By Foday Moriba Conteh
In a bid to complement Government’s efforts in the fight against the coronavirus in the country, with support from Healey International Relief Foundation, Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, and LANYI Foundation, Caritas Freetown has on Friday 1st May, 2020 donated Hospital Beds and Personal Protective Equipment worth millions of Leones to the Government of Sierra Leone through the Covid-19 response team. The presentation took place at the Forecourt of the Emergency Operation Centre at Cockerill in Freetown and included donated items such as 15 Hospital Beds, 15 Mattress, 100,000 Face Masks, 20 Cartons of Hand Gloves, etc.
Present at the ceremony were the Chief of Staff of the COVID-19 Response Team, Solomon Caulker, Minister of Youth Affairs, Mohamed Orman Bangura, Executive Director Caritas Freetown, Rev. Fr. Peter Konteh, Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Mohamed Haji Kella, Programs Manager Healey International Relief Foundation & Tzu Chi Foundation, Ishmeal Alfred Charles, Head Coordinator Caritas Sierra Leone, Sister Josephine, Staff of Partnering to serve Humanity Consortium and the EOC.
Presenting the items on behalf of the consortium, Executive Director of Caritas Freetown, who also doubles as a Board member for the HealeyIRF, Rev. Fr. Peter Konteh expressed appreciation to the Covid-19 Team for their tireless efforts towards the fight against the coronavirus in the country, adding that the coronavirus pandemic is affecting everyone in the world and in that regard noted that it needs collective responsibility in order to combat the pandemic. He said that they have been involved in different pillars disclosing how they have renovated Connaught Hospital and supplied the hospital with support from Tzu Chi Foundation underscoring that no Government can adequately carry out the fight without the support of individuals and institutions etc.
He said they have been helping other Ministries and that recently the consortium donated 6000 bags (10 Kilograms) of rice to the Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education (MBSSE) in order to support the Government National School Feeding program.
“We decided to donate these Hospital Beds and Personal Protective Equipment towards the fight as they are very key in curtailing the spread of the coronavirus in the country,” Rev. Fr. Peter Konteh stated.
He assured them of their continuous support towards the fight against the coronavirus in the country.
Receiving the items of behalf of the Covid-19 Response Team, Chief of Staff of the COVID-19 Response Team, Solomon Caulker, expressed appreciation to the Partnering to Serve Humanity Consortium for the donation which he described as not only important towards the fight but also very timely at a moment like this when the number of confirmed cases continue to increase in the country and have been struggling to track down primary and secondary contacts.
He said the items will help greatly towards curtailing the spread of the coronavirus in the country and assured them that the items will be used for the right purpose and the right beneficiaries will be targeted.
Caritas Programme Manager, Ishmeal Alfred Charles, noted that the donation is been done as their own little support to the fight against the Corona virus in Sierra Leone.
He said since the outbreak they have been supporting various groups including vulnerable groups, the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Ministry of Social Welfare, the District Health Management Teams among others and they deemed it fit to support the Government with the protective gears.
“We are happy to make this donation as we all fight to end this pandemic,” he noted.
