32 graves
Bruno Col is currently in Sierra Leone helping respond to the health crisis in the country. He was strongly moved when he attended an Ebola victim’s safe and dignified burial by a World Vision burial team.
By Bruno Col, Regional Communications Director, World Vision West Africa
The road to Moyamba is typical of what you imagine when travelling through Sierra Leone. The landscape is made up of tall trees with tropical green leaves, thick bushes and forests of palms growing randomly along the banks of small rivers. The air is humid.
The small town of Moyamba is in the southern part of Sierra Leone, 155 miles from the capital, Freetown. It is a quiet place with community and health centres, good roads, a few busy markets and people of different faiths living together.
Sadly, Moyamba has become what's known as a 'red zone' because of the numbers of Ebola cases that have been confirmed here since the beginning of the outbreak. The ambulances rushing through the streets and the ongoing construction of an Ebola isolation centre, managed by British troops, are indicators of how life here is being derailed by the monstrous virus.
We drive to the edge of town to reach the current isolation centre. Several young men and officials are getting ready to put on their personal protective equipment (PPE). The detailed and precise process takes a long time, and the burial workers carefully monitor each other to make sure the layers of protective clothing are properly in place. These young men are from the town, they know each other well and have been training for months to conduct safe and dignified burial of the numerous Ebola victims in the area.
The first thing I notice at the isolation centre is the stench of chlorine used to spray the PPEs, shovels, stretchers, and even the car used to transport the victim. I can feel the acidity of the disinfectant on my face, in my eyes and on my lips. The burning feeling, in addition to the heat, is unbearable. I immediately feel for the burial workers fully covered and spraying each other profusely with the chlorine.
Ready for burial
The victim we are here to bury arrived several days ago. She was on her own and already seriously affected by Ebola. She was 35 years old and had no relatives to pray for her. She will be the last person to be buried today. It is already 5.00pm and no burial can take place after 6.00pm - as the sun sets it will be difficult to supervise the strict security measures needed to perform a safe and dignified burial.
The men in white are slowly moving towards the isolation centre and enter by the furthest part of it which is marked by a thick orange barrier. Health workers have come out to pay their last respects. Others observe the scene from afar.
After several minutes, the burial workers come out with the victim; they put her gently but quickly into a body bag, while one of them sprays chlorine over the bag. At this stage, the body is considered safe but the chlorine is sprayed over and over again while they walk at a fast pace towards the pick-up vehicle that will carry her to the burial ground.
The sun is slowly hiding behind a beautiful mass of clouds and the end of the daylight is caressing the landscape. God’s nature is providing the last homage to this woman as we walk silently behind the car.
She is finally put to rest under the trees.
The light has faded, but our hearts are still with her until the last shovel of soil covers her sick body.
As I leave the ground, I count 32 graves, all Ebola victims.
World Vision is leading and coordinating safe and dignified burials in Moyamba and other regions in Sierra Leone, and is also training burial teams. In November 2014, 40 burial workers were already trained. They are doing great work in red hot areas, and the burial workers are full of praise for the training, duty of care and the highest standards of safety.