The Handing Over of Milling Machine to The Women of Shom

MAY 20, 2008

The Village Alkalo
National Assembly Member, Kombo East
Women Group President
Village elders
Women and Youths

It is indeed a pleasure for me to come here as this is my first visit outside Banjul area since my arrival as U.S. Ambassador in January. So I am delighted to be with you today in Shom and to officially hand over this milling machine to the people of Shom as part of the Ambassador’s Self Help fund.

Mr. Alkalo, the village women group leader, thank you for the warm welcome. You make me feel like I am part of you today.

I bring you the greetings from the people of the United States who sponsor the donation of this machine to the people of Shom. I am happy that the machine is here for the women to help you with your daily chores of milling your cereals. I have been informed that Shom is a village with a lot of development activities undertaken especially by women. Thanks for your hard work to develop your village for the good of your people.

The people of the United States and the US Embassy in Banjul believe in working to help rural Gambia improve their welfare. We do this through collaboration with you in solving your problems. The Ambassador’s Special Self Help Project is geared towards supporting community initiated projects like the one you have in Shom.

This is a project that you requested for help and now that it is here, I just want to say that this is your milling machine. The machine is here to help the women and to generate some income for you to invest in other development projects. Take good care of its maintenance so it will serve you for a long period. Some of the money generated from the machine must be used for its regular maintenance and upkeep.

Once again, I want to say many thanks for the warm welcome. We are partners in development and this milling machine is here to help women and their families in this wonderful village of Shom. We are always happy to support community projects and work with women groups through out the country to improve the lots of rural farmers. We complement Gambia Government’s effort in the development of the Gambia.

Gambian people are very humble and welcoming.  This is manifested in the way you all come out today to receive me and my team from the Embassy. I now have the pleasure to handover this machine to the women group of Shom and wish you all the best.  Good luck with your machine and thanks for your attention.