Blog Archives - Africa Yes!

We've Helped Inform 30 Villages in Ebola Prevention

9/28/2014

Lack of news from the village for two weeks began to raise some concerns, but both Fodei and Munir made contact this weekend and put any fears to rest. There are still no reported Ebola cases in Gbeworbu or anywhere in Tunkia chiefdom. No additional cases have been reported in Koya or Dama chiefdoms immediately to the north, toward Kenema. The residents of the house that was quarantined in Koya chiefdom have not shown Ebola symptoms and will be released from quarantine in another few days. Unfortunately, the head of the household, who originally contracted the disease and was rushed to a clinic, has died. A case was reported in a village a few miles north of Zimmi, in the direction of Tunkia. So the Ebola situation is stable to the north for now, and the disease is still advancing from the south.
The outreach teams have now visited nearly 30 villages and are planning to continue the work for as long as necessary. They are contacted daily by additional villages asking "why haven't you visited us yet?", so the effort is being received positively by the population. The teams are providing information, gloves, masks, soap, and disinfectant to each village. They also provide two bags of rice per village, and the plan described in the 9/17 update is working well. Each village's residents are buying and stockpiling the rice individually, thereby funding the purchase of additional bags, which are in turn sold within the village, and so on, in a sustainable, self-funded process. A lorry driver in Gbeworbu is providing the transportation of the rice from Kenema on a daily basis, at standard rates not inflated by the crisis.
Word-of-mouth is that the number of new Ebola cases inside Kenema town is starting to decrease, while there is bad news from the Northern Province and Freetown. This corresponds with recent media focus on some of the northern areas. Makeni, the capital of Bombali District and our host city when our Peace Corps group originally arrived in-country in 1989, has been hit very hard. The population is dense and the small government hospital there is overwhelmed. Freetown, of course, is a mind-boggling challenge due to overcrowding.
The three-day lockdown ("stay-at-home", as Munir put it) went relatively smoothly, it seems. About 150 new cases of Ebola were identified in the country as a whole. Rural villagers were not required to remain inside, only to stay within the village. A government official came to Gbeworbu during the lockdown and left 132 cakes of soap, intending one for each household (perhaps based on the last census, as Fodei said that there was not enough for each household to have one).
Last Thursday, the village was visited by Mr. Maya Kaikai, the new Minister for the Eastern Province, and several other government officers. All were very pleased by the progress they observed within the town, and they were highly complimentary of the Ebola outreach work, praising the teams and noting that Tunkia Chiefdom is the only chiefdom in Kenema District with no reported cases of Ebola. The teams have not really covered enough ground yet to take any such credit, but every village contacted is one more piece of the puzzle, and the praise was, of course, appreciated by the volunteers. The government officials also inspected the new houses and latrines the villagers completed during the last building season, and promised their assistance in moving the approval process forward for the clinic.
Munir reported that most of the Grameen borrowers are having great difficulty keeping up with payments on their loans, as travel restrictions and suspension of all large gatherings such as regional markets has made normal business impossible. We agreed to suspend all loan payments until after travel restrictions are lifted.
The money for rain gear and a small stipend for the volunteer outreach teams was received and purchases have already been made -- all team members now have rain protection and their stipend, which will buy them each a bag of rice with a little left over. They send their collective thanks for everyone's support. Money was also distributed to the unpaid teachers at Gbeworbu school (like all schools, closed until Ebola passes), who had worked all year since January without compensation. They were surprised and pleased. Munir told the story of one man who was in the nearby town of Gegbwema, where the government clinic is located. His wife had recently given birth and was experiencing complications, and he was going around the town to everyone he knew, trying unsuccessfully to borrow money to buy medication for her. When Munir found him and told him that 300,000 leones (about $70) had been sent as thanks for his work at the school, he jumped straight up in the air. Munir described him saying over and over "Alahamdulillah", 20 times or more -- "Thanks to God". Munir himself was clearly pleased and thankful to have been able to give him this money at such a crucial moment.
I wish our donors could experience firsthand the gratitude that shines through from those recipients, genuine and unreserved.
S.C.

Africa Yes! Raises $1000 for Ebola Prevention Supplies

9/17/2014

Our Ebola awareness event on Saturday night raised over $1000 for supplies and other support! That money is already on its way to the village via a bank wire transfer. Many thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the night a success -- Juliet and Braima put in many hours of preparation, and Stella Kirkendale was an outstanding special guest for our Q&A.
A case of Ebola was reported this week in Koya Chiefdom, the first there and the first to cross the Moa River. Koya Chiefdom is next to
Tunkia Chiefdom. The village affected has been quarantined for 21 days.

The Chiefdom Speaker for Tunkia, Sheku Kanneh, second in command to the Paramount Chief, has asked Fodei, Munir, and their teams to
expand their outreach to the entire chiefdom. Because there are more than 70 villages in the chiefdom, the teams will not be able to cover them all, but they will add more villages to their original 19 and continue to add as many as possible. According to Fodei, soldiers are going village-to-village in the
southern portion of Tunkia Chiefdom, closest to Zimmi, so the Gbeworbu teams will concentrate on the central and north-central areas at present.

Fodei is giving each village they visit two bags of rice as a starting point for stockpiling food. Most villages are offering the rice for sale to their villagers and then will use the proceeds to buy more. This process will continue as long as food is available, so that each household can create a stockpile of its own. Fodei was able to buy 22 bags with the money we sent, and has asked for 22 more. This has been done.
There will be a national lockdown starting tomorrow, September 18th, and lasting until Sunday the 21st.
SC

Authors:

SC (Steve Cameron) Founder Former Peace Corps Volunteer, Father

BM (Braima Moiwoi)
Co-Founder, artist, story-teller, Native Leonean

DAG (Daniel Green) Advancement Officer, Grant Writer, Relations

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