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On
Monday, the United States Embassy in Banjul in collaboration with Africell, a
leading GSM service provider officially opened a new American Corner in
Bundung.
The
new corner, the second in Gambia, is situated at the GSM Company’s new customer
care services building. The first is located at the Comium complex
along the Kairaba Avenue.
The Corner will provide services ranging from
culture, education, government, history, and current affairs, empirical
literature, internet access, DVDs collections, books, videos etc meant to widen
the horizon of all learners.
The October
22, 2012 inauguration of the new American Corner adds to over 400 Corners in 60
countries worldwide.
The American corners programme is a United States
Department of State-sponsored initiative worldwide and was set in motion in the
turn of the new millennium (year 2000).
One of the fundamental functions of the American
corner is to make information about the United States available to the public.
Commenting on this initiative of public-private
partnership, American ambassador to Gambia, Mr. Edward M. Alford called
Africell a “leader in private public partnership”. “Africell’s history in civic
engagement said a lot about how dedicated it is to The Gambia,” he said.
The American Corner, he further stated, is something
that will give Gambian youths the opportunity to learn more about the United
States.
He
said the American Conner is an opportunity for the public to learn more about
the United States.
While
stressing the need for every young man or woman to have excess to education in
order to develop to their full potentials, Mr. Alford hailed
the Gambia government for its stride in development, especially its commitment
to halving universal primary education by 2015.
“If
you look at The Gambia, we don’t have many areas where youths can explore and
learn about other cultures and places and we do have limited libraries in the
country,” Africell’s chief executive officer Badara Mbaye
said.
Mr.
Mbye expressed his company’s readiness to continue working with the US embassy
and welcomes initiatives like this one (American Corner) in the near future.
This new centre is dedicated to everyone who has an
interest in what America is or has become, said Mr. Papa Leigh, an Africell
senior marketing manager.
While citing numerous beneficial social
interventions under taken by Africell since its establishment, Mr. Leigh said:
Africell continuously pride herself with the quality of service coupled with a
caring and sharing approach to everything she is associated with.”
Written by Modou S. Joof
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