April 7, 2016 By Victoria Saffa
A UK student, Luara Petkute, has extended a philanthropic gesture by donating food items Monday to more than 40 women and 50 children affected by fire in the Bombali district.
The fire – which occurred in January – ravaged the Karena village, destroying about 18 houses, worth millions of Leones.
“I believe sharing is caring…I am helping the people because when I learned that they were yet to receive any help since their ordeal, I decided to lend a helping hand,” Petkute says.
Mohamed Papa Bangura, a media practitioner, coordinated the handing over of the donated items to the people of Karena.
Petkute – a friend of Bangura – knew of the catastrophic incident when she was shown images of burnt houses by her friend.
The affected inhabitants of the village were very grateful for the humane gesture showed by Petkute and expressed their gratitude.
Alpha Sesay, a beneficiary and affected person, thanked Bangura and his UK friend for the donation and also called on them for regular support to other deprived communities.
Sesay says the donated items were timely as they have been subjected to terrible hunger since the destruction of their properties, and called on others to emulate the footsteps of the British well-wisher.
Items donated included: ten bags of rice, medicines, bags of salt, Maggie, clothes, washing buckets, laundry rubbers, drinking buckets, kettle, biscuits and cotton wrapper for women, amongst others.
During the Ebola outbreak, Petkute also helped 25 Ebola orphans from Masuba in Makeni by awarding them 2-year tenure scholarships.
Masuba community was one of the hardest hit localities during the Ebola epidemic.