Sigga,
It is highly commendable that ordinary citizens having the best interest of their fellow citizens at heart would selflessly endeavour to acquire medication and medical equipment in tended to help Gambians. For this, the SONS OF AFRIKA thank all concerned and we pledge the remaining $250.00 provided someone forward the following to us the soonest possible (by 8/27/01).
1. What is the name of this screening machine? and who is the manufacturer?
2. Does the arrangement with the transfer company include insurance from damage & compromise to integrity? This is very important because we understand the cost of transfer has been negotiated down to $350.00. It is presumed that because time is of the essence, insurance considerations have been marginalized or overlooked.
3.What is the transitional storage environment for both the medications and the equipment? Would that not compromise the viability of the drugs and equipment even if they are safely moved there?
4. Medication intended for human consumption and fighting disease is not like canned food or clothes. Therefore, just because it is a good faith donation does not mean that viability, and efficacy should be overlooked. before we embark on such a seemingly noble effort, we suggest that all concerned consult with a Gambian doctor as to drug efficacy, approval, expiration, and administrability. The intended recipient of the machine must also be established before you saddle yourself with such a white elephant for want of a better term.Under ordinary circumstances, the intended recipient can play a major role in facilitating this transfer up to Gambia and will better determine if it can be useful.
5. How much will an identical, but new machine cost to purchase and deliver to Gambia as opposed to transferring this one to storage, paying storage costs while the intended recipient is determined, and maintaining it in storage until such time?
6. If the transfer company does not include insurance in the $350.00 and you still want to move the equipment to storage, SONS OF AFRIKA volunteers to move it au gratis without insurance because we are not familiar with the machine and its insurance considerations but at least we will save you the $350.00 which you can put toward storage and maintenance. My agents can be reached in Georgia at 404-650-7278. We will need to see the machine to determine the transfer mechanism that will cause no damage. e.g. palletisation, containerization, floor-to-dock moving etc. So since time is of the essence, and if my questions 1 to 4 are ignored as trivial, I would still move it for you au gratis but we will need at least two days notice, information, authority, and assessment so that if we are not capable of completing the task, we can still pay the moving company $350.00 with our supplemental pledge of $250.00
Ours is value contribution, not a handout or gift. We are appalled at the so-called Gambian organisation which seems to only be interested in throwing July 4th parties. However, we have come to the knowledge that the Gambia Organisation in Atlanta is a private for-profit concern of a group of Gambian individuals. So buyer-be-ware.
Haruna Darbo SONS OF AFRIKA.
>From: Sigga jagne <
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>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list <
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>To:
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>Subject: CANCER SCREENING MACHINE DONATED TO GAMBIANS. NEED HELP GETTING IT TO GAMBIA
>Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 07:16:31 -0700
>
>BRIEF UPDATE ON OUR EFFORTS FOR THE VICTIMS
>NOTE: PLEASE READ INFOR. BELOW ABOUT THE CANCER
>SCREENING MACHINE AND HOW YOU CAN HELP IN THE EFFORT
>TO GET IT TO THE GAMBIA
>
>Hey how is everyone? I've been real busy with work,
>school and my quest to help the April 10 victims. On
>that end, we (Yankuba Njie and I) have progressed much
>more and the boys are now in some of the final stages
>of their applications to a particular hospital (in the
>U.S.). We have helped them to acquire certain
>documents such as passports, and birth certificates,
>and medical records (which sometimes proofed difficult
>to attain from RVH), as required by the hospital. We
>have added a fourth victim to our help list and have
>also been assisting him, financially etc (Just as we
>have been doing with the other three). His picture
>and infor. will soon be added to our mygambia.org
>website. We have also been networking with different
>organizations such as ADNA, Doctors without Borders,
>and Physicians for Human Rights, with the help of Mr.
>Katim Touray, Ya Soffie Ceesay, and James Gomez, Jnr.
