By Our Correspondent
FREETOWN, Aug. 23 (232News) – The Social Development International (SODEIT) Sierra Leone, with headquarters at the Wellington Muslim Association Secondary School, 109 Industrial Estate, Wellington in Freetown, last Thursday 19th August donated assorted medical items worth millions of Leones to the Wellington Health Center at an impressive ceremony at the Health Center.
The donated items include syringes, sanitary pads, blankets and cold caps for children.
Presenting the items to the Community Health Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ngokor, the representative of the Sierra Leone Mission Development, SLMD INC, Ms. Cathy Suma revealed that since charity begins at home and based on the fact that most of them were born in the community, they decided to make the first donation to the center as a way of giving back to the community.
She underscored the need for the items to be judiciously utilized for the benefit of the poor. She also disclosed that the items were donated by one of their partners in America and that SLMD INC is engaged in agriculture, education, health and leadership to bring hope and healing to people.
The motto of SODEIT is Social Justice and Economic Empowerment for all with the mission to facilitate the social and economic empowerment of the poor and vulnerable inhabitants, enabling their participation in the process of building a more developed, integrated, peaceful and sustainable nation-state.
The vision of the organisation is to become the largest contributor to Sierra Leone’s economic growth, peace and governance, leading efforts to achieve respectful, generous, democratic, peaceful and sustainable communities, where the poor and most vulnerable have equal rights, personal integrity as well as equal access to social, cultural and economic resources.
SODEIT Sierra Leone is also engaged in research and public policy advocacy, education and training, community services and development and global support center.
According to the Country Director of the organisation, Mr. Abdul Razak Kamara, SODEIT is part of the worldwide humanitarian actors who meet to safeguard at risk inhabitants and vulnerable communities for global wellbeing and informed that they have also identified over 1,000 pregnant and lactating teenagers between the ages of 13-20 in slum communities from Tombo to Kroo Bay to empower them in income generating skills, technical/vocational training and formal education depending on their choices for which they are soliciting funding from partners to implement the project.
He further intimated that they are working with the councilors, religious leaders and local chiefs in these communities to identify the girls that would benefit from the empowerment project to be implemented through the Ministries of Health and Sanitation and Social Welfare respectively, noting that one of their major challenges as a young organisation is funding as they raise funds through contributions from members.
The formal presentation of the items to the Community Health Officer climaxed the event.
