Significant ‘Ebola Free’ milestone reached
Sierra Leone has been officially declared ‘Ebola free’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO), following one of the worst epidemics in recent history – claiming 3,589 lives in the country.
Leslie Scott, National Director of World Vision Sierra Leone, said: “Of course, a significant milestone has been reached. But Ebola has a track record and history of resurfacing. Conscious efforts must be made by the Sierra Leone Government and its partners to prevent its resurgence, so the entire country doesn’t get caught up in another crisis.”
Major challenges remain for the country, including a fragile health care system, extreme poverty, hunger, underdeveloped educational systems, and food insecurity.
Mr Scott said: “World Vision will continue to complement the Government of Sierra Leone’s post-Ebola recovery efforts, while we continue to support child well-being through our transformational development approach.
“World Vision’s strength in community engagement yielded fruits during the terrible crisis. So, we were able to mobilise people to live and act to prevent themselves from contracting Ebola. None of the 58,000 children in our sponsorship programme contracted or died of Ebola. And the communities where we work were among the first districts to be declared Ebola-free.’’
World Vision’s ground-breaking psychosocial work with children and families is helping them to recover and prepare for the “new normal” of life in post-Ebola Sierra Leone which will be more challenging than before in one of the world’s most needy countries.
The aid agency also trained faith leaders from Christian and Muslim communities and local chiefs in Ebola prevention and control, who in turn, engaged their respective communities. These faith leaders helped change behaviors and attitudes concerning traditional burial practices and the need for hand washing.
World Vision has been operating in Sierra Leone since March 1996, and is currently active in 25 Area Development Programmes in 30 chiefdoms, in four Districts (Bo, Kono, Pujehun and Bonthe), with 58,000 sponsored children. Priorities are Health and Nutrition, Education, Livelihoods, Water Sanitation and Hygiene and Child Protection.