The two-day camp organised by Save Life Gambia was the first edition. It attracted over 50 children from the host village and its surrounding environs.
The sole aim of the initiative was to educate the children about road safety, the act of BE SEEN - BE SAFE while journeying to and from their schools as schools in The Gambia reopen on Monday 25th September 2023 for a new academic year as announced by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
Dawda Bah, founder and executive director of Save Life Gambia said, “We are striving to promote and integrate safety culture amongst children. We took the first edition of the initiative to Batokunku which is one of the most vulnerable communities in The Gambia to create road safety awareness among children so that they become traffic rules abiding citizens and also spread the message among their peer group when they resume school.”
Mr Bah called for cooperation from government, NGOs, companies and citizens in decreasing road crashes and spreading knowledge and awareness to every resident in The Gambia especially children who are more vulnerable.
During the two-day summer camp held from 16th – 17th September 2023, children were schooled on road safety awareness, public speaking, sports. They were also taken to Batokunku Health Centre where they received basic knowledge on First Aid and Post-Crash Care skills for crash victim.
Addressing the gathering during the closing ceremony, Lamin Bittaye, proprietor of MBM Academy said “Children are the future of our nation and programs like road safety education for children at this age will no doubt take glory and success in achieving vision zero road traffic crashes in The Gambia.”
He commended Save Life Gambia for creating a new culture of road safety in children and assured them of his support.
Momodou Kassama, proprietor of Batokunku Health Centre challenged the participants to make best use of the knowledge gained from the camp, added that his health centre is open to anyone willing to learn and impact society.
