Liberia : People Power Is Changing Ebola Narrative

The young campaigners thronging the street were
wearing mismatched white T-shirts on which they
had scribbled the words "Ebola awareness".As
they passed a church, a melodious chorus coming
from inside seemed to serenade them. Waving
fliers, some of the young people peeked in through
the open church doors and sang along. Others
snapped to the beat of the gospel song before
they were quickly beckoned onward by an older
boy at the group's front. He knew they were on a
campaign to save lives.
Although not regimented, the group seemed to
self-organize as they moved from house to house
in their central Monrovia community. Their
message to their neighbors: "Ebola is Real" - the
locally-adopted theme in the fight against the
disease.
As friends and family fall prey to sickness, more
Liberians begin to realize how potentially
devastating it is for the country, and they've
taken it upon themselves to act. "Nobody is
giving us anything, oh, we just want to help,"
said Miatta, an enthusiastic young woman,
explaining that this impromptu volunteer corps is
not being paid.As they approached my house,
Miatta and her colleagues handed out fliers on
Ebola prevention. Their message was already
familiar to me, but I was still glad to receive it
and greeted them in our Liberian parlance: "Y'all
thanks oh!"
Despite their high spirits, the message the group
brought wasn't jovial: "Ebola kills; wash your
hands regularly; don't touch a sick or dead
person; avoid bodily contact as much as
possible."
In recent days, many neighborhoods been
overtaken by such community-driven initiatives.
Large banners have been stretched across streets
and on office buildings and warning signs can be
seen on street corners.
The awareness campaigns seem to be striking a
chord, so much so that when a boy who is a
known drunk fell to the floor in my area, the Ebola
response team was called immediately. They
arrived in a couple of hours, an improvement on
the days-long response times reported earlier,
when the rapid spread first overwhelmed an
already struggling health system. The boy was
brought back after testing negative, to cheers and
jubilation from members of his large household.
On a local radio show, Representative Saa
Joseph, a lawmaker hailed for being at the front
lines of the Ebola fight, suggests optimistically
that "the situation will soon get better." Pictures
of him in hazmat suit ferrying sick people back
and forth in his privately-owned ambulances are
posted to many social media pages.
"A lot of things are now beginning to happen", he
said, referring to the increase in awareness
messages, the major expansion of the main
isolation facility at the ELWA Hospital in the
suburbs of Monrovia, and the building of other
units in different parts of the country.
Apart from isolation and treatment centres, mobile
laboratories that will help speed up testing are
arriving, and large cargo planes are taxiing in with
tons of emergency supplies, as the international
community ramps up its support – all giving the
local population a glimmer of hope.
Warning people against staying away from health
facilities for fear of Ebola, Unicef's representative
in Liberia, Sheldon Yetts, urges Liberians:
"Cholera is