No More Ebola in Sierra Leone?!

Statement by His Excellency the President
Dr Ernest Bai Koroma
To Mark the End of the Ebola Outbreak
Bintumani Conference Hall
Aberdeen
Freetown
November 7, 2015

My fellow Sierra Leoneans

Today, Sierra Leone marks the end of the Ebola outbreak. We give thanks to Almighty God, and I stand here humbled by the dedication of Ebola Response Workers, whose heroism is without parallel in the history of our country. As I traversed the length and breadth of our country during the outbreak, their heroism greatly inspired me; seeing their bravery first hand in treatment centres all over the country reinvigorated me; and I vowed again and again to do all in my life to end this scourge. Because of them, I stand here today as your Head of State to say that we prevailed over an evil virus, that we persevered, and that we have overcome.

The disease challenged the very foundations of our humanity. We had to change the way we grew up caring for sick relatives; the way we mourned loved ones; the way we showed affection when greeting each other. And we complied with necessary but difficult restrictions on movement and traditional practices.

Sierra Leone did not know about this disease; the world at large was astounded by the ferocity of the virus in our sub-region. Everybody was learning new facts about Ebola, and some of the advice we received from the experts at the earlier stages of the outbreak proved less effective in fighting the virus. By the time the experts mastered the tools to attack the evil virus in our region, too many lives had been lost, too many wrong turns made; too many actions taken that intensified the isolation of our country and halted the great strides we were taking to improve the economic and social life of our people.

Every district and most chiefdoms have had first hand experience of this terrible disease. A total of 8,704 Sierra Leoneans were infected during the outbreak and we lost 3,589 of our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers and our sons and daughters. We lost 221 healthcare workers including 11 doctors. I pause to remember all those who lost their lives and I pay special tribute to our healthcare workers and other Ebola Response Workers who made the ultimate sacrifice, losing their lives as they tried to save the lives of others. May their souls rest in perfect peace.

Their deaths were very low moments for us, but we kept on fighting. We still kept coming forward to join the fight as healthcare workers, as hygienists, burial team members, lab technicians, swabbers, surveillance officers, social mobilisers, ambulance and non-ambulance drivers and motorbike riders. In total over 35,000 Sierra Leoneans were formally registered as Ebola Response Workers and there were many more who volunteered to serve in the fight without recognition or acclaim. We salute these volunteers who served in various capacities within our surveillance system, manning checkpoints, and telephone hotlines, digging graves, and counselling the sick and bereaved. 

We also owe our victory over Ebola to the extraordinary actions of the international community. We remain grateful for their solidarity, their heroism, and the bravery of the thousands of international Ebola Response Workers who answered to our call for action against the greatest enemy our country has ever seen.

We are victorious because of the truly amazing role played by communities all over the country. From Kailahun where the outbreak started to Bombali where the outbreak ended, communities achieved extraordinary feats in the face of great adversity.

All of these efforts made us get better at fighting the disease. With these efforts, the world has come to know better about the Ebola Virus Disease, with these efforts, the International health community, the World Health Organization and other global health partners now know how to scramble emergency responses to global health pandemics. With these efforts we built a strong response system; and our countries are now prepared to deal with these problems at the onset of early warning signs.

We have also been able to make considerable progress in treating the disease. Earlier on the accepted dictum was hopelessness, we were told that you had a 90% chance of dying as there was no known cure. Now we average a 70% chance of survival just by providing the mechanisms for early detection and management of prospective cases.

Fellow Sierra Leoneans, we declared a State of Emergency because the very existence of the country was at stake. Today, I have commenced discussions with the leadership of Parliament to end the State of Emergency.

But we should never lower our guard.

I fully endorse the WHO recommendation for enhanced surveillance to continue in Sierra Leone for the next 90 days. The Ebola outbreak has ended in Sierra Leone but we must remain vigilant and we must remain alert.

The history of Ebola in other countries has taught us that we must be prepared for a re-emergence of the disease in the future. My Government is therefore committed to maintaining an enduring response capability even after the Ebola outbreak is over. We will retain adequate laboratory testing capacity and an appropriate number of isolation beds and treatment beds; we are confident that we now have the systems in place to ensure that we can respond rapidly and effectively in the event of a re-emergence. 

We must continue to sustain the new habits of hygiene, sanitation, and vigilance. To fully secure our victory, we must continue with the newer and better ways of caring for the sick, the healthier ways of handling the dead, and the progressive habits of hygiene, sanitation and vigilance that helped us defeat the virus.

We must continue to abide by the Chiefdom by-laws
We must continue to call 117 to report the sick 

We must continue to call 117 to report every death 

We will continue to swab all dead bodies to enable us to remain certain that Ebola has not returned and is undetected. 

Safe and Dignified Burials will now only be implemented when there is a suspicion of Ebola.
During the outbreak, our traditional healers supported the response and agreed to a moratorium on their practices. My Government is committed to working with traditional healers to introduce safer practices in the conduct of their work.

Before the outbreak, our nation was on the verge of its greatest economic breakthrough. We were in the middle of the biggest infrastructural development in the country and we were constructing roads everywhere. We were being hailed for sustaining our peace, strengthening our reforms, promoting diversity of voices in our media, and bringing more youths and women into decision making positions.

The Ebola outbreak halted actions on many of these areas. It is a testament to the resilience of all of us that whilst the outbreak reversed our economic prospects, dented job creation, and slowed the pace of road construction and other infrastructural development, we sustained our peace, subjected our actions to the judgement of the courts, and got competent bodies to scrutinize the management of resources. Democrats should not be afraid to subject themselves to the scrutiny of the courts, the Auditor General, and Parliament. And citizens of our country must bring forth their opinions with firm regards for truth, civility, the right of others, and concerns for the peace and security of Sierra Leone. We salute all those civil society activists, all those journalists, all those Paramount Chiefs and traditional and cultural heads, religious heads, musicians, political parties, lawyers, youths, women, councillors, and MPs who acted to sustain our democracy during the outbreak, and whose actions strengthen our response and helped defeat the virus.

I salute our security forces; we are ever grateful to our soldiers and police officers for their services as health workers, engineers, surveillance officers, guards in quarantine homes, borders and checkpoints, and all other enforcers of law and order during this most difficult period in our nation’s history. I applaud the business community, construction workers, the teachers, the market women, the bankers and public servants who braved the hazards of the outbreak to sustain our lives and secure many of our achievements. I acknowledge with gratitude the dedication and commitment of the Ministry of Health and the NERC to ending the outbreak. We are grateful to the Sierra Leone Diaspora, who acted for mother Sierra Leone by providing resources to families and communities, and expertise to the national fight.

The fight was long and the road was challenging. And many a time, in the frustrations of loss, tragedy, and the seeming intractability of the disease, falsehoods and untruths were uttered, communities and groups wrongly accused and people’s character unjustly tarnished. A new beginning requires leaving behind those weaker aspects of our words and actions; a new beginning requires forgiveness of those moments of despair. This is why I have requested the Attorney General to, within that which is allowed by law, discontinue action or end punitive measures against those who had acted contrary to the regulations set forth in the State of Emergency.

But the new beginning also warrants us to hold unto the better practices, the just scrutiny of actions, more civil discussions of events in the media, and putting this country back on the road to economic development that pays greater attention to the details of health, hygiene and sanitation at the personal, the school, the community and national levels. The new beginning warrants that traditional practices that have a negative impact on health, and which were discontinued during the outbreak, should not be returned to.

Our Post Ebola Recovery Programme is inspired by this warrant for a new beginning.  We defeated Ebola because we paid great attention to details. We prevailed over the evil virus because we increased our professionalism in handling the sick, and in burying the dead and protecting ourselves against hazards. I witnessed this first hand in many of the more successful treatment centres I visited. No one is above the regulations put in place in those centres; no one should be above the protocols put in place to promote the sacred interests of this country. We will continue to empower the Audit Service to probe into the management of resources, we will continue to call on Parliament to hold all to account, we will continue to respect civil discourses in our media. These are our pledges for the new beginning; I am personally overseeing the Post Ebola Recovery Programme as Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on Transition and Recovery. As I did during the fight against Ebola, holding briefings everyday and traversing the length and breadth of our country, I will pay close attention to the details of the recovery.

We have already started the implementation of the programme priorities for health, education, social protection, energy, water and economic recovery. Over the past four months, we have:

Supported more than 30,000 vulnerable households with cash transfers
Paid school fees for more than 1.1 Million children returning to school
Supported farming households with seed and fertilizer distribution
Provided support packages to survivors, orphans, widows and Ebola-affected individuals

As we look ahead, we are driving forward with plans to:

Double citizens’ access to water,
Double the citizens’ access to electricity,
Drastically reduce maternal and child mortality,
Create sustainable jobs and foster local SME growth, and
Reduce overcrowded classrooms in our schools.

In addition, we remain committed to on-going work to support survivors. This includes a comprehensive package of support for Ebola survivors, including free healthcare and psychosocial support. Our 4,051 EVD survivors are our heroes. They have shown great courage in overcoming the disease, and a great many of them have shown heroism in contributing to the Ebola response. There must therefore be no place for stigmatisation or isolation of our survivors. It is the duty of all Sierra Leoneans to ensure that these heroes are reintegrated into our communities.

We have taken steps to cushion the economic impact of the outbreak on our people. We have increased salaries by 15%, supported 23,000 vulnerable families with cash transfers, and we provided grants to local councils and gave them the flexibility to utilise the funds in fighting Ebola in their communities. To increase employment prospects for our youths, and stimulate the economy, we resumed suspended infrastructure projects, and restarted the reconstruction of major streets in Freetown. We have also been able to mobilize financial resources to meet some of the shortfalls in government revenues occasioned by decline in economic activities during the outbreak. We are also working with investors to resume iron ore mining and other operations within the next few months.
Fellow Sierra Leoneans, we must give thanks to God almighty for our victory over Ebola, we must ask for God’s blessings on those who lost their lives during the outbreak, and we must recognize the immense sacrifice and heroism of our Ebola Response workers. With the approval of our religious leaders, I hereby declare Saturday November 21, 2015 as our national thanks giving day; and by the powers conferred on me as President I also declare Friday December 18 as a day of recognition of Ebola Response workers. Whilst we will be giving National Awards to Ebola Response workers on that day, our greatest actions will be to sustain the success of their heroism by committing ourselves to a new beginning for our country

This new beginning calls for greater attention to the details of our habits - from our attitudes towards our own bodies to our increased attention for family, community and national safety and security. The new beginning calls for sustaining the collaborations across families, communities, chiefdoms, districts and regions that got us to defeat Ebola; the new beginning warrants greater attention to the needs of the vulnerable amongst us - the Ebola Survivor, the orphan, and the widow. But more than ever before, the new beginning calls for greater watchfulness and resilience in the face of the great threats facing our world – climate change, evil viruses, intolerant fanatics and newer forms of crime.  Great opportunities beckon. We must utilize the watchfulness and resilience we have acquired in fighting Ebola to grab the great opportunities that are available to a determined nation. We are a people of great determination; we are a country dedicated to Unity, Justice and Freedom. May our vigilance bring forth the fruits of these great ideals; and may the lessons we have learned during this outbreak guide our dedication to making our country better than ever before.

God Bless Sierra Leone

Alone

Chief Pa Kapri Fallah is an old man now, acording to him he spent all his time and resources in raising up his children as heirs to his throne and now all gone, he lost 15 members of his family, his two eldest sons in university died, his wife died and all the imediate people that can take care of him when he is old, I cant talk to you much! I cant talk much sense because my heart is bleeding in pain as I speak to you, I dont know what to do and how to even start my life...his phone number is +23288107296, our people need us, take some time to speak with them, together we can make a change.

Tears

"So much tears for me wholeday long since morning, loosing my apetite since I visited Patebana, I could not belive that there are peolpe sleeping without food, mariatu J koroma in Patebana Village lost both her parent and two brothers in the Ebola crisis, she is presently stranding with her two younger brothers her parent left behind, she was also an Ebola patient just discharged from hospital, since then she never has any asistance from anyone, they are presently on quarantine and needs urgent help for food and clothing, her phone number is +23288070557, even a one minute consolation call will make a great difference in her life. Together we can change their lives."

In My Corner

IN MY CORNER BY
Abu Bakarr Nat Taylor-kamara

Despite of the fact there are promising signs that the infection rate of the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone has shown a downward trend in some districts especially the first affected areas like kailahun and kenema, I still have a very little idea when this misfortune will come to an end- sooner or later.  Most of all my district- Bombali and it neighborhoods are reporting a sharp upward trend of the virus for every slumber taken. This is more so as one of the many identified means of contamination is frequently in practice- social gathering.

Ironically, some of the identified measures to figure out the virus have been overburdened,  making it very difficult to understand exactly our chances of winning back this test we have been put into. The most important thing I think government should do now is to confidence by making sure that they provide trustworthy and consistent information about the disease to it people and those that are willing to help us and most importantly those that are put in charge in the fight to be thoroughly monitored.

In my corner,  the outbreak have uncovered a number of inadequacies especially with our health system that have been responsible for the much more social, economic and political sufferings. This have infused some tragic consequences in the fight and this was even why our President was moving too slow from behind in responding since the early quarters of the outbreak.  In summary, there is a lacking trust in the whole system which is yet to b overcome and this is naturally affecting the velocity of government's efforts to the fight. Building this trust back will take increased transparency and accountability,  love and above all the readiness for change and this I think will not be a short term project for Sierra Leone.

In my corner,  I have also realized that individual agencies or so called NGOs are taking chances of benefiting from the situation instead of facing the reality. By So doing they tell stories to have an incentive.  So government need to sort out some of these agencies or NGOs so that we could enjoy fact from anecdotes.

In my corner, I still question the realistic commitments delivered reliably and transparently.  Because I still hear the lonesome voices of those that are significantly touched in distance distressing the kindhearted as Marie Sesay, one of the Ebola survivors told me in a very disturbing tune " my life is seriously touched and there is no family left. I don't think I will survive this because the much attention is yet to reach my satisfaction despite of what I am hearing about us"

In my corner, I will always continue to wish myself and my country to enjoy the freedoms of which the prudence and providence of our ancestors had established.
God bless  mama salone and everyone of you that contributed

Help

"South Korea Announces $5.6 million To Aid The Fight Against Ebola In Sierra Leone. The government of South Korea announced another massive increase in its support to Sierra Leone in the fight against the Ebola Virus Disease.CCTV."

"Dutch Government Dishes Out 31million Euros To WHO And UNICEF To Combat Ebola Virus In Mano River States. The Government of the Netherlands(Holland) and the Dutch Philanthropists have braced themselves up to help kick Ebola out of the three Mano River States of Sierra Leone,Liberia and Guinea. EURO NEWS"

Greater Freetown...

Ebola in Sierra Leone:

"Due to the number of new Ebola cases in Western Area, Western Area is now considered  an Ebola High Transmission Area. This means that certain measures have been put in place. Below are the key points:

1.       CDC have reported that 70-80% of all new Ebola cases nationally are caused by people having contact with the bodies of those who have died from Ebola, and this % is increasing.

2.       In order to reduce new infections we have to reduce the number of people who have contact with the bodies of the deceased.

3.       Now that Western Area is considered a High Transmission Area:

    a.       All deaths have to be treated as suspected Ebola deaths (even if the family know the death was caused by old-age or another illness).

    b.      All bodies of the deceased must be removed from the community by the burial teams, ASAP, and always within 24 hours.

    c.       It is not possible to do a swab test on all bodies to learn whether the cause of death was Ebola or not before a body is removed from the home. It takes between 1-3 days to get the test results back from the labs, and 1-3 days is too long to leave the body in the house.
                                                     
          i.      If the death was caused by Ebola, the body is highly contagious and leaving it in the house will increase the risk of other members of the family getting Ebola.
                                                             
          ii.      Whether the death was caused by Ebola or another illness, it can be upsetting for families to be left with the body in the house without being able to touch it.

These are extraordinary times which call for extraordinary measures, and some difficult decisions have been made by the Freetown government leadership and the Mayor. The measures outlined above will be difficult for people, but we can all help to try and explain the reasons behind them and encourage communities to accept the above measures in order to keep themselves safe. The burial teams have been retrained in Safe, Dignified, Medical Burials. These burials do not allow anyone to wash or touch the body, but they ensure that the body is treated respectfully, and they allow for a priest or imam to read prayers and a small number (<10) of family members to observe the burial from a safe distance. The dead should be respected whilst the living are protected. 

Please help to share this information, and also to feedback any relevant information on how the new system is working (both in terms of community acceptance, and how burials are being conducted)."

Missing?

"Dis guy fell down at Rawdon St yesterday afternoon vomiting and was there till this evening please help share the news as his family may be looking for him"

Misinformation

This is a big contributor to the issues of containing Ebola... Misinformtion...

"Ebola reached Kenya unfortunately!!
Infected person-Rakesh Bhandhari worked in an IT Company, he expired today.
Please take precautions against this Virus and spread the awareness!!
Friends plz eat Honey as much as possible to safeguard yourself from this virus ebola becz this virus directly effects Human Blood Cells. Honey is for the Blood Cells so this is a precaution to save u from the ebola virus...
*SENT AS RECEIVED*
Ebola virus Spread in mumbai toooo
Use Cold water to take your bath in the morning,  when you want to drink water use hot water..
It is said to be a traditional vaccine for Ebola.
Please don't keep this information to yourself  send to all your contacts..."

How do you combat Ebola?

Info being passed along in Sierra Leone on Ebola:
"Pass this information on to all of our people. This idea was formulated by Dr. Amos M.D. Sirleaf professor at Cuttington University. He states that due to the fact that all of the subsidiaries of the ebola virus comprise of flu like symptoms, it would make sense to address the symptoms with medicines that attack the flu in order to also attack the disease state of ebola itself.

Electrolytes
Motrin
Multi vitamin (vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin E, Vitamin K, folic acid and calcium)
Tylenol
Claritin D
Cold or flu medicines can help get rid of the Ebola symptoms because the symptoms start off like flu symptoms
Antibiotics (tetracycline, ampicillin, teramycin, erythromycin, Amoxcicillin)
Keep washing hands frequently
Disinfect everything
Drink plenty of fluids (plenty of water, planty of ORS, plenty of cranberry juice from super market)
Cough medicine
Benedryl
Everyone should practice good hygiene,and using hand sanitizers regularly, bathing or taking a shower 2 times a day.

Washing hands with soap
Drinking hot pepper soups to kill germs
Drinking hot tea with lemon, ginger and honey to help people's immune system be strong and also kill germs.
Drinking lots of bottled water
Avoid shaking hands or hugging strangers because you never know where there hands and bodies have been.
Wearing gloves and face masks to block germs from coming into the body if possible, especially when handling sick relatives.

Keeping a clean home by wiping down your entire home with cleaning supplies especially if you have alot of visitors coming to visit you on a regular basis.
Drinking orange juice, cranberry juice and grapefruit juices, those are high in vitamin C.

Stay safe and pass this n to your friends if you wish them well"

The end of sociality...

An interesting question... a year ago, this would mean nothing. But now? In Sierra Leone, what is wrong with this picture?

To me it seems as if people cant still avoid public garthering, u can see the crowd.

No more Ebola in Nigeria

Nigeria has been declared officially free of Ebola after six weeks with no new cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

Africa's most populous country won praise for its swift response after an infected Liberian diplomat brought the disease there in July.

The WHO officially declared Senegal Ebola-free on Friday.

Taking its toll

Powerful Commentary from Sierra Leone:

"Friends, these days you need much more than courage to carry on here. You wake up in the morning , turn your  tv on, the news is about ebola deaths, images of body bags, mass burial and scary projections nothing to smile about. You turn the radio on , the news is about health workers on strike, burial  team, misuse of ebola funds, corruption and some politicians that are mocking their people even during the outbreak. Food prices coutinue to go up , more businesses are folding up and our way of life totally affected. You don't  know who to trust. Your son or your wife ? In the public transport or your grilfriend might even be your free ticket to the disease. You saw a friend loose his whole family to the disease, your next door neighbors are quarantine. And you ask yourself, who is next? Schools are closed; on leisure activities and the figures for new cases continue to go up . You count yourself very lucky to return home safe everyday without any hitch even as we put up brave face but the truth is that we are living in constant fear.  This is Sierra Leone for u today! Am I lying?��

Leh God sorry 4 we ya!"

The many faces of Ebola

Reports of a "Riot in Freetown. Okada riders are now attacking police officers or vehicle with police officers..."

Cuba to the rescue

Ebola updates:

"165 Cuban Medical Brigade comprising 63 doctors and 102 nurses was this morning formally received by the Minister of Health and Sanitation Dr Abu Bakar Fofana in a ceremony held at the Miatta Conference Hall in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Also at the Ceremony were the Deputy Minister of Health and Sanitation 1, Mr Foday Sawi, Chief Medical Officer, Dr Brima Kargbo; the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone, Mrs Ebun Strasser-King and the Publicity and Outreach Coordinator in the Office of the Government Spokesman, Mr Abdulai Bayraytay from the Government of Sierra Leone and the Ambassadors of China, Cuba and Ghana from the Diplomatic Community. The Ambassador and leaders of the medical brigade paid a courtesy call on the President Ernest Bai Koroma at State House after the ceremony. The Cuban medical personnel will be deployed at the Western Area and Port Loko district, according to the Chief Medical Officer."

"Gbasay Koroma a football player died. This hapen fews days later after his mother kumba koroma died."

Ambulances!

Ebola:
"Sierra Leone gets 30 brand new deluxe  ambulances, 14 already arrived at the Freetown International airport, Lungi on Tuesday morning 7th October 2014 @ 3:43am with the remaining to land at the same time on Thursday; plus 20 utility/hearse vehicle 18 already supplied on purchase by the Transport and Aviation Ministry which contracted a local company called Premier Logistics and Supplies ltd with international standard and capability.

