Behn Town, Grand Bassa County – A local charity foundation in Grand Bassa County is helping thousands of villagers in District Four where limited health facilities and quality education are major problems affecting locals.
With no senior high school and just three health care centers, District Four is arguably one of the most underdeveloped constituencies in Grand Bassa County, something that has motivated philanthropic driven individuals committed to intervening.
Thomas Goshua, the Executive Director of the Gbokpadyu Foundation which is providing free health care services, education assistance and implementing other development projects in the area, says the foundation believes in sharing as a means of receiving more and they are working with the District Education Office (DEO) to aide several elementary schools in the district.
“We’ve spoken to the DEO where we have these schools to see if we can get volunteer teachers in order to educate their own children,” he said. The Gbokpadyu Foundation is preparing to build some school structures in Sorwah and Benzohn Towns- where there are currently no schools for school going kids.
Thousands of villagers struggle to access health care in most rural communities across Liberia and District Four is no exception especially for an area that has only three functioning clinics impassible roads.
Moreover, villagers have to trek for hours to get to a clinic. To intervene, the foundation’s Executive Director says they have initiated a mobile outreach project that allows them to travel across the district to attend to locals who can’t get to the hospital.
Commenting further on the foundation’s free mobile health care services for over 1000 villagers in the district, Goshua said the lack of health facilities is a grave problem. “You find people dying from common diseases and if properly taken care of, it could have been prevented,” said the Charity Executive Director.
“So the Gbokpadyu Foundation thought it wise to bring about a medical outreach so that we can attend to villagers across the district free of charge.”
And his wife, Vera Goshua, who heads the mobile outreach team, says the foundation is passionate about helping locals in the area because of the extreme urgency to provide medical assistances.
She added: “The reason why we are giving these care is because we have been in this district and find out that people died from common things that can be treated.”
The Medical outreach started in January 2016 and is prompting appreciations from locals while the foundation is opting for sponsorship to widen its scope in other to serve more than 62 towns. “We still feel that we have not done much because the district is very large and healthcare is very paramount here,” Mrs. Goshua said.
Like his wife, Mr. Goshua mentioned that they are working with some partners overseas to augment the outreach programs and is collaborating and lobbying with a U.S. based institution to implement several community outreach programs through the Gbokpadyu Foundation.
Responding to criticisms about his interest in politics ahead of the 2017 general and presidential elections in the country, Goshua clarifies that the foundation is a non-political group.
However, he hinted that hundreds of people in the district are encouraging him to enter politics based on the level of impact he’s made on their lives, and added that there’s a fine-line between his personal life and the foundation’s activities.
“We are considering that and when the time comes we will make the right choice,” he spoke of his political future in an interview with FrontPage Africa.
“When the district was not even thinking about politics or the political season, Gbokpadyu Foundation started her work to bring relief to our people in District #4.”
Despite what he terms as bias detractors’ views, he sounds determined and committed to working for the development of the district, adding: “So whatever critics or detractors will not sway us from what we are doing; we have a passion to help.”
Commenting on the prospect of the foundation, Goshua said Gbokpadyu wants to establish itself as one of the foremost charity organizations in the next decade and is preparing to extend all of its development and charitable activities across Grand Bassa County.
Already, Gbokpadyu has contributed to Grand Bassa County football teams during the just ended county meet; provided financial assistance and scholarship for several students and is now working with the Young Women Initiative – a women empowerment group based in Buchanan – to provide assistance for several women in District Four.
The foundation, with the support of its partners, will shortly embarked on the construction of hand pumps, rehabilitate feeder roads and bridges, and continue its free medical care for villages for the next couple of months, according to the Executive Director.