By: Foday Manneh
A chronic shortage of potable water over the past two years in Basse Manneh Kunda has made life difficulty for residents, especially the women and children.
They have to wake up at 5 am every day to find water for domestic use. And, as usual, there were problems among them as they spend hours fetching water, including fights.
Now the Freedom Development Foundation (FDF) has come to their rescue, by donating the community with a 3000-liter solar-powered borehole connected to three public taps within the village.
A UK-based Gambian professional footballer, Nuha Jabbie, is behind the foundation, which is committed to supporting under-privileged communities, and complementing the government’s efforts.
Sunkarr Mankang, a women’s leader in the village, in thanking the donor for coming to their aid, spoke of life-risking encounters for many in fetching water.
‘’There was a day, I went to get water with one Saffie Kebba in the hills at our backyard. By then we get water from that place and, on this particular day, we were chased away by a jinn.
“That was a very scary experience in our life, and many others have reported experiencing such.”
“So to have someone come to our aid to lift all these burdens on us; we only have to thank God, and pray for him,” Sunkarr said.
Kaddy Touray, age around 50, said since childhood access to water has been a problem in their village.
“There were no taps; wells were the sources of water and mostly were unfit for drinking and cooking. Our mothers did struggle very hard, and sometimes bought water for cooking. We thanked the donor and his family.”
Bilal Keita is the representative of the foundation in The Gambia, and said the newly-inaugurated borehole cost more than D250, 000 to install in the village.
He said they have been supporting vulnerable groups in rural Gambia, including women and children; citing the food-aid support to over 20 households during the last Ramadan.
