#National News

GRCS senior mgmt., governing board end monitoring visits

Nov 3, 2022, 10:04 AM | Article By: Cherno Omar Bobb

Senior management and governing board of the Gambia Red Cross Society (GRCS) over the weekend embarked on site monitoring visits to its tree planting projects.

The tour in partnership with UNDP, Government of The Gambia and other partners, also took the visiting delegation to flood affected victims.

The annual undertaking, was also meant to allow officials keep abreast with developments both in terms of performance and impact made on the lives of the people they served.

The delegation also visited villages that were supported after the last flash floods as well as solar-powered installations designed to help communities access clean potable drinking water.

The tour conducted in North Bank, Central River, Upper River and Lower Region Regions, comes on the heels of the general assembly of the Red Cross when the mandate of the current board is expected to expire by the end of the year.

Moreover, the tour would also allow the incoming-board to prepare in terms of what remains to be done and reviewed.

Alasan Senghore, secretary general of The Gambia Red Cross Society, thanked UNDP and the Government of The Gambia for the trust and confidence bestowed in them.

Senghore indicated that they have observed that some of the planted trees at these sites are thriving well, adding that what remains to be done is how they can be saved.

He thus advised the community to increase more awareness on the importance of trees.

Amadou Drammeh, Country Project Manager for SolHEALTH, in his remarks at Koronumu Kunda where The Gambia Red Cross Society, SolHEALTH and UB-ONE Foundation co-funded solar powered-water system for the community under the healthcare support project, urged beneficiaries to make best use of the borehole for its sustainability.

Sorry Jabbie, chairman of the Village Development Committee (VDC) at Koronumu Kunda, recalled that they have never had access to clean drinking water for over 50 years prior to the intervention.

The only existing well the community accesses, he said, sometimes dries up leaving inhabitants in dilemma.

He thus thanked GRCS and partners for coming to their aid.

The delegation also visited Farafenni Madrassatul Skeikhful Islamic Institute, where GRCS in partnership with IFRC supported 25 students with cash for three months as well as school sanitary materials, among others.

In Farafenni, beneficiary students took turns to thank the society and partners for the assistance extended to them in the form of school fees and materials.