Sierra Leone declared Free of Ebola

After some 17 months of tackling the Ebola crisis in which around 4,000 people died, the country was declared free of the virus this morning, Saturday, 7th November by the World Health Organisation. That is because there had been no new case of the disease for 42 days.

There have been celebrations in Freetown and the President, Ernest Bai Koroma, has paid tribute to the 35000 workers in the fight against Ebola “whose heroism is without parallel in the history of our country”. He praised their bravery and said the country mourned their sacrifice, adding: “The disease challenged the very foundations of our humanity.” He called on the community to halt the stigmatisation of survivors and said the focus was now on improved hygiene, healthcare and economic recovery.

"Ebola has ended but we must be prepared for a re-emergence and we are retaining some laboratory testing capacities and treatment centres," the President has said, "But we are confident we now have a system in place to respond."

Although the State of Emergency has ended, there is a 90 day period of "heightened surveillance" to catch any signs of a return of the virus. A consultant at the Connaught Hospital said "There is still a lot of anxiety about what might happen. There is still Ebola in Guinea and we know it is not over yet."

It is reported that there was a party atmosphere in Freetown, the first for many months, a celebration but tinged with sadness for the many lives lost. One survivor, who had lost 2 sons and 15 other relatives said, "Today brings sad memories but I take comfort that the disease has been defeated."

As a result of the virus there are now 12,000 orphans in the country, some of whom are in the New Era Schools that we support in Looking Town.  There will be much work to be done to rebuild the economy, the local community and faith in the Health Service. Sierra Leone has been ranked as the world's poorest country for many of the last 15 years. I feel privileged to serve Alpha Kargbo and the New Era Evangelism and Development Programme as they seek to impact an area of Freetown with the love of Christ.

It is time to get moving again!

Some good news in last few days.

Just today. Alpha, our Headteacher, told me that Looking Town Primary School has been awarded a prize.   Around 50 Primary Schools were judged in a competition to see how well they knew what to do to prevent the spread of Ebola Competition, such as when and how to wash their hands.  They came second.

He is hopeful the the President will soon announce that the Ebola Epidemic has ended.

We have committed to help with the building of a second floor on the classroom block, which will give much needed space for the increasing number of pupils. I am delighted that last week we had a gift from a Trust of £2,000 which will enable the first stage to be completed.  God is good.

With the thought that we are starting to get moving again, here is a photo of the railway in Sierra Leone which ran from 1897 to 1974. The railway was unusual in that it was a national railway system which ran on a narrow gauge of 2 ft 6 in.    

the Good and the Bad news

The latest events in Freetown.  Some are encouraging, some are not. The  pupil figures for the school (June 2015) were very encouraging with 547 in the Primary (Nursery to Class 6) and from these 55 candidates were to take the exam to allow them to proceed to Secondary School. This exam should have been in May, but as schools were shut from September to April because of the Ebola virus, it has only just taken place. The Junior Secondary had 225 pupils last year and some of these are due to go to Senior Secondary. Our school has been recognised as a Senior Secondary School and could take them on.

This is where the problems have begun. The senior pupils want to attend school in the mornings and not afternoons. The Primary have traditionally used the morning slot, and extra accommodation would have to be found to house Senior Secondary pupils. Most of them, who have come up through the school, have decided to go to other schools which is a disappointment for Alpha, the Headmaster and our Programme Director in Freetown.

Alpha Kargbo, standing beside a model of Bai Bureh, a hero of Sierra Leone and of the same tribe.

The first stage of a new building has been completed as far as the ground floor is concerned and Alpha decided that a solution would be to build the first floor classrooms. In June he asked me for around £13,900 so that it could be completed by September. I had to say that such a sum at short notice was not possible.

The problems have been compounded because on the 15th/16th September there was a torrential rainstorm (147mm over 6 hours) which caused heavy flooding in which four people died and extensive damage to roughly 1,400 homes in Freetown

Emergency accommodation for people made homeless was set up at the national football stadium, but as the Ebola virus remains a threat in the country, the clustering of flood victims there could pose a new challenge.

The country's main referral hospital, the Connaught Hospital, has also been affected as operations have been cancelled because the theatre has been flooded. 

The roof of the new school building, which was designed to be the floor of the storey above, could not cope with the deluge and books in the library have been badly damaged. Alpha writes that "The flooding made us hold all the pupils and students in school as children in other schools suffered casualties when the flooding took place. We managed to see that each pupil and student was collected in school by their parents, Guardians or caregivers so that the flood did not claim their lives."

I have arranged with my church to speak about our work in Freetown and in the past this has resulted in a number of people giving a monthly amount, which greatly helps. A family trust have also offered to consider giving a sum towards the building work.

If you would like to help, yplease send cheques (payable to Links International) to Links International, PO Box 198, Littlehampton, West Sussex BN16 3UQ, with a note saying they are for account 3030 "People in Partnership".  If you live in the UK and wish to gift aid the donation, please say and you will be sent a form. Money can be also be sent electronically to account number 00432695, sort code 30-99-86, reference number 3030.

The present realities

The Ebola crisis, although conditions are much better, is still not over and has so far claimed 3582 lives in Sierra Leone alone.

There were ten confirmed cases of Ebola in Freetown in week ending 11th July, and three more in other parts of the country. During the past year (July 2014 - June 2015) we sent  over £8,000 to Freetown and  £2,000 of this was for Ebola relief which provided food for orphans and needy families as well as basic medical supplies and protective gear, disinfectant and buckets. Six teachers went on Ebola training and information was shared with the local community.

47 people died in the local community and 28 orphans in our school lost their parents during this Ebola crisis.

No visit has taken place from the UK because of crisis and there are no direct flights yet from the UK.

A report from the school.
The school has 547 pupils in the nursery and primary and 225 students in junior secondary and senior secondary classes.        

Classrooms that were under construction have now been completed.

Closure of schools
All schools in the country were closed from September to April and from Oct to March we paid the teachers half their normal wage. After the schools reopened, they were able to supply teaching and learning materials to pupils and teaching staff.

We currently pay all but three of the teachers in the school. The Government pays for them and have promised to take on all who have been through Teacher Training College.

The school has requested funds for building work in view of the growth of the Senior Secondary School, and also for instruments for a band.

A further visit from Derby will be considered when the medical situation is clearer.

A new lock-down just before the schools re-open.

Alpha Karbo, who heads up our two schools and oversees the Development Programme, phoned to say that the President has ordered the country’s entire population to stay in their homes for three days in a bid to stem the spread of the deadly Ebola.
                                                                               
People must remain at home from 0600 Friday March 27 to 1800 Sunday March 29, with “no trading activities across the country.”

“I have made my personal commitment to do whatever it takes to get to zero Ebola infections and I call on every Sierra Leonean in every community to pull together,” President Koroma added

However, although Sierra Leone is a Muslim-majority state, the authorities are lifting the lockdown for part of the day on Palm Sunday to allow church services.
                                                                             

Freetown deserted in a previous 'lock-down'.   'No Trading Activities'

The schools are due to reopen on Monday 30th March and Alpha is concerned for the motivation of the teachers after a three day lock-down. We shall be sending their money, which is half the normal amount as they are not working, so they can buy supplies before they must stay at home.

As the President has said, “The economic development of our country and the lives of our people continue to be threatened by the ongoing presence of Ebola in Sierra Leone, The future of our country and the aspirations of our children are at stake.”

"Amazing Grace" - Sierra Leone's part in the story.

In Derby we recently had a performance by the Saltmine Theatre Company, a professional company with a Christian ethos who perform in Schools, Churches and mainstream theatres in the UK and Northern Ireland. They presented the play, “Amazing Grace”, using word, folk song and physical theatre.  John Newton’s remarkable life story was told from his time as a slave ship captain to church leader and author of arguably the most famous hymn ever written.

                                                               John Newton 1725-1807

This was a powerfully moving story of slavery, freedom and the remarkable power of love and grace to transform a life.

Sierra Leone played a big part in John Newton’s life.  In 1744, when in the Royal Navy, he fell out with his Captain who exchanged him with a sailor on a slave ship that was heading to Sierra Leone. He lived there for a year and seeing the money to be made in the slave trade undertook three voyages as a trader.  After his conversion to Christ, he was consulted about planting a new colony for freed slaves in the country and the town of Newton, 24 miles from  Freetown, is named after him.

The problems caused by Ebola have been far reaching.

When the problems with Ebola started last May, not very much was know in the public domain about the virus and it was initially a long way from our friends in Freetown.  Soon it became apparent that the medical structures in place were unable to contain the virus and in many areas the people lacked understanding and were uncooperative. Measures to prevent the spread of the virus went against established local customs, especially the practice of washing the corpse before funerals. Because doctors and nurses were dying from the disease, people began to visit traditional healers rather than clinics and hospitals. Some of the medical facilities closed because staff did not turn up, either out of an inability to cope or in some cases because they were demanding increased pay to deal with the traumatic situation. There was even a rumour that the disease had been started by Westerners who were experimenting on Africans. In some cases medical personnel working in the community were attacked.  There were also cases of relatives forcibly removing patients from isolation units.

The general lack of understanding of what was going on produced a sense of fear and hopelessness, which was compounded by the worsening financial and social situation.

On 31st July a state of emergency was declared in the country. Because borders were closed and some areas of the country were closed off, the free flow of goods was stopped and the prices of basic commodities rose sharply. A bag of rice in Feb 2015 costs £20, which is about the average monthly salary before the lay-offs. Alpha tells me that flights into the country have started again, but there are no direct flights from London yet. On 24 Feb McPhillips Travel, who handle the air transport for our teams wrote to say they can now flights via Brussels or Casablanca.

                                              President Koroma declared State of Emergency

From July, public meeting not related to Ebola were banned. Football matches were stopped, and bars and clubs closed. From September all schools were closed and areas, including Freetown, have had periods of quarantine where people were expected to stay in their homes. As a result of all this businesses closed and it is estimated that two thirds of the population became unemployed.

Alpha tells me that there have been 47 deaths from Ebola in the Looking Town community.  These have been mainly adults and a number of children have lost one or both parents. One of the children who died, a girl, attended our school. She was the only death among the school staff and pupils.

The governing body of the New Era School asked for a final payment for teachers in October and suggested they should not be paid until the schools reopened again at an unknown future date. I was unhappy about this as there is no social security for the teachers to fall back on and I wanted to preserve their morale and sense of community by giving some financial help. We have been paying them half their normal wage. It has just been announced schools will reopen on the 30th March and we shall start paying the full £600 in April. During the closures, the government has provided lessons over the radio, but without supervision and accountability I am not sure how effective these will have been. There were, however, going to be exams on the 2nd March, to enable pupils to qualify to move from Primary to Junior Secondary Schools. These were postponed.

                                        The last group of children to qualify for Junior Secondary

Before the re-opening on 30 March the government is due to disinfect all schools. They have also announced that class sizes are not to exceed 60 pupils. One result of the closures has been a rise in teenage pregnancies, and the government has instructed schools that pupils must not be stigmatised because of this when they return to school.

To help the community during the Ebola crisis, we have been sending money to enable Alpha and the community to buy food for quarantined families, orphans and anyone in particular need. They have also purchased basic equipment for hygiene, such as bowls to wash their hands and soap and disinfectants, these have been shared with local mosques and churches, together with simple medical supplies. Due to the generosity of members of Community Church Derby and some others, we have sent amounts totalling £2350 to date.