By Ralph Sesay
Fabjanko Kokan, Country Manager, Bollore Transport and Logistics, on Wednesday lured humanitarian support for both the Milton Margai School for the Blind and National School for the Deaf, both located at Wilkinson Road in Freetown.
The Bollore Country Manager made the appeals while presenting items worth over fifty million (Le 50,000,000) each to both schools as part of the company’s humanitarian gesture to the needy.
Fabjanko Kokan stated that he was informed by a committee at Bollore that the two schools are in a pretty shape with leaked roofs, no water and there are also problems with food in both schools.
He continued that this has prompted his company to help the two schools with three (3) 5,000 litres of milla tanks, over forty bags of rice, zinc, other food items including chocolates and candies for each of the children in the two schools.
The Country Manager has called on humanitarian organizations in the country not to turn a blind eye on the blind and deaf and other special needs schools in the country.
The donated items to the schools for the deaf and blind
The children in these schools, he noted, have long been neglected, even though they are located in an area that is very accessible to everyone in Freetown.
He further noted that he will see and speak for the children both at the Milton Margai School for the Blind and the National School for the Deaf since, according to him, they cannot see or neither hear.
Salieu Turah, Headmaster of the Milton Margai School for the Blind, gave a profile of the school and the challenges it is confronted with over the years such as in-adequate subvention, water and dilapidated facilities.
He thanked Bollore Transport and Logistics for the gesture and implored them not to forget the school.
The Blind School, according to Mr.Turay, was founded in 1963 and since then it has produced several prominent Sierra Leoneans who are serving in nation building.
The School, he added, has a very strong foundation in discipline and music, and said the fact is that the country’s National Pledge was composed by children at the School.
Country Manager interacting with the kids at the
Milton Margai School for the Blind
Sylvester Mew, Head of the School Management Committee, Milton Margai School for the Blind expressed thanks and appreciation to the company for having the thought to support the less privileged in society.
This, he noted, resonates with the President’s Free Quality Education flagship project.
He prayed to the Almighty God to protect and prosper the business of Bollore Transport and Logistics in the country.
Jonathan Conteh, Regional Coordinator, Disability Commission Sierra Leone who is also a proud product of the school, thanked Bollore Transport and Logistics Company for the donation both on behalf of Government and the Disability Commission in Sierra Leone.
He spoke briefly on the mandate of the Disability Commission and called for Bollore to be recognized by the Milton Margai School for the Blind as a key partner in working towards disability issues in Sierra Leone.
A representative from the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, Mr. Noah also thanked Bollore for the gesture.
He underscored the point that the donation of especially water tanks to the school against the acute shortage, was huge for them as a school and would put to rest the many issues the children have with water to meet their basic needs.
The other items donated by Bollore, according to him, squarely fell within the immediate needs of the school.
Mbalu Bangura, a class four pupil and also an orphan, gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the children.
A symbolic presentation of the items climaxed the occasion.
The situation was also the same at the National School for the Deaf where parents, pupils, Board Members received Bollore in their schools and thanked them for the donation.
It was clear that the two schools are in ruins and need immediate humanitarian help.
Government’s allocation to special needs schools including the two is largely inadequate to solve the numerous challenges of the schools.