Supporting Communities During COVID-19; Fass Njaga Choi

COVID-19 is truly a global pandemic, so many deaths and many more sickened as a result of the virus. In many parts of the world, especially in underdeveloped communities, lack of infrastructure, essential medications, medical equipment, and PPEs leave countless communities extremely vulnerable to this deadly virus. The pandemic is also magnifying the limitations of African health systems, increasing the strain on frontline health workers and additional challenges for patients needing healthcare.

Global nonprofit organizations have shifted focus to fighting this pandemic. Jileng Kunda Project is pleased to join this important initiative that is pulling people and resources together to help address both the obvious direct threats to public health and the many related effects, particularly for those in already vulnerable circumstances. Jileng Kunda Project is responding to the impact of the pandemic on the health systems in The Gambia, by procuring critical medical PPE supplies for healthcare workers across the country. With the unwavering support of our Angel Tribe donors, Jileng Kunda Project was able to provide much needed essential COVID PPE supplies to Fass Njaga Choi Community Clinic. These included masks, gloves, and hand sanitizers.

Fass Njaga Choi is located in the North Bank Division of the Gambia, just south of the Senegal border. The clinic was opened in 2014 with the support of Helping Charity based in the United Kingdom, and earlier this year the clinic added a maternity ward. The construction of the maternity ward was initiated by the Fass Njaga Choi community and its surrounding villages to support access to health facilities, especially for women within the area. The community members were the sole laborers of the project, working together from construction to furnishing. This new maternity ward will support over 10 satellite villages nearby, and alleviate the high demand for care at the Essau District Hospital, which is the only hospital in the area that has a delivery center.

“In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it”. – Marianne Williamson

The community of Fass Njaga Choi is an example of empowerment at the communal level. Our Healthy Communities program benefits communities like Fass, who are ready to invest in their livelihood alongside organizations that are willing to help them. This is a community that has taken an initiative to improve their healthcare system, not waiting on the government to provide the resources. Now that the clinic is fully constructed and functioning, although with limited capabilities, it has the potential to serve the people of Fass Njaga Choi and its surrounding villages. Community empowerment, therefore, is more than the involvement, participation or engagement of communities. It implies community ownership and action that explicitly aims at social change, and the Fass Njaga Choi community embodies this very well.

Jileng Kunda Project is looking forward to working more with the Fass Njaga Choi community to provide support for their clinic and community as a whole.  As it stands, the clinic is in need of an ambulance, more nurses, auxiliary staff, additional beds, basic medical supplies, as well as a laboratory to name a few. 

We commend the Fass Njaga Choi community for their commitment to working to improve their community and championing change that other communities can emulate.

If you would like to learn more about our Angel Tribe and how you can help communities like Fass Njaga Choi click here