Thursday, March 5, 2009
Go for Africa Foundation, based in Holland, last Wednesday handed over vehicles to The Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI), Bokaloho Skills Training Centre in Abuko and Fajara Skill Development Centre in Fajara.
The 57-man team including students studying automotive, arrived in the country with 26 vehicles and motor bikes from Bakel, Holland, through the Sahara desert to Dakar and then to The Gambia. During the course of their visit, the Gambian students pursuing automotive program at GTTI, will be given intensive lectures to exchange ideas and experiences with their Holland counterparts on various subject areas.
The visit is meant for them to see for themselves what is on the ground for their ongoing projects, so as to evaluate their humanitarian gesture.
Go for Africa Foundation is an NGO operating in The Gambia and Senegal. They set up and support technical schools, scouting clubs, Internet Cafes, hospitals and other varieties of ecological projects.
In The Gambia, the foundation is supporting projects at GTTI, Bokaloho Skills Training Center, Fajara Skills Development Centre, Mansakonko Scouts Association, Kuntaur Health Centre and the GTTI Annex in Banjul and Kaur. According to Jan Huizinga, director of Go for Africa Foundation, their projects in Africa started four years ago, when he and his daughter visited the continent. According to him, they are currently sponsoring schools from three different countries in Africa; namely, Mauritania, Senegal and in The Gambia.
Mr Jan expressed delight at the progress registered by the various projects and reiterated their willingness to offer more support to the Gambian people. Receiving the Nissan Jeep at the school ground, Aunty Thomas, the director of Fajara Skill Development Centre, expressed delight and thanked the foundation and the students for their support. According to her, the school has graduated good number of students over the years. She described the gesture as timely, noting that it will give parents more courage to send their daughters to her center.
According to her, since the inception of the school, they were only dealing with girls but now, they have expanded their mode of enrolment to register men. She revealed that the effort of Go for Africa Foundation cannot be over-emphasized and described them as one of the real philanthropists and friends that support schools in Africa especially in The Gambia.
Alhagie Saho, the coordinator of the foundation in The Gambia said his foundation has donated lots of materials to Gambians since its inception. He therefore urged the beneficiaries to be steadfast in their courses and make the best use of the donations.
Author: by Musa Ndow & Yunus S Saliu