While many Americans may be thinking that the Ebola crisis in West Africa is over as it’s not dominating the national news as it was last fall, that is not the case – far from it.
The reality is the deadly virus is still taking the lives of many children, women and men, particularly in Sierra Leone where Bread and Water for Africa®’s partner, Faith Healing Development Organization, is fighting the battle daily.
Sierra Leone has seen 3,062 deaths attributed to Ebola in the yearlong outbreak, and killed a total of 8,414 in West Africa’s three worst-affected countries as of mid-January.
In fact, just that week the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reported that a male nurse who worked at an Ebola treatment center in the Kenema district, where FHDO operates a clinic, died and was confirmed to have been suffering from the disease. Nearly 30 people who had contact with him are being monitored for symptoms.
The same week, Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma predicted that there would be zero new confirmed cases in the country by the end of March, even as 19 new Ebola cases were registered there during a recent 24-hour period.
We pray President Koroma is correct. In the meantime, Bread and Water for Africa® will continue on as we have for the past year providing assistance to those struggling with the disease, the families destroyed by the virus, and those health care workers fighting Ebola on a daily basis.
We will not forget about them, and we hope you do not either and together we will win this battle and then begin to rebuild the devastated country.
