GOAL boosts 100 Ebola survivors/sex workers
An international non-governmental organisation, GOAL Sierra Leone has contributed immensely to the mitigation of the impact of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone by disbursing Le 800,000 each to 70 Ebola survivors/care givers of affected children and 30 commercial sex workers, drawn from Kaffu Bullom, Maforkie, Lokomasama and Marampa chiefdoms in the Port Loko District, under its livelihood project funded by the German charity, GIZ formerly GTZ. (Photo: The GOAL Livelihood Supervisor – Mana Taplima Ngobeh, doing a marvellous job.)
The main objective s of the year-long project is to provide livelihood opportunities to survivors, caregivers/alternative care families of EVD affected children and affected families as loss of the heads of the household/breadwinners is impacting the survival.
The grants disbursement ceremony took place on the 16thJuly, 2015, at the pastoral Centre Hall, in Port Loko town, and attracted several stake holders including traditional authorities, the press and representatives of government departments.
While distributing the cheques to the beneficiaries, the GOAL Livelihood Supervisor, Mana Ngobeh, called on them to make judicious use of the livelihood grants which, he said, is meant to make them financially self-reliant.
He urged the beneficiaries to use the donated money to establish small and medium enterprises to support themselves and their families.
The GOAL Livelihood supervisor also informed that the livelihood project is targeting one thousand and eighty beneficiaries in four districts, Port Loko, Bombali, Bo, and Kenema including the western area.
The GOAL Western Area Sustainable Livelihood Supervisor, Andrew Kargbo, reiterated that the grants should be invested to start up business for the beneficiaries as initiated in their business plans.
The representative of the Paramount Chief of Lokomasama Chiefdom, Councillor Adikali Sesay, lavished praises on GOAL for its timely intervention to alleviate the plight of the survivors and the sex workers who are also vulnerable to the Ebola mass killer virus.
The representative of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, Bamie Sesay, lauded GOAL Sierra Leone for being the first NGO in the Port Loko District to bring up the initiative of rendering such appreciable assistance to the vulnerable Ebola survivors and commercial sex workers.
The Internal Auditor and Donor Compliance Officer, Hassan Samura, said he was impressed by the transparency exhibited in selecting and assessing beneficiaries based on vulnerability context.
GOAL is an international humanitarian agency that works with a mission towards ensuring that the poorest of the poor, the most vulnerable and those affected by humanitarian crises have access to the fundamental necessities and rights of life, such as food, water, shelter, medical attention and literacy. It is a non-denominational, non-governmental and non-political organisation and is operational in 16 countries in the developing world. It also implements rehabilitation and long term development programmes. While GOAL’s priority is to bring life – serving assistance to people affected by emergencies by providing food, healthcare and other basic requirements, it also prioritises programmes that care for street children and people affected by HIV/AIDS.
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