By Amin Kef (Ranger)
Choithram International Foundation has on Wednesday 7th December, 2022 donated One Hundred and Ninety Thousand, New Leones (NLE190, 000) to the Choithram Scholarship Fund in order to award 267 scholarships to school going pupils across the country. The handing over ceremony took place at Choithram Office on Wilberforce Street in Freetown.
In his address, the Financial Comptroller of Choithram International Foundation, Harish Agnani, said the donation is a regular gesture from Choithram International Foundation set up by Late Mr. T. Choithram Pagarani. He pointed out that every year funds are allocated to assist needy school going children in line with the vision of the of the late Mr. T. Choithram Pagarani in order to improve the education & health sectors in Sierra Leone.
He said this year Choithram International Foundation allocated 190,000 New Leones to the Scholarship Fund and a total of 267 children will benefit from the gesture.
Harish Agnani said that Choithram International Foundation has been regularly funding the Choithram Scholarship Fund since its inception.
He said that Choithram Int’l Foundation also provides funds not only for the day to day running of the Choithram Memorial Hospital but also to procure modern medical equipment to upgrade the facilities at the hospital to international standards, adding that there has been recent development within the Choithram Hospital.
Harish Agnani said that currently the hospital has constructed a Dialysis Unit and installed 4 bedded Fresenius Medical Care (4008 S) Dialysis Machines which he described as a lifesaving support for so many Sierra Leoneans. He used the opportunity to inform all that in the next few months the hospital will have a Magnetic Resonance Imaging Machine (MRI) Machine.
Harish Agnani noted that apart from these gestures Choithram Charity Trust also donates foodstuffs to Old Peoples Home and Children’s home every month all of which is considered as part of their Social Corporate Responsibility by the Choithram group.
He expressed appreciation on behalf of Choithram Int’l Foundation to the members of the Choithram Scholarship Fund Committee for their relentlessly efforts over the years to ensure that their venture is a success.
Commenting after receiving the Cheque, Chairman of the Choithram Scholarship Trust Fund Committee Eastline Palmer expressed appreciation to the Choithram International Foundation for the support the Foundation has been giving them all these years in order to undertake the exercise.
She said that with the said donation it will alleviate the sufferings of the less privileged in the country.
Eastline Palmer said that the NLE190,000 that had been allocated to the Scholarship Fund  will benefit a total of 267children, adding that the scholarship caters for all Sierra Leoneans regardless of tribe, region but as long as the individual meets the scholarship criteria it will be awarded.
She said they targeted 88 pupils from different Primary schools and 179 pupils from secondary and senior schools across the country for this year’s scholarship.
The Chairman assured the Choithram International Foundation that they will make good use of the Fund and the scholarship will be awarded to the right beneficiaries.
Parents of pupils who benefited from the Scholarship commended Choithram International Foundation the support. They assured them of making good use of the monies given to them in order to support their children’s  schooling.
