Gambia Red Cross, UN Volunteers support 11 families with First Aid boxes
By Cherno Omar Bobb
The Gambia Red Cross Society (GRCS), the main First Aid provider in The Gambia last Friday in collaboration with the United Nations Volunteers distributed First Aid boxes to 11 flood affected families currently hosted at the Friendship Hostel in Bakau. The presentation ceremony was held at the Friendship Hostel.
The support is geared towards equipping the knowledge of the affected households to be able to treat minor injuries and prevent worsening situations.
Millions of people are hurt or killed by injuries every year due to inadequate response or lack of timely assistance.
Ebrima Ceesay, Branch Officer for Banjul Red Cross Branch said GRCS prioritize first aid assistance as one of the fundamental pillars for building safer and more resilience communities.
He added that, it is therefore important that people are trained on first aid to provide effective and shift action that helps reduce the severity of injuries and improve the chance of survival.
Ndieunde Gueye, UN Volunteers Country Coordinator for Senegal/Gambia said they decided to support the families with the first aid boxes because the July flood affected many households and most of them left their homes without their certain basic needs.
She thanked The Gambia Red Cross Society for their steadfastness and commitment towards flood victims since the flood strike.
Stephanie Janneh, UN Volunteers partnership and mobilization officer said they believe that it is us that effect or impact our communities which is why they came up with the assistance.
Isatou Joof, Deputy Disaster Management Coordination for The Gambia Red Cross Society described the intervention as very good, saying this is because most of the support they have been receiving from humanitarian institutions and individuals to distribute to families are mostly related to food and household items. She reassured communities of their continuous support to the humanitarian field.
Isatou Bah, Gender Focal Point for The Gambia Red Cross Society said the GRCS always capture gender, protection and inclusion in whatever they do in their operations and response.
She added that women are the highest percentage of affected families. He pointed out that, women are the backbone of families and first respondents in homes in cases of any emergencies.
She highlighted that, GRCS aims to have at least one first aider in every household, noting that having women trained on first aid as well as having first aid kits in homes will help them achieve their target. “We expect beneficiaries to utilize the first aid kits,” she concluded.
COB/26/09/22
