25 Gambian Midwives Gets Taiwan Fooyin University Scholarship

A total of 25 Gambians from the Gambia School of Nursing and Midwifery have been awarded a one-year advanced midwifery training scholarship package by Fooyin University in the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung.

The scholarship package followed a signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two parties a year ago. The training programme will commence from September 2013 to August 2014. The selected 25 students are expected to leave for Taiwan around mid-September this year.

During an orientation ceremony organized by the Taiwanese Embassy, the Taiwanese ambassador to The Gambia, His Excellency Samuel Chen said Taiwan is a genuine development partner to The Gambia and noted that the health sector is a crucial component of the bilateral corporation between the two countries. Apart from the annual health grant, he said, Taiwan brings medical teams to The Gambia annually to offer free services to the people of the country.

Ambassador Chen said the tailor-made programme is one of the many scholarship packages that Taiwan offers to her allies. "After completing their training programme, the 25 students are expected to come back and contribute to the development of the Gambian health sector," Ambassador Chen said.

The chief nursing officer at the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Magret Gomez, on behalf of her Ministry, expressed profound gratitude and commended the government of the Republic of China on Taiwan for their commitment to the development of The Gambia, particularly her human resource base. The programme, she said, will enhance the capacity of the personnel of the Gambia's health sector to effectively handle health challenges in the country. Gomez then urged the students to be committed to their studies and make best of use of their time in Taiwan.

On behalf of the scholarship winners, Doudou Sanyang thanked the government of Taiwan, through her Banjul embassy for their generosity and vowed that they will live up to the expectation of both the government and people of The Gambia.