Women in Health and Education
Ready to Perform
Friday 24th August 2007

By Augustine Kanjia

Women in Health and Education, a women’s development NGO, is poised to empower women and make their voice heard. They have a lot to share with those they stand to empower. The leader of the group, Christiana Fatu Kamara gave her experience, desires, challenges and their future plans. She She She finds out that the society stands in need and are handicapped  in executing their good will. Below is what Christiana had to say on her project that has done so much in a short time.

Asking what the organization, Women in Health and Education stands for, Mrs. Christiana Fatu Kamara said, her organization was a registered NGO. “We stand for education in health issues and education proper. Under health we sensitise women on sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, FGM, and early child marriage.”She further said that they try to educate women and girls on the Geneva Convention and the adult education. They have centres in Brikama, Barra and Serrekunda but have stopped their project in those areas due to the rain and would resume their training as soon as the rains cease. They have produced very good craft work through their training. In Barra, they are engaged in training women to do skill work including house keeping and inner decoration. They also try to educate the girl child through an organized teaching.

Christiana Fatu Kamara intimidates that they were looking into the issue of street kids to be brought home and give them the required education and love they need. Christiana said they were confronted with problems that hamper their doing more for the needy of the society. But she says they have forwarded appeals for sponsorship and are looking forward to that.  She says, “We are asking that philanthropists come to our aid to make our dreams come true.”She further said that they had registered and are well recognized.

The organization has been training women and the elderly and are on the verge of bringing on board young girls but have expressed their constraints with the lack of equipments like cookers, sewing machines and conducive centres to carry out their training because their number was adding by day. She said they were also targeting the most vulnerable in society. They have donated to several very needy families in Brikama.

The family she said was extremely poor with over ten children. The husband of one of the families is a Sarahule who has been disowned by his family because of poverty. He ran from the war in Sierra Leone and they have been languishing here with his Sierra Leone wife with school going children. The family finds it difficult moving the organisation to assist them with help from the Red Cross’ main link at Kanifing. Another family far below those ones she said was helped and that there were more needy families than those they have reached out to. She said the family has fourteen children and none of the parents is working. “The people need a real help to move them from that state to a better state in life.”Christiana said. Another family lost their father in the Sierra Leone war, who is a Gambian and his wife was left with several children now living on nothing at Brikama. She believes that someone should make them feel human by reaching out to them.

Christiana Fatu Kamara reiterated that there were many more poor families needing help that they could reach out to if they too were empowered through donors since they are able to identify and reach out to them. “We are bent on helping the efforts of President Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh to meet the likes of Vision 2020, thus making The Gambia a better place for all to live.” She said.

The organization could be reached or contacted on the following telephone numbers: 4372797/7784047/7795552.Or could email to: (whe_wh@yahoo.com)