Sight-Savers
International-The Gambia, yesterday handed over a laptop with accessories to
Hon. Ndey Yassin Secka Sallah, a physically challenged nominated National
Assembly Member.
The
laptop, according to the donor, would go a long way in assisting her in the
execution of her duties as National Assembly Member.
Sight-Savers
is an organisation aimed at helping people with disabilities especially those
with permanent sight loss.
Speaking
at the presentation ceremony held at the GOVI Resources Centre in Kanifing, the
Regional Director of Sight-savers in West Africa, Bakary Marong, said they have
been working for over 60 years to help and improve the lives of people with
disabilities, particularly those who have permanent sight loss.
‘’We
need to change the lives of people at risk of sight loss for the long term to
make the world a fairer place for people with disabilities,’’ he said.
Mr
Marong explained that Sight-savers also help to support the systematic
inclusion and participation of people with disabilities in the health,
education, political and social sectors by government, civil society and
development agencies.
He
thanked President Adama Barrow for nominating Hon. Ndey Secka Sallah.
For
his part, the Executive Director of the Gambia Organisation of the Visually
Impaired (GOVI), Mamout Touray, said the gesture would enhance the efforts of
the National Assembly member to enable her function efficiently and
effectively.
‘’With
sponsors like Sight-Savers, we will be able to positively compete with
anybody,’’ he challenged.
He
added that the donation was in the right direction towards making the
physically impaired independent.
Once
they are able to get the materials to be independent of others, they would then
be able to play their role in society like any other person, he added.
Mr
Touray commended Sight-savers for the gesture and called on other donors to
come to their aid in serving the physically impaired.
GOVI
was established in 1991 by an amalgamation of the Gambia Society for the Blind
and the Gambia Association of the Blind.
Hon.
Ndey Yassin Secka Sallah is one of the founding members of the organisation.
She, until her recent nomination by President Adama Barrow as a National
Assembly Member, worked at Radio Gambia as a Producer.
