Rev. Frances Mambu, founder and executive director of our partner in Sierra Leone, Faith Healing Development Organization (FHDO), is worried about the future of his country which is continuing to experience the ravishes of the Ebola outbreak.
“I’m a bit discouraged about the situation in our country, because things are not getting better,” he reported to us in a Dec. 30 e-mail. “We’ve been lock down in the city, and our movements are limited.”
Rev. Mambu fears that the doctors at the Centers for Disease Control may be correct in their prediction that the situation is going to continue up until the end of 2015 – obviously not a joyous way to enter the new year.
Life, even for those who Ebola has not touched directly, is becoming unbearable there.
“Over three million homes have been quarantined, and with the rapid spread of the disease, the government is even thinking of shutting down the whole country,” Rev. Mambu said.
In 2014, thanks to you, Bread and Water for Africa® was able to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical supplies and equipment, medicines, and personal protection kits to FHDO, and when our board of directors learned that the population was facing starvation due to lack of food supplies being imported, we stepped up to provide funding for emergency food relief.
“We’ll soon exhaust the food items you sent for us, because the people are not involved in any productive activities so as a result of that they are only depending on the food supplies to sustain their lives and families,” Rev. Mambu told us.
“What has really discouraged me is that we’ve gone back to the days of the war, wherein we have to depend on people for everything,” he added.
“We’ll soon exhaust the food items you sent for us, because the people are not involved in any productive activities so as a result of that they are only depending on the food supplies to sustain their lives and families,” Rev. Mambu told us.
While we are heartened to hear that the number of new Ebola cases decreasing in Liberia and fluctuating in Guinea, and there are signs that the increase in incidence has slowed in Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organization, we are distressed to learn that the country’s west is now experiencing the most intense transmission in the affected countries.
According to Rev. Mambu, who is our eyes and ears on the ground in the country, the number of new infections every day is between 60 and 70 and within the capital city of Freetown the number of bodies being buried is no fewer than 40 daily.
But despite all the tragedy affecting his country, Rev. Mambu has not given up hope.
“We only pray that God will take control,” he told us.
And, in expressing his gratitude to you for your generosity and compassion for others half a world away, Rev. Mambu also took the time to say “Once more, I want to wish you a Happy New Year in advance.”
As you did in 2014, we hope you will continue to think of Rev. Mambu and the citizens of Sierra Leone in 2015 as together we strive to provide life-saving assistance as they fight on against the deadly virus and help 2015 be a “Happy New Year” in Sierra Leone.
