More than a Pledge of Support; a Meaningful Gift by a Member of Sierra Leone’s Parliament

Left to right: Nurse Elizabeth Cocker, In-charge at Malama PHU; Councilor Abdul Rahim Turay; Chief S. O Gbakie- Headman, section Chief; Honorable Shekubah Amani Sannoh

At the Malama Maternal and Child Health Post, in Western Area-Urban, Sierra Leon, a special guest showed up to a recent meeting, although he was running a bit late. The guest was the Honorable Shekubah Amani Sannoh, the area’s Member of Parliament (MP) and the reason he was late, he explained was because he did not want to come to just make a pledge, but actually bring something that would show his support for the work being done at the facility.

Before the facility makeover process had begun at Malama, Hon. Sannoh already knew of the facility, since, as he noted, “During the Ebola scourge, this was the only facility that was still running and it was open.” So when he heard about the community dialogues and that they would be doing work to improve the facility, he explained that he knew he wanted to help in some way.

He affirmed that he is “very much interested in improving this facility and very much concerned about improving conditions for our mothers” and because of this he was proud to see the community coming together to complete the makeover. Hon. Sannoh then announced that in recognition and in support of the work being done, he was donating 50 bags of cement and the vehicles were on their way to the facility at that moment.

The MP made it clear that this donation would not be the end of his support, but rather just the start. He would continue to work with the Councilor to find out about the needs at the facility and do whatever he could to bring their needs to the attention of those who could address them.

The visit that day from the MP provided a significant material contribution to the makeover. Perhaps equally constructive was his recognition of the work done by the facility staff during the Ebola outbreak, and the work being done by the whole community for the makeover. The cooperation and commitment seen at that meeting is just one example of how communities are coming together with everyone doing their part to not only improve their facilities but also improve the health of their community.