The Agony of Ebola Survivors Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is currently one of the most talked news across Africa. Any high temperature alarms others to keep a safedistance. Some even will suggest you to report yourself to the nearest Ebola centre. We have heard and witnessed the pain of Ebola survivors. But if we at the comfort of our homes think that their life is normalas an Ebola survivor we must be given a sound knock at the reality. For them the agony continues in the face of accepting back to community They face tremendous amount of hardship, stigmatization by family, relatives, neighbours, co-workers’, totally avoided by friends,lost employment. There are some patients here who have lost almost all of their family members. There are some they think ‘will die soon, because they have lost everyone.’ In some cases orphaned children are left alone.

At the time of discharge from Ebola treatment Centre, they are advised to visit Loreto clinic, in Makeni for their further medical and psychological needs. The staffs in clinic meet them in group as well as individually. The continuum of care is designed that a field worker visits the survivor family and interacts and counsels the rest of the family.

Two days that I spent in Loreto clinic listening to their story of Ebolarised life and visiting some of survivor families with the field worker, gave me a sense of what is going on out in community and in individual’s life. “It has never been so bad before”, said a survivor. They complain of eye and hearing problems, weakness, joint and back pain, some experience nightmares, and flash blacks. As I sat in the counselling room a group of survivors were brought in lead by staff nurse. They were all holding a card in their hand. To my curiosity enquired with the counsellor what that was. She told us, after the treatment in the Ebola Treatment centre each one is given a certificate of discharge, certifying he/she is free of Ebola. Little later came in a gentle lady, patiently sat with the group members, her eyes focused somewhere beyond the walls of the room from where she heard the counsellor speaking to the other group members. Doctors gave her the good news that she has finally beaten Ebola. She would live. But back to her home she has no money, unable to get back to work, thus just when she thought things couldn’t get worse, she began to loose her eyesight. What do you say when you sit with a family who have lost as many as 12 members in a week. I prayed before two children who lost their beloved mother and their father standing by so stricken by grief, that it is hard to imagine they will ever smile again. The impact of Ebola extends Beyond those who are infected by the virus. My inspiration is the efforts of Loreto field worker and many others who bravely push themselves to remote villages to meet the orphan children and survivor families to care and support. They are truly signs of hope, yes with a hope that these effort will be rewarded I remain. Fr. Antony Kunnel MI

Mission Ebola SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

High time for a change….. Why should a sick person be brought to hospital for a disease that has no cure?

The Ebola virus is one that develops and destroys the person so fast. It’s a disease that keeps families, friends and loved ones away from an infected person, because any unprotected physical contact will be fatal. There is no medicine that cures Ebola. Nevertheless, that doesn’t imply it cannot be treated.

When Ebola struck some seven months ago, a simple and common message that was presented to simple and common audience (Sierra Leoneans) - that Ebola is incurable. This is a naked truth or rather a brute reality . It was the assumption that by saying Ebola has no cure and is dreadful will make people take the greatest precautions. Indeed it did, but again it back fired Why should we come to the hospital if it has no cure.

So Ebola isn’t curable, anyone suffering from it is eventually taken to the hospital, will be lethally injected. This conspiracy theory gathered huge momentum. However, once Ebola admitted patients were treated, cured and discharged from treatment centres with certificates to prove, people noticed that they have misunderstood the Ebola message or were effectively misled.

It is high time to stop misinformation, disinformation, ignorance, denial, stubbornness and indiscipline. The practice is: --Do not and must not touch the sick —please call 117. --Do not and must never touch or wash the dead—please call the burial team. --As law abiding citizens, must respect the State of Emergency laws,

Therefore attitudinal and behavioral change is in high demand. Someone pointed out that attitudinal deficiency as the melting pot of all the problems in Sierra Leone. Can you imagine after seven months of Ebola’s invasion, attitude of the people is still serving as an impediment to defeat Ebola? Ebola is here and if there is no change of attitude Ebola will not go. May be there needs a change of attitude also for all the who are here from outside we have been busy caring but how much have we tried to take this message to the people.

AN EMOTIONAL CHRISTMAS Christmas is a big feast here even celebrated by all regardless of the religion….but because of the lock down it was a Silent Night. People came in big numbers to the church during the day to celebrate Christmas. The church is so full that the rule of keeping distance and the rule of no touching were thrown away by baby Jesus. But the celebration turned emotional as the priest started to preach taking the Psalm By the Rivers of Babylon…. We are not prisoners any more but we are in captivity of Ebola, we sit by the side of Ebola and weep but we still sing the song of joy thinking of the good days to come and we will celebrate double Christmas next year….it sounded as if the Psalm was written for the situation as the music started all the community joined singing By the Rivers of Babylon.

LATEST UPDATES

This is providedBy Ministry of Health & Sanitation of Sierra LeoneThis is fromMay—2014 to29th -December2014

Cumulativecases

Cumulativedeaths

Total Dischargessurvivors

suspected 1,840 158

probable 287 208

confirmed 7,419 2,410

Total 9,546 2,776 1,808

The Disturbing stories.

We were able to meet some survivors and this is one of their stories. As we sat with translator who speaks the local language, in walks a teenager. As the translator asks her to explain how she got Ebola and what her situation now is, the girl starts to talk neither looking at the me nor at the translator but at the window that is there in the room. She says “I am doing vocational training in Islamic School. As the schools are closed down I was at home. My father had a friend who was sick and he was visiting him, later on that friend of my father died. After few days my father started having symptoms but refused to go to the hospital, took some local treatment. On a fine evening he started to bleed. He summoned all the family members, Explained all the plans and settlements of the family next day he died…” she looks down and up holding her sorrow she continues.. “Ambulance came and took our papa and we all were quarantined.

In few days we all started to develop fever we were taken to different centres. I had vomiting. I was in a centre for almost a month and after that I was told that I am ok and I can go back. so I was taken out in vehicle to some place where they told me that my mother , brothers all died except the youngest one who is one year and three months old. From there I was taken to my home. When I looked at my home I was “she looks down…holds the tears that are pushing out and continues..” I saw the home was locked and there was no one. I have not seen my younger brother he is in an orphanage I want to see him. Now my uncles are taking care of me…..”

She is still looking at the window as she stops. Yes her life came to a standstill. She is looking at the window of hope, window of help, and window of light to open the doors so that she can come out and restart her life again.

Friends the story does not end there when they were sick her elder sister who is married and lives in another village comes to visit them. She carries Ebola to her family infects all her family, her husband his brother, her father-in –law and mother-in –law and finally her only child of one year and eight months all of them die leaving her alone “ why did god leave me he could have taken me too” she questions… This is one story of the many here on our visit to families we could understand how it had shattered the lives of the people. There is a husband waiting for his wife, we met two children waiting for their mother, a lady waiting for husband…some others do not even know if their dear ones are alive or dead. The loss is very big and it would take a while to recover from the loss.

Lady with the child is waiting for her husband for last two months. She doesn’t even know where he is.

The boy and girl are the survivors of Ebola