By Kwame Fitzjohn, Washington DC.
The hard work of NOSLINA, Liberian and Guinean diaspora groups in the U.S. (Diaspora Ebola Network - DEN) that organized the National Ebola Summit at the Washington Convention Center on Friday, December 5 paid huge dividends. It was a worthwhile experience that enabled the various groups to draw from the strengths of team effort and add to their own community knowledge and skills.
The event was held in partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), USAID, the World Bank, Samaritan’s Purse and the DC Office on African Affairs, among others. The Summit goal was to support and complement the work of the International Community and related governments in the global effort to end the deadly Ebola epidemic and save the three affected Mano River Union (MRU) countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea from the brink of catastrophe.
Under the theme "Working Together To Help End Ebola", deliberations at the Summit were centred upon fostering collaboration and meaningful relations amongst diaspora organizations and relief groups which have already raised millions of dollars in separate initiatives.
A Liberian team member stated: "We hope to do more and help kick Ebola out of West Africa!" Sam Soumah, our Francophone
brother, Leader of the Guinean Community added : "[Let us] keep on doing wonderful programs like this together."
The Coordinator, Magdalene Harris, wrote: "I have received numerous calls from people to say how impressed they were with the organization and implementation, one of which is a call from the State Department thanking the team for a great event."
Our own Dr. John-Davies-Cole, NOSLINA Board Chair, was singled out by the Director of the DC Health Department, Dr. Joxel Garcia, who remarked: "Ladies and Gentlemen, that leader of the Sierra Leone community I’ve asked to stand is the State Epidemiologist of the Capital of the United States, he is responsible for Disease monitoring, oversight and control of all persons entering Washington, DC ... that man you see I’ve told to stand there is from Freetown, Sierra Leone." You can imagine my pride and joy that one of our own was hailed and given due recognition (and deservedly so) in the corridors of power
of the most influential capital in the world.
NOSLINA presented an impressive plaque to our Ambassador, H.E. Bockari Stevens, Alhaji Khan and Mrs. Isatu Sei, siblings of Dr. Sheik Humarr Khan, for our doctors and health personnel who succumbed to Ebola (please see picture). The plaque will hang at the Embassy of Sierra Leone in Washington for all to see and as a mark of honor and respect for lives that were sacrificed on behalf of our nation and its people.
It is our sincere hope at NOSLINA that the platform that has been established to address Ebola in the three MRU countries will also serve as a springboard to bring the African diaspora together to start addressing issues that affect our respective homes and our lives in the US. The summit was a stark reminder that our challenges and successes are not just as Sierra Leoneans, Liberians or Guineans but as Africans. We need to continue the momentum.
In addition to our Ebola action, we hope to consider quarterly forums to address issues like health, finance and get the greatest value from resources available to us in the US among future opportunities of collaboration elsewhere. When one thinks of the "brain power" assembled at the Ebola Summit, you come to realize we do not need to hold public office in our nations of birth, but we can make a great difference --- after all, "home is where the heart is".
NOSLINA wishes each of you happy holidays and blessings for 2015!
Photo, left to right: Ambassador Bockarie Stevens of Sierra Leone, journalist Kwame Fitzjohn, NOSLINA Board Chair Dr. John Davies-Cole and others.
Photo credit: Batilloi Warritay.
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