> In fact, Ya Soffie, met with ADNA on our behalf,
>after, Katim put us in touch with some key persons at
>the organization. We still need your support, please
>go to the mygambia.org and make a donation, even if
>$0.50 trust me, it will help. The boys have been very
>grateful for your donations which have gone a long way
>in helping them acquire some of their documents. We
>keep a detailed explanation from them about how they
>utilize every penny we send to them. And we also keep
>a detailed financial statement of every penny that is
>withdrawn from the bank account, and it is all used,
>only, in connection with the boys needs. Any of you
>can request and see those documents. The boys
>call/E-mail us almost every week about the status of
>their documents, visas, hospital applications (to the
>U.S., etc).
>
>
>THE CANCER SCREENING MACHINE.... VERY URGENT!!!
>
>I hope that you guys would please read this and do
>whatever you can to help our country get this machine.
> We all know that we need it.
>
>While in Atlanta ( for the July fourth), I was told by
>my nephew's wife, Amie secka, that a certain friend of
>hers (Mariama Jallow) had attained a cancer screening
>machine and a large number of medical drugs from the
>Jewish Doctors that she works for in Atlanta. But the
>problem was that she had been trying for months, to
>get some one to help her get the equipment out of the
>doctors office. She contacted some Gambians in
>Atlanta, but for some reason, her efforts were
>unfruitful. It seemed that the medical office she
>works for - Atlanta's Center for Medicine - had
>donated some medical equipment and drugs to different
>African communities within Atlanta so that they can
>send it back to their homelands. Mariama decided to
>ask her bosses to add Gambia to the list of
>communities receiving the donations, and they agreed.
>All the other communities secured their equipment and
>drugs from the medical center, as soon as it was
>donated, except for the Gambian community. So the
>stuff for the Gambia was sitting there for a while,
>and Mariama's bosses had informed her that they needed
>to use the office which was being used to store the
>machine and medication. And therefor, she will need
>to get the stuff out of there, or they will have to
>give it to someone else. She took the boxes of
>medication to her house to store, but the machine was
>too big and too delicate for her to transport or store
>at home.
>
>When I was told about it, I got in touch with Ya
>Soffie Ceesay, who, along with myself, was coming to
>Atlanta, to give a speech at the symposium. She
>talked to Albury Njie (Atlanta), who in turn talked to
>a number of Gambians in Atlanta. I put them all in
>touch with Mariama and it was agreed that Albury and
>co will get the machine & medication to a storage area
>until we can figure out how to get it to Gambia, and
>which medical center to send it to. We took donations
>at the July 4th picnic (at the park on the Sunday).
>We then had a meeting (Albury Njie of Atlanta, Ya
>soffie Ceesay - D.C., Maila Touray of Rhode Island,
>myself, and about two more Atlanta-Gambians whose
>names I cannot recall). We decided to use the money
>collected for storage. So the money was left with
>Albury and Sainey Faye.
>
>They have since then secured all the boxes of
>medication and have put it in storage. But the cancer
>screening machine could not be transported because due
>to its delicate nature and its size, it requires
>special transportation to ascertain that its integrity
>is not compromised. So Albury and Sainey searched for
>someone capable of moving it. And were finally
>referred, by the doctor who donated it, Dr. D. Timothy
>Daugherty, to the company that his facility uses to
>transport sensitive medical equipment. After getting
>in touch with them, the company initially charged
>about $700, but Albury was able to get them down to
>$350. The doctor has now given us a final notice of
>10 (ten days), from Tuesday August 21, to get the
>machine or he will get rid of it. Because the machine
>have been occupying their office space for months,
>since they first donated it. Albury have been talking
>to the United Gambia Organization- Atlanta- (UGOA) to
>get the necessary amount from them. They have
>promised to supply the $350, but he has been having
>difficulties getting in touch with them. SO IF ANY OF
>YOU ARE MEMBERS OF UGOA, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH HIM
>AND ALSO URGE THE ORGANIZATION TO COME THROUGH (SEE
>ALBURY'S PHONE NUMBER AT THE BOTTOM)
>
>I have proposed a second plan to him just incase the
>UGOA plan does not work. Since our deadline, from the
>doctor, is August 31 (next week Friday), I proposed
>that if by Tuesday, August 28, he still have not been
>able to get the money from UGOA, I will raise the
>money. I have pledged to donate $100.00 and I hope
>that members of the "L" will be ready to come up with
>whatever little they can so that we will get the rest
>of the money ($250) to secure this machine. But I, in
>particular, have pledged that by hook or crook, I will
>make sure we get the whole $350 before next Friday.
