By Nelson Manneh
Musa Sanago, a Pan African, has recently constructed and handed over a borehole worth two hundred and seventy-eight thousand dalasi (D278, 000.00) to the people of Toro Alasan village in the North Bank Region, The Gambia.
Musa Sanago, a native of Mali residing in France, established a charitable organization in France whose main objective is to provide assistance to people.
Sanago, an Imam in France, said when he was in Sudan, he used to support students from other parts of West Africa because he believed that all African students must be given equal support in order to achieve their aims.
Abubacarr Bah, the chairman of Toro Alasan Youths’ Association, said their association was established in 2018 with the main objective of developing the village.
“Toro Alasan Village is among the oldest villages in Jokado Constituency but the village has been neglected by the government and we have never enjoyed any meaningful development from the government, that is why we established this village association to help ourselves,” he said.
Mr. Bah said in those days, their mothers used to draw water from wells that were about thirty-five meters deep.
“Our parents have gone through difficult moments in this village. Access to clean water was a problem, we were not having any school neither a clinic,” he said.
Alagie Musa Bah, the Alkalo of the Village, said Musa Sanago has ‘wiped out their tears’ by providing them with a bore hole for them to have access to clean water.
“This is the first meaningful project that my village has benefited from. The Government has not focused on our development. We only see them when they need us but after that, they don’t come to see us or find out about our problems,” he said.
Mr. Bah said women in his village walk for more than eight kilometers in order to reach a clinic.
“Pregnant women sometimes deliver on their way to the clinic, which is very sad. We sought assistance from the government and private institutions, but to no avail. Today somebody we have never seen in our lives comes to assist us with water. Water is life. In the past, the struggle that our women went through has now become history,” he said.
Nonetheless, Imam Musa Sanago, the donor, said when he was young, his father used to give out charity and he used to tell him that it is good to help the poor and the needy. Sanago said he led many Muslims in France and most of them trust him and they used to give him money for him to help the poor and needy on their behalf.
“Whenever I collect this money I save it in the bank and help the poor on their behalf. I even build mosques in areas that I never went,” he said.
As a human being, there is a reward for you in heaven whenever you help people who really need your assistance, Imam Sanago said.
Sanago said he used to pay school fees for African students when he was in Sudan and helped them on their endeavors to achieve quality education. He promised to carry out maintenance work at the mosque in Toro Alasan, provide them with a school bus and build an Arabic school for them. He urged them to take ownership of the borehole and take proper care of it to ensure its longevity.
