Ebola and the children of Sierra Leone:Sierra Care cares

By Dr. Ernest Kamara, Sierra Care Board Member, Texas, USA.

Dear Compatriots,

Ebola has ravaged a country that could ill-afford any more pain, destruction, loss of life. This epidemic has claimed the lives of countless un-named Sierra Leoneans and the Government and a myriad of international organizations are scrambling to curb the rapid spread.

In many cases, we can clearly identify the results of those efforts. We have seen the hospitals being refurbished, the new buildings erected, the medical equipment being airlifted and the medical personnel being flown back to their western country of origin to get treatment.

What we do not see or hear very much about is what happens to the children who at best live in squalor. Prior to the Ebola epidemic, children in Sierra Leone had very little support anyway.

Imagine, if you will, a small child left alone in a home to fend for him or herself after their parents have been transferred to an Ebola Treatment Center by men in full body suits. The men barge into your home early in the morning, wearing plastic suits, helmets with visors, double gloves and boots.

You can barely make out the faces behind the goggles. They spray down you and your siblings with chlorine, drag your mother and father to a van and leave tape around the perimeter of the compound warning neighbors to stay away. Then the nightmare officially starts.

Days go by and no one comes by, no food or water. The neighbors go about their daily lives, fearful of what it means to have another case in their neighborhood but no one comes to help.

Well, we at SIERRA CARE will help and we are committed to the provision of food and water to these poor kids. Every child deserves support from its community.

The absence of food and water and sustainable supportive policies may contribute to the additional lives lost in this epidemic. After all is said and done, these children will have pick up the pieces, create a life without adult supervision or support and somehow figure out how to grow into becoming productive members of the community.

Let’s give them a hand now with sustenance, support and a show of concern for their well-being. Join with us to provide a simple human need of food, water and clothing to these children.