The Ebola epidemic sweeping Sierra Leone is worsening. The Sierra Leone government put hundreds of thousands more citizens under quarantine on Thursday, sealing off more than a quarter of the country and warning travelers not to get out of their vehicles in the districts under isolation.
Nearly all of the country’s 14 districts are now under either total or partial quarantine, with over one million people affected.
Since we last communicated with you, your generous donations have enabled us to make progress toward fighting the spread of this horrible disease. However, more help is needed to increase our efforts to stop the spread of this deadly disease.
Because of your support and the support of the Wesleyan Emergency Relief Fund, we have been able to support the following activities in Sierra Leone:
Health Training
We supported the development of an isolation unit at Kamakwie Wesleyan Hospital in Sierra Leone by training and financing staff salaries. We helped train local doctors and staff on how to identify Ebola symptoms, trace cases, and bury the dead. Following this training, the medical staff successfully buried the first case of Ebola without spreading the disease, successfully traced the individuals who had contact with the deceased, and decontaminated the deceased house.
We continue to distribute medical supplies provided by our partners.
Clean Water and Sanitation
We provided a water supply using a submersible pump for the Ebola Holding Center/Isolation Unit at the Paramedical School in Macambo Village located in the Bombali District of Sierra Leone. This water supply will support the hydration of suspected Ebola patients while they remain in the facilities. Confirmed Ebola cases from this center will be promptly transferred to the treatment center in Kenema or Kailahun districts for further appropriate Ebola treatment.
We also supported the Guma Valley Water Authority to provide water to 50 water points in water-starved regions of Freetown prior to the three-day lock down last weekend.
Education
We are implementing a broad education campaign to support the government’s efforts to educate the public about this deadly disease. Some parts of Sierra Leone are not accessible by road. You can only get there on foot. Delivering information about Ebola to people who live in remote locations like this can be challenging.
As a result of your donations, World Hope International is able to support the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health to provide radio broadcast and house-to-house education programs to provide much-needed information about how to prevent the contraction and spread of Ebola.
To continue this work, we need your help in two ways:
Join us in prayer with The Wesleyan Church:
- Pray for the courage and safety of healthcare workers that are currently treating patients with Ebola.
- Pray for the patients, those suspected and confirmed.
- Pray for the families who have lost loved ones to this disease or who have relatives in isolation units or treatment centers.
- Pray for the government and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, that they make wise decisions quickly.
- Pray for the citizens of Sierra Leone that this epidemic is eradicated quickly.
- Pray the international community moves quickly to intervene.
Support us:
We’re working hard to stop the spread of Ebola in Sierra Leone, but we can’t do it without you. A gift of just $100 can help fight this dangerous outbreak in vulnerable communities. Will you stand with us as we fight to protect the people of Sierra Leone from the Ebola virus?
John Lyon is president and CEO of World Hope International.
