By Ralph Sesay
Orange Sierra Leone, the leading telecommunications operator in the country, has yesterday the 22nd May, 2018 donated food items to the Light of Islam Mosque, Hill Station ,Freetown as a way of giving back to their neigbouring communities and a further demonstration of their Corporate Social Responsibility.
Abdul Mustapha, Area Code Manager for the Hill Station communities, welcomed his colleagues from Orange, Sierra Leone to the Light of Islam Mosque, Hill Station community and later called the event to order.
According to Desmond Spaine, Manager Corporate Affairs and Communications, Orange Sierra Leone, the gesture is a tradition which Orange undertakes every year during the month of Ramadan. Iftah donations, according to him, are usually made by Orange to different mosques across the country as a goodwill gesture to their Muslim customers during the month of Ramadan.
“We are here today because of the importance we attach to our neighbouring communities and to further demonstrate the saying that charity begins at home,’’ he noted.
He disclosed to the gathering that this is not the first time Orange, Sierra Leone is coming to the aid of this Community as, according to him, they have helped in building the Maranatha Primary School in the same community some few years ago which costed Orange Sierra Leone the sum of Le 400,000,000(four hundred million Leones)
Mr. Spaine later called on the Chief Imam and the Community elders present to observe a minute of silence for all the departed souls in their community while entreating the Jamat to always remember Orange, Sierra Leone in their daily prayers so that Allah would continue to develop the business from strength to strength.
The climax of the occasion was the presentation of the food items to the Muslim Jamat which consisted of ten (10) bags of rice, two (2) bags of sugar, three (3) bags of Onions, two (2) bags of powdered milk, two (2) cartoons of tomato paste and one (1) cartoon of jumbo magi by the Director of IT, Orange Sierra Leone, Mactar Sakho.
Receiving the donation on behalf of the Light of Islam Muslim Jamat, Mohamed Koroma, Chief Imam, thanked Orange Sierra Leone for remembering them during this holy month of Ramadan.
He disclosed to the gathering that, this is not the first time Orange, Sierra Leone is coming to the aid of their community, noting the construction of the Maranatha Primary School.
The Chief Imam observed that sharing in the month of Ramadan is part of the commandments of the holy Quran, noting that people who share to Muslims during Ramadan are themselves granted the blessing of Ramadan. He prayed to the Almighty Allah to grant such blessings to the management of Orange, Sierra Leone for this gesture.
Sheku Umaru Jalloh, an executive of the Mass Marketing Department, Orange, Sierra Leone used the occasion to inform the customers about the ‘Babala promotion’ which, according to him, was launched on the 11th May,2018. He informed the Jamat that the promotion is producing five winners every week who go home with a “Keke” and star prize of five million Leones. Consolation prizes are also available and winners take home one million Leones every week, while on a daily basis customers, who partake in the daily draw, also win food items.
He urged the Jamat to stay glued to their radio and television sets and take part in the promotion, which, according to him, would attract more money for Orange to be able in turn to support community development projects in the country.