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Red Cross Blogger Is Giving A More Personal And Vivid Account Of
Ebola Outbreak
Putting A Face
On The Outbreak
The Red Cross is helping to control the Ebola outbreak in Sierra
Leone by raising awareness about how the disease is transmitted and
how persons can protect themselves, by providing psychosocial
support to those affected, and by managing the burial of bodies.
This according to Katherine Mueller, communications manager
in Africa for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent societies, who has been assigned to work in Sierra Leone.
Mueller has been blogging about her experiences in Sierra Leone and
her written reports are providing vivid insights into what the
outbreak means for the workers and populations affected.
Raising Awareness
Isolated communities in Sierra Leone are shunning away from infected
persons and medical workers, according to Mueller and the Red Cross
is seeking to work through traditional healers to get across
accurate information about Ebola. In this society, traditional
healers are the “go to” persons, even ahead of any medical
personnel. Thus, educating traditional healers has the potential to
reach the affected but resistant populations.
To read about the life and mindset of at least one traditional
healer, read Mueller’s blog entitled “Turning to traditional healers
to help stop the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.” (see excerpt
in the 3rd box)
This is how Mueller opens her post entitled “Ebola: with so much at
stake, somebody has to manage the dead.” To read the full account,
visit:
http://tinyurl.com/n9rolld
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Burying Dead Bodies
“I witnessed four burials today of people who
had fallen victim to this epidemic. They were all young: two
11 year olds, one young man who was 18, another 21. All laid
to rest in a cemetery, newly dug for Ebola victims.
No families or loved ones
around. No religious leaders. For now, no markers to
identify who lies where. Lowered into their final resting
place by a team of volunteers dressed in gear that makes
them look like they are appearing in a sci-fi flick.”
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In her
latest post, Mueller offers even more graphic descriptions
of what the burials are like. Here are two excerpts: |
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More About Burials
"Seeing the bodies in what became their final resting
position, and not just the weighted down body bags; the
flies; the stench of a body that has been lying for two or
three days in the heat and humidity, covered in blankets,
waiting for burial; the little body of a toddler who barely
got a change to begin her story. The sound of women
wailing, grieving the loss of their loved ones. Today one
of the bodies took his last breath, exhaling a cloud of
putrid air upon being moved from his bed.
Understandably, it froze the Red Cross team of volunteers,
called in to ensure the body was safe for burial"
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Traditional Healers
In a land where voodoo, witchcraft and curses are the norm,
Fallah James is a sought-after man. As a traditional healer
in Sierra Leone's eastern Kailahun district, people turn to
him for treatment before they even consider crossing the
threshold of a hospital or health care clinic. "I cure
people who are said to have been cursed. Headaches, or if
you have a broken leg, I can cure that," explains James.
"And in Africa, here we say this person has witchcraft
behind him. I can drive that out..."
...Admitting he knows very little about Ebola, James
Welcomes an opportunity to learn, and has offered to gather
his fellow traditional healers for an awareness raising
discussion with the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society. As a
traditional healer since birth, "I was born with leaves in
my hand, following on a tradition inherited by my father and
his father," people listen when he speaks. He and his
colleagues are revered leaders in their communities. With
many isolated communities still shunning anyone remotely
connected to the Ebola outbreak, either those who are
infected or those who are there to help, the Red Cross hopes
that engaging this group of traditional healers will assist
in sharing the right kind of information.
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To read the
full post, visit :
http://tinyurl.com/kftsnym |
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Reported Confirmed,
Probable, Suspect Ebola Cases and Deaths, in Guinea,
Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria, as of end of August 6,
2014 |
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Country |
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Total by Country |
CFR |
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Guinea
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Cases
Deaths |
495
363 |
73 |
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Liberia |
Cases
Deaths |
516
282
|
55 |
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Sierra Leone |
Cases
Deaths |
691
286
|
41 |
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Nigeria |
Cases
Deaths |
9
1
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11 |
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Totals |
Cases
Deaths |
1711
932 |
55 |
Adapted and WHO and CDC
reports
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