Modou Turu Darbo, Founder of Vision Development Foundation.
By Ramatoulie Jawo
Saikou Fofana, the public relations officer of the Vision Development Foundation (VDF), revealed to Kerr Fatou that their organization allocated over five million dalasis for Ramadan gifts during the recently concluded Ramadan period.
This announcement came during their latest charity event for the underprivileged, held at Churchill’s Town.
“The amount of money we spent buying the items which included rice, sugar, and other essentials, the initial budget we budgeted was five million, but according to our expenditure, it went more than that. The budget has expanded due to the increasing demands for support from the needy,” he said.
He noted that during Ramadan, they distributed 50,000 10kg bags of sugar, adding, ”Not only that, but I can say it’s more than that because we distributed many 50kg bags of sugar as well”.
“Every year we come up with our own plans, and this year we know that the number of people and services has increased. Next year we will make sure to increase our services. Previously, we normally called people at Abuko to give them cows, but this year what we did was that we took the cows to their various communities because most of them were pleading that taking the cows from Kombo to their various destinations is sometimes stressful,” he added.
He mentioned that the official presentation of the 27 cows occurred at their headquarters. Afterward, they distributed the cows to various communities.
“We couldn’t cover the whole of the Gambia at once,” he explained, “but we reached out to all the communities to provide meat for ‘laylatul qadr’ and the Koriteh.”
Fofona highlighted that the Vision Development Foundation has been actively involved in numerous initiatives across the Gambia to support those in need.
“We dig boreholes for people and communities, and we pay school fees for students at college, university, and other schools, all these are activities that we engage in. All those expenses are from our leader, Modou Turo Darboe. Turo Darboe since we started these 20 years back all the expenditures we used are from his pocket. And we make sure all the sectors get their share, from the security sector, National Assembly members, chairmen, and governors.” said Mr Fofona.He stated that they welcome anyone interested in collaborating with them in their endeavors. Additionally, he urged all the people of The Gambia to unite with them in aiding the less fortunate, thereby supporting the government’s initiatives.
“Not only in Ramadan, because there are other communities that are still struggling for clean drinking water. Let’s come together and help them, and Allah will reward you. With that, we can develop the country,” he said.