The visit was meant for the Belgian national team to brief the Permanent Secretary about their existence in The Gambia and areas of collaboration through signing a Memorandum of Understanding between their organisation and the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
Briefing the Permanent Secretary, Sira Secka, chief executive officer for Enenn Foof Excellence, based in The Gambia applauded the Permanent Secretary for accepting their courtesy.
She added the purpose of their courtesy call was to brief the Permanent Secretary on the aims and objectives of what they do as organisation operating in the Gambia.
“Rustpunt in Gambia' aims to support the residents of Gambia, more specifically in the Darsilami region. Naturally, we do this in consultation and in collaboration with local projects. These can be initiatives in the areas of education and training, work and income, welfare and healthcare, agriculture and horticulture, general construction activities. We work on site with ENENN-FOOF Excellence - All of us (EFE), a non-profit NGO. We mainly focus on inclusive education. We also try to think long term. Our help should not make people dependent, but should lead to independence, responsibility and greater opportunities and options,” she explained.
She added “Our first phase is the construction/renovation of 6 classrooms (nursery and primary school) for inclusive education. Later we want to expand this to facilities for secondary education, as well as awareness campaigns for parents and the local population, expansion of the first aid post and the construction of guest houses to set up an exchange with students/interns. An agricultural project for the cultivation of papayas by local women is also a future project that we would like to support.”
She further added that the organisation started operating in July 2023.
She spoke extensively about plans the organisation has in place to support children in The Gambia.
She also spoke about a container they plan to ship to The Gambia purposely to support Gambian children to improve their education.
Reacting to the delegation, PS Louis Moses Mendy commended the officials of Rustpunt in Gambia for the laudable initiative.
He told the delegation that those are the types of partnerships that the government of The Gambia appreciates. He described them as real partners.
He spoke about the importance of health and education, saying that investing in those areas is something that is a worthy cause. He cited that there will be no meaningful development in the absence of education and health in particular. Therefore, on behalf of the Government of The Gambia under the leadership of President Adama Barrow, he welcomed the Belgian team.
PS Mendy said that the sky is the limit in investing on the area of education.
He therefore, welcomed their idea and expressed the readiness of his ministry support through partnership with the organisation. He further advised them to meet some of his technical staff who will explain to them how to prepare the MOU between the two institutions for better working partnership.
He also thanked the local partners who are coordinating the affairs of the organisation in The Gambia.