All vehicles were air freighted in to the country to expedite delivery in the fight against the country's ebola epidemic."

Nurse after Nurse

"SIERRA LEONE: Ebola claims another Medic at Connaught Hospital Nurse Prince Vandy Koroma is the latest medical personnel that has succumbed to the Ebola epidemic disease at the Connaught Hospital in Freetown.Koroma who worked at the Out patients Department of the hospital contracted the disease a few days ago and was admitted at the Ebola Ward where he passed away this morning . He has since been buried.Koroma's colleagues say he was a very committed and dedicated to helping those who needed his services.Some of Koroma's colleague at the hospital have asked me to request all Sierra Leoneans and well wishers across the world to remember them in prayers.They are heavily traumatised and are also victims of discrimination.Meanwhile, reporters on the ground are also warning the people of Freetown to avoid Gbendembu, situated near Goderich where 10 people put on quarantine in one house have all died of the disease.N0.14 Richard Street near Sandas St in Freetown is another flash point that should be avoided.   Rest in peace nurse Koroma."

Back to the Ebola ABCs

Ebola:
Strong statements coming from a very religious country...
"WHICHEVER WAY YOU SLICE IT, PRAYER CANNOT CURE EBOLA " . STOP LAYING HANDS ON PEOPLE TO CURE EBOLA, CLERGY PLEADS     Monrovia - Rev. Father Ambrose Koromah of the St. Kizito Catholic Church parish has warned the religious leaders in Liberia against holding deliverance services at their various prayer centers with the intentions of curing people affected with Ebola. Father Kromah said continued attempts to heal people affected by Ebola by prayer services puts God to test and tantamount to destroying the much-needed united effort required in the fight against the Ebola Virus."

Treatment Centers

Ebola in Sierra Leone:
"49 survivers at the treatment centre in hasting took photo with President Koroma!!!

President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma has paid glowing tribute to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation for the great work they have done, in spite of the huge deaths suffered by its staff to help contain the Ebola outbreak. He also commended the tireless efforts of the Sierra Leone Police and the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces to get the treatment center, which is the largest countrywide,  up and running. 

The President described the activities of the treatment center as a turning point in the fight against the Ebola virus disease. 

President Koroma thanked God Almighty for sparing the lives of the 49 survivors. He urged them to take the news to thier communities and tell the story that if the symptoms are detected early enough, the chances of survival are high.

He also called on Sierra Leoneans to desist from stigmatizing patients discharged from Ebola as this will pay little or no dividend for the fight against EVD.

The President further appealed for more treatment centers and up to 1,000 beds to intensify this fight. "We know it is our role as a government to do these things but we want those who want to help us to hurry as time is not on our side," he said, and added that the Ebola fight is a fight for government and its development partners.

President Koroma encouraged all to continue the collaboration which had resulted into this ceremony being witnessed today.

Meanwhile, a dynamic group of young Sierra Leoneans from all works of life donated assorted provisions,  food stuff, sanitary pads and condoms worth over Le16 million to the 49 survivors, including the children."

The ABC's of Ebola

Ebola: The rules for life in Sierra Leone.....

"Please don't forget the followings ABC, APC. AQH, AWDB, AEBM, TSHC, FHW,     ABC- Avoid  Body Contact.                  
APC- Avoid People's Compound.       
AQH- Avoid Quarantine Homes         
AWDB- Avoid Washing Dead Bodies   
AEBM- Avoid Eating Bush Meat        
TSHC- Take the Sick to Health Centres   
SSFR- Stop Spreading False Rumour 
FHW-  Freequent Hand Washing. 

If u can supply at least 2 of similar abbreviations like these above, God will surely bless u. May i here u say amen!! Brothers and sisters today is Sunday, we pray that EBOLA does not live to see more Sundays. Is someone there to answer amen? Ebola must go! I command u to leave now!! This prayer will only answer if we shout Amen/Ameen."

African Union coming to save the day...

Tomorrow, Sunday 5 October, the African Union lead Ebola virus task force arrives in Sierra Leone to provide desperately needed help in the fight against the growing epidemic. Sierra Leone is one of the countries hit worst by the outbreak already having lead its government to undertake drastic measures - such as a complete lock down in September that lastedfor several days. http://bit.ly/1oGXCYZ