One of the lucky ones

Like many survivors of Ebola, Safiatu has experienced the devastating impact the disease has had on her own health, her family and her community. The work of World Vision in Sierra Leone has helped to ensure that potential Ebola sufferers, like Safiatu, are seen to quickly and effectively to help minimise further infections. Safiatu shared her story with us.

Safiatu was living in a large compound when Ebola came to Bo, the second largest city in Sierra Leone. To save on rent, several families lived together and shared cooking and washing facilities. But sharing such close quarters meant that the disease spread quickly, and of the 50 people living there, 12 sadly lost their lives to Ebola.

In Safiatu’s own family of 16, seven people did not make it. Her father Kemoh and Aunt Theresa were among those who survived. Theresa fell ill with a fever, headache and diarrhoea - the classic symptoms of Ebola - in early October. She called the national hotline, 117, and was taken to a holding centre to be tested.

She was given rehydration medicine, but in October the international response had not yet fully begun and she had to wait almost two weeks for her results to come through. When her test came back positive, she was taken to the treatment centre and within about four days she felt a lot better.

“I was able to stand up and walk and I started to feel optimistic,” she recalls. After another ten days she was cured. Sadly her own daughter was not so fortunate, however, and she died of the disease, aged just 20.

Like all survivors, Theresa now has an immunity to the disease, so she is now working as a cook at the interim care centre set up by the Sierra Leone government to look after children who have been orphaned by the virus or whose parents are in treatment centres.

Unfortunately, even though survivors are unlikely to be contagious themselves, many find themselves stigmatised when they return to their communities.

Theresa’s husband was a baker and she used to sell cakes for a living. Now, no one will buy their goods anymore. Her only income comes from her work at the interim care centre where her husband is now working too as a cleaner. The family income has dropped by two-thirds. “It is much less, but we have to manage,” Theresa said determinedly. The future is uncertain. “We don’t know what we will do if they close this children’s centre where we’re working.”

Since October, World Vision has set up a Command and Control Centre in Bo in cooperation with the local authorities. Now, when people like Theresa call the hotline, they are attended to quickly so they have the best possible chance of surviving, and to preventing the disease from spreading further.

Previously, there were not enough ambulances and not enough money to fuel them. Now that World Vision and other NGOs are working together to take over the fleets, confidence is growing in the hotline and the number of people who receive early treatment and survive has increased markedly. Additionally, nearly all burials are now taking place within 24 hours, whereas previously it was taking four to five days for the teams to arrive, during which time relatives had a high risk of infection.

Sahr Foyoh, the District Coordinator for the Ebola response in Bo, said: “World Vision should rename themselves ‘life savers’. Their help has made an enormous difference. As well as improving the efficiency of the ambulance fleet, World Vision has also been leading the consortium running the burial teams. People who have died from the virus are extremely infectious, so it is crucial to bury them quickly and safely.”

World Vision UK launched our Ebola appeal 3 months ago, during which time our supporters have donated over a quarter of a million pounds, and supported work in an incredible variety of areas including safe and dignified burials, reunifying families and caring for children, supplying medical staff with personal protective equipment, and broadcasting radio lessons for the millions of students who have been out of education since schools closed last summer. Thank you for all your help and continued support.