(JollofNews) – Bristol based charity, Kombo Sillah Association-UK (KSA) in collaboration with Money Pipe Shipping have delivered six boxes of brand new nebulizers and two boxes of spares to Lamin Marong, deputy director of nursing at the ministry of health in the Gambia.
The equipment was donated by a hospital in Wiltshire through a Chippenham nurse, Kim Fielding to his former colleague Lamin Marong in Gambia.
When Ms Fielding approached KSA to help with the delivery of the eight boxes, the charity happily accepted. KSA contacted Baboucarr Bittaye of Money Pipe Shipping who offered to ship the boxes at no cost to Kombo Sillah Association.
When asked about her motivation for the donation, Kim Fielding, who spent several years as a volunteer nurse in Gunjur and SerreKunda health centres in the Gambia said her “experiences have highlighted the lack of basic equipment that the staff have to cope with.” She said she used to receive requests for nebulizers because health centres either had none or very old ones and larger centres need more than one. 
Ms Fielding pointed out that: ” asthma and respiratory illnesses are very common in Gambia and rapid early treatment is vital to stabilise the patient and prevent deterioration in their respiratory status.”
She recounted frustrating instances where patients needed nebulizers but there were none. She thanked a friend in the UK who has been helpful with donations of medical equipment over the years.
“Kombo Sillah Association kindly sent them to Lamin Marong, a senior nursing colleague in Gambia and he distributed them to health facilities that needed them”, Ms Fielding noted.
Kombo Sillah Association-UK thanked Kim Fielding and the hospital for the donation and Baboucarr Bittaye of Money Pipe Shipping for transporting the equipment free of charge.
The charity expressed delight at offering to ship the boxes noting that it is part of the charity’s social responsibilities to intervene in such ventures.
” It is gratifying to know that these machines will distributed across the Gambia for the treatment of people with asthma and other breathing difficulties” a KSA statement concluded.