>Because we simply cannot let this machine be taken
>back from us. We do not even have a CAT Scanner (to
>scan brain, etc) in the Gambia. Gambians with cancer,
>are being misdiagnosed all the time, because the
>doctors do not have the right tools to work with.
>Early and proper cancer diagnosis can save many
>Gambian lives. We need this machine. It may save one
>of your relatives', or my relatives' lives in the
>future. Albury's number and mine, are at the bottom
>of this mailing. Contact him, or me. Even if it is
>$0.25 (I mean it) at least you donated something. And
>just think, if all the members of the "L" donate 25
>cents, don't you think we will have far more than
>$350? And remember, even though the immediate
>problem is getting the machine out of the medical
>office. We will also need to keep it in storage,
>where the medical drugs are currently being kept, and
>also eventually ship it to the Gambia. So in the long
>run, we do need more than the $350. This is an
>equipment costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and
>we got it for free. We will be fools to loose it over
>$350.
>
>IN ADDITION.....
>
>We also need suggestions as to how to ship it to the
>Gambia. If anyone owns, works for, or knows some one
>who can ship the machine and drugs for free or at a
>reduced price, please let us know. In addition, we
>need contacts for who and what medical facility to
>send it to. Ideally, we would like to send it to a
>public facility such as the Royal Victoria Hospital
>(RVH), where the majority of the poor Gambian
>population can access it without bias. And we will
>want the facility to not charge any extra fees, or if
>that is not possible, to charge a very minimal fee to
>persons requiring cancer screening. We also do not
>want the machine to be used in affiliation with any
>political groups. In short, No POLITICAL GROUP WILL
>BE ALLOWED TO CLAIM IT AS THEIR OWN CONTRIBUTION TO
>THE GAMBIA, ETC. Mr. Albury and Co, in Atlanta, have
>spoken to Dr. Palmer (of the Gambia while he was on a
>visit here. And he has given suggestions as to who
>the machine should go to (For example the Ahmadiyya
>Center in Greater Banjul, the Evangelical Center in
>Sibanorr). He also advised us to put it where it will
>be of most usage to the general poor population. And
>to put it in the hands of honest and reliable people.
>But we would also like a wider input. If you have any
>contact information of persons in the Gambia who can
>help us get it into the right hands, please let us
>know. We would also like to make sure that once in
>the Gambia, there will be persons with the required
>skill to operate the machine. Mariama Jallow, is
>capable of operating the machine. So maybe we can
>convince her to travel to Gambia to train some
>personnel, or she can train someone else, who will in
>turn go to the Gambia and train the personnel there.
>All this will require planning and financial
>commitment on our parts as Gambians. Let us know what
>you think and please make your contributions.
>Especially towards making sure we get the necessary
>money to get the equipment from the facility before
>the Deadline. You can contact Albury at 404-517-4377,
>404-752-1253 or Cel: 404-759-4982. You can contact me
>at Home 502-875-9499, or Work 502-564-3070 extension
>271 (I will be out of town Friday afternoon (August
>24th) up to Monday (August 27th). But will be back on
>Tuesday.)
>
>
>
>
>
>=====
>"NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION"
>
> ALSO
>
>"NOTHING IS UNACHIEVABLE, THE ONLY QUESTION IS, WHETHER ONE IS WILLING TO DO WHAT IT TAKES TO ACHIEVE WHAT IS DESIRED"
>
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