
while disclosing that the foundation is currently working on sponsoring the
hospital in Banjul.
“We
are working on bringing medicines and medical specialists from Europe to come
and work with the Gambian doctors here and we are collaborating with the MGI in
Switzerland in this,” he said.
“We
will bring specialists in areas that we don’t have here and they will come with
their materials to all the treatments and in the process teach the Gambian
doctors and when they going back, they would leave the materials here.”
“We
have already written to the Ministry of Health and we are awaiting their
response on this.”
Disaster
In
the summer, the generosity of MGI Mobicell Foundation is felt in the air. Mr Ceesay said even before the rainy season,
the foundation gives support to people preparing their houses against any
potential disaster in the rainy season which could be due to the wind or rain.
“We
have helped so many people to buy corrugate before the summer, and before the
rains come finally, we are working on having a disaster committee that will be
mandate to give the foundation’s disaster support to the masses that need it
most,” he said.
Ramadan
support
In
this Ramadan, MGI Mobicell Foundation has distributed 1,500 bags of sugar and
the same amount of rice to needy Gambian people.
In
addition, it offers Iftar [food to break fast] at the Brusubi Turn-Table
everyday of the Ramadan for close to 400 people. There is also a mobile Iftar team that goes
round to mosques on daily basis to offer Iftar to the congregation; about 28 to
30 mosques are targeted for this Ramadan.
Last
week, the foundation provided Iftar to the hospital in Banjul and it would also
be reaching out to other health centres including Serekunda General Hospital in
Kanifing and Sukuta Health Centre.
The
foundation is also spreading its tentacles to the provinces so that its impact
can be felt even in the remote corners of The Gambia.
“We
also want to help in the empowerment of women groups in the rural areas and to
pay the school fees of deserving kids there,” MGI Mobicell Foundation chairman
said. “We are also thinking of
supporting them with potable drinking water and even building health facilities
there.”
“All
our efforts are geared towards complementing the efforts of the government
because we know that the government alone cannot do it all,” Mr Ceesay said.
