By Amin Kef Sesay
It has been an established fact worldwide that to effectively combat COVID-19 collaborative efforts is of an essence which is why various private entities have been complementing the efforts of Government, in different ways, to scale up the fight against the global pandemic that the emergence of the virus has caused.
On the 4th September, 2020 the Prince of Wales Alumni Association (POWAA) during a brief but very auspicious occasion at the Connaught hospital in Freetown, donated Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) to the hospital, precisely the Infectious Disease Unit (IDU). The items donated by POWAA include disposable face masks, cartons of soap, operating caps with ties, latex examination gloves among a host of others.
Dr. Lucien Turay, who is the Head of the Prince of Wales Alumni Association , United Kingdom Branch, in his statement disclosed that when in 2014 the Ebola outbreak emerged in Sierra Leone the Princewaleans Alumni Association decided to render assistance through its partner organization, King Sierra Leone, by donating Personal Protective Equipments out of the conviction that the frontline workers, that is health workers, were at great risk of contracting the disease against the backdrop that those equipments were in short supply but very much needed to combat the Ebola scourge.
He furthered that when the COVID-19 outbreak occurred they again decided to partner with King Sierra Leone to respond to the health pandemic.
“We appealed to all our chapters worldwide in order to raise funds in order to render assistance to the country’s health sector and we were able to raise One Thousand and Eight Hundred and Fifty Pounds Sterling which we utilized to procure all the equipments we are donating today,” Dr. Turay revealed adding that though it is a small donation they strongly believe that the items donated will contribute immensely to the fight against the spread of the virus.
Derick Williams is the Head of the Prince of Wales Georgia, Atlanta (USA) Chapter. In his statement, he said they decided to collaborate with the other chapters universally to see how they could render assistance to the country at this crucial moment. He underscored that indeed it is challenging to raise funds when the pandemic has caused a lot of socio-economic dislocations. “However, we did our best which crystalized in what we are donating today,” he maintained.
Receiving the donation, Dr. Mamadu Baldeh, Medical Officer-in-Charge of the Infectious Disease Unit of the Connaught Hospital expressed profound thanks and appreciation to the Princewaleans Alumni Association for what he described as a very timely gesture. He highlighted that sometimes they are constrained in having the right equipments needed to discharge their duty of treating patients. “Having such equipments helps greatly to overcome that challenge and I will assure you that deserving patients benefit from this your humane gesture,” he conveyed gratitude.
The climax of the program was the taking of photos.
