The community watch lens established to identify and motivate young Africans making positive impacts in their communities has found Alassana Kassama, a young Gambian who is changing the stories of people in the Gambia with future plans to extend his good deeds to other African countries.
Growing up in Banjul, Kassama saw the challenges of his people and decided to find solutions to them. The young man realized that electricity and good drinking water remained a challenge to some communities, especially the remote areas of The Gambia.
He took up the challenge of sourcing solar lights to light these communities and also collaborate with the locals and some other companies to drill boreholes for the people.
In an interview with EYEGAMBIA, the young visionary revealed that 6,000 units of solar panels, lights and 40 plus boreholes have been installed already with the rest going through processes to be commenced soon.
Even though Kassama nurtured the vision from childhood, he told our team that the light project was further inspired by the endeavors of Senegalese-American singer, Akon who provided electricity to one million households in Africa. “I got my inspiration from Akon. One thing I believe is that, if Akon can achieve his vision, I can do it as well to help the continent,” Kassama said.
This impactful initiative comes with a huge responsibility as the Banjul-born businessman revealed that funding has been a major challenge to the project, especially a hindrance to his plan to recruit more youth in addition to those already working for him. Currently, Kassama has employed 25 Gambian youth working on both the lighting and drilling projects.
His projects are visible in communities such as Brufut, parts of Lamin CDC, Wullinkama, Kaur Wulli and Gambisara. Moreover, his plan to break into other African countries has already materialized as he revealed that preliminary works are underway to start serving communities in the Southern part of Senegal.
Source: EYEGAMBIA
