Harper, Maryland County – The Cummings Africa Foundation has completed the distribution of assorted medical supplies and equipment worth US$565,000 to six hospitals in six counties across Liberia.
Report by Gerald C. Koinyeneh – [email protected]
The distribution of the items, which ranged from comprehensive sets of surgical equipment, catheters, gauze, bandages, examination beds, gloves, gowns, medical furniture, and consumable and non-consumable medical products, started at the C.H. Rennie Hospital and C.B. Dunbar Maternity Hospital on June 14, 2017.
It was followed by the Liberian Government Hospital in Buchanan and the Curran Lutheran Hospital in Zorzor on June 19 and 20 respectively.
The last batch of the items was turned over at the Fish Town Hospital in River Gee County and the J.J. Dossen Hospital in Harper, Maryland County on June 24, 2017.
Speaking during the turning over exercise at the various hospitals, the Executive Director of the Foundation, Fatu Gbedema, outlined that the donation, which falls under the CAF Health Infrastructure Support Project (CHISP), is part of the foundation’s effort to support and improve healthcare delivery in the country.
“The Foundation focuses on education, health and agriculture.”
“We are here to support government in the development of our country.”
“We want to be able to support government implement basic social development projects. Government alone cannot do it,” averred Madam Gbedema.
She said the donation, the largest made by the Foundation so far, will benefit one million Liberians.
She recounted that since the Cummings Africa Foundation was established in 2015, it has partnered with several organizations including Caritas, YMCA and Face of Africa to implement 27 quick impact projects across the country.
She noted that the Foundation, under its education support program, has supported 3,500 students to write the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Exams during the past two years, adding that CAF has also set up computers innovation labs at the University of Liberia, St. Clement University in Paynesville and the Africa Methodist Episcopal University in Monrovia.
“In the area of education, we want to get young people to become more comfortable with technology and computers.”
“ We hope that Tubman University and some community colleges can be future beneficiaries of the program.”
She thanked her team for the sacrifice in delivering the items to targeted hospitals in spite of the raining season and the deplorable road condition in some parts of the country, especially the south-eastern region.
“I want appreciate my team for the sacrifices they went through in getting the supplies to the south-east. If you want to succeed, you have to fight through adversities. As we came to see you, we walk through your shoes.”
“We get to know the pain that you go through. And when we are in Monrovia, we are advocating from a place of fact,” the CAF Executive Director intoned.
For their parts, the administrators of the targeted hospitals on separate occasions, thanked the Cummings Africa Foundation for the donation and vowed to use items supplied for the intended purpose.
“To see such a brilliant idea coming alive to help the people of Liberia is something worth commending,” intoned Dr. Alan Gobeh, Medical Director of the Curran Lutheran Hospital.
Dr. Gobeh disclosed that the hospital has lot of challenges and caters to the health needs of people from Salayea, Zorzor, the Beleh region and some parts of Guinea. He called on CAF to continue identifying with them.
“We hope that this will not be the last time. We hope to feel your presence in other areas. By just giving us what we can use on a daily basis to reach out to people is like touching the lives of thousands,” Dr. Gobeh said.
In Buchanan, a delighted Macaulay Kennedy, technician at the Government Hospital was glad when hospital authorities handed him an oxygen concentrator that was among several equipment and supplies donated by CAF.
“I am just happy that I got one of this (the oxygen concentrator). I hear that CAF was going to do some donation. I did not know what it was. I just entered the hospital compound and then this one was given to me. So I am carrying it straight in my office,” he said.
For his part, Maryland County Health Administrator, Joshua Z. Kortee, lauded CAF and stressed that the county health team was willing to work with the Foundation to improve the health system of the county and Liberia at large.
Also speaking, Miss Maryland 2017 and Runners Up, Miss Liberia 2017, Goretti Itoka, who accompanied CAF on the tour, thanked the Foundation for the donation. She also thanked the health workers at the various hospitals and medical facilities for their selfless services they continue to render to humanity.
“I want to say thank you to all of you. Taking care of the sick is like doing God’s work. You are doing a marvelous work and God will richly bless you,” Miss Itoka said.