Country thanks charity

A TRAFFORD charity's mercy mission to Gambia received top level thanks.

The Kunta Kinteh charity has ferried out vital supplies to the poverty stricken country.

The charity's founder, Herman White, handed over medical goods to the vice president of Gambia, Isatou Njie Saidy - who passed on her heartfelt thanks to everyone who had made a donation.

And the goods - beds, cabinets, wheelchairs, syringes, bandages and plasters - will now be distributed to clinics throughout the country, as well as the Victoria Royal Hospital in the capital, Banjul.

Herman says: "The vice president was very grateful for all the help we were giving. She was very pleasant and it was a great honour to meet her.

"She thanked everyone in Manchester and elsewhere who had donated to the charity."

Other supplies - beds, books, clothes, shoes and toys - were handed over to two remote and poverty stricken villages, Juffureh and Albreda.

Herman, of Trafford Court, Old Trafford, adds: "I was greeted like royalty at the villages. It was a fantastic trip. The people really appreciate what we are doing."

But he was shocked by the lack of facilities in the school serving the villages, which are directly next to each other. Many of the classes have no tables or chairs and so the children have to sit on the floor.

Now he is determined to improve the situation in the classrooms - he already has stocks of tables and chairs in his store room in Hulme, which he wants to ferry out to Gambia. But he needs to raise about £5,000 to cover the transport cost and is appealing for people to support the trip. He also wants donations for the school, including pencils, rubbers, exercise books and blackboards.

Anyone who can help should call Herman on 876 5620.

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