GGM Supports Hospitals in Geita
Female workers of Geita Gold Mining Limited (GGML), Rehema Lusendamila (left) and Lina Sitta (centre) interact with a patient at Kasota Health Centre where they provided various medical equipment to support pregnant women and parents at Nzela hospital and the Kasota Health Centre in Geita District Council. Geita Gold Mining (GGM) women staff on Wednesday donated various hygiene goods to pregnant women and delivered equipment to Nzela Hospital and Kasota Health Center in Geita District.
Without disclosing the cost of the items, the Group Vice Chairperson, Ms Lina Sitta, said as women they saw the essence of helping others in need and donated soaps, sanitary pads and diapers among others.
“There are several communities surrounding the mine and they expect the company’s plough back in education, health and such related assistance.
However, as women, we have seen that it is also wise to support fellow women who expect to visit such institutions to give birth, so that they can deliver safely.
“We know there are shortages of drugs and equipment for safe delivery, hence, we have decided to chip in and start with the Kasota and Nzela villages, which are quite close to the GGM mine as we celebrate the International Women’s Day,” Ms Sitta said.
A medic at the Kasota Health Centre, Stanley Victor, said the assistance will help address the shortages of the items, which might have been ignored or belittled but are important in hygiene.
“The maternity wing requires a constant supply of such items to keep off peripheral diseases, which might crop up as a result of poor hygiene. But, we also ask the mine through you to construct us a laboratory, staff quarter and maternity building,” Mr Victor said.
In a related development, working with the Geita District Council, the mine has continued its intensive focus on healthcare infrastructure, including the construction of 14 outpatient department (OPD) buildings that are now completed.
GGM has also funded the construction of six staff houses and provided medical equipment to Kasota Health Centre – including an anaesthesia machine, an operating table and lamp, a monitoring machine, a pulse oximeter, retinoscopy, laparotomy sets and a direct ophthalmoscope.
Under the 2019 corporate social investment plan, the mine funded the roofing of 20 dispensaries, finished the construction of 12 dispensaries and built four new dispensaries at Nyakato, Mgusu, Ibanda and Bihegule.