A Gambian couple, Betty and Ebrahim Sinyan, who have been living in Kilkenny for the past few years have launched a new website to fight disease and poverty-stricken areas in Gambia.
Fighting Infectious Diseases (FID ) Gambia is a non-profit NGO set up to assist and support hospitals, health centre and community based health organisations in Gambia in their continuous fight against infectious diseases such as meningitis, yellow fever, measles, tuberculosis, malaria, cholera and dysentery.
The website, www.fidgambia.org, is the next step in the fight against these diseases. Anyone from Kilkenny wishing to get involved in the group can now visit the site.
FID was founded in 2009 by a team of professionals involved in a range of community projects in Gambia, aimed at helping impoverished families and communities in their fight against infectious diseases and non communicable diseases, thereby complementing government’s efforts. FID is a registered organisation in Ireland and in The Gambia. It is guided by a competent board of directors with experience on health education and community development to work with communities, schools and health facilities
The organisation works to provide support to the improvement and upgrading of existing health care within the needy communities and to provide mobile ambulances for people living far and those too sick to travel.
It also tries to mobilise external resources such as human, physical and financial aspects for the realisation of improved health in the needy communities and to relieve poverty through educating at community level in schools, and also educating parents through radio and TV programmes and community projects.
FID will initially start work in Mariama Kunda and five other surrounding villages in the west coast region of The Gambia. For more information visit www.fidgambia.org
