Bo — The new Ambassador and head of the European Union Delegation in Sierra Leone on Tuesday visited the Serabu Catholic hospital in Bumpeh, Bo district, where he familiarised himself with current developments in the area.

Jean-Pierre Reymondet-Cemmoy was in the southern province township on a fact finding mission on existing projects being implemented by the Arch Diocese Development Office (ADDO Caritas) through support from the European Union, and more importantly to know the current state of the hospital. Ambassador Reymondet-Cemmoy took up office as EU commissioner to Sierra Leone three months ago.

The Serabu hospital used to be famous in the country prior to the war with well trained, specialised and professional medical practitioners. During the warring years, the hospital was comprehensively vandalised with some of its structures completely raised to the ground. ADDO Caritas had to seek funding from the EU for the rehabilitation of the facility, which resumed full operations once again in 2009, providing medical treatment and surgical operations to the vulnerable and needy people in the Serabu township and attending to serious cases referred to the hospital from all over Sierra Leone at very affordable cost.

The ADDO Caritas development coordinator, Father Peter Konteh expressed great delight at the visit of the new EU chief to Serabu. He said the visit was particularly important as the EU had provided funding for the rehabilitation of the hospital and also provided support for its running for three years.

"ADDO Caritas is working on projects that are geared towards enhancing the livelihood of the Serabu community and its environs," Father Konteh informed the visiting envoy, adding that apart from the running of the hospital, the organisation has also embarked on a water and sanitation project that is providing water and toilet facilities to people living in disadvantaged communities.

In his remarks, the EU boss Jean-Pierre Reymondet-Cemmoy said the Serabu Catholic hospital needed more support in order to bring it to what he referred to as an accepted standard that matches international standards. He made the statement after being taken on an inspection tour of the facilities available at the hospital.

Reymondet-Cemmoy commended ADDO Caritas for being very efficient in the implementation of all the EU-funded projects. He also voiced his impression for the commitment demonstrated by doctors and nurses at the hospital, urging them to continue the good work.

He pledged the EU's continued commitment to partnering with ADDO Caritas to ensure the improvement of health and enhance a proper livelihood for the people. Meanwhile, the EU boss also formally commissioned the newly built water well at Jimminga village - three miles from Serabu town - where he was warmly received by the people of Jimminga who chanted songs of praises for the EU and Caritas.

Chief of Jimminga village, James Amara, thanked the EU and ADDO for helping them with water and toilets facilities. According to him, lack of water had been an acute problem bedevilling the area for quite a long time as their only alternative had been fetching water from the swamps, which is some time unhygienic.

Chief Amara assured the envoy that they will take good care of the facilities, while further calling for more support from development organisations.

The shortage of pure drinking water was responsible for many water borne diseases in Serabu and its environs. The people had had no access to pure drinking water but for the number of wells that had been constructed by ADDO in Serabu town and nearby villages the incidences of people dying from water borne diseases like cholera and diarrhoea have reduced drastically although more wells need to be constructed in the other nearby villages around Serabu.