Summary

This represented the culmination of years of work, by those in the Gambia and the Regional Office. It also would never have come to fruition without the early contact made by Sir Graham Burton, and we are very grateful for that.

This was the biggest project (in financial terms) that Sightsavers has ever carried out, and I believe we can be very proud of the result. It is a hospital and training centre of the highest standard. The training centre in particular will make a massive impact on West Africa (and potentially beyond), where the shortage of trained personnel is so acute. My heartfelt thanks go to all those at the Country Office (and to all the partners and suppliers) who made it possible.

We have clearly impressed the Sheikh Zayed foundation, which we hope will enable us to build a very strong funding partnership with them into the future. They have seen many building projects across Africa, and we must have done well to impress them so much.

I personally enjoyed this trip a great deal – visiting the hospital itself, but also seeing my first trichiasis operation. As ever though, meeting our overseas staff, and seeing how hard they work and the difficulties they face (in this case bureaucratic as much as anything else), remains the highlight for me.

Thanks once again and well done, Jerreh and the team. (Dr Jerreh Sanyang, The Gambia Country Representative)

19th – 20th February

The 19th was declared a public holiday as it was Independence Day, so for me it was a chance to catch up on email and to relax. On 20th I left for London, and whilst the plane was more or less on time (well positively punctual for West Africa), my bag was the very last one to arrive from a completely full Airbus of people, so I didn’t arrive home till the small hours. Tired but satisfied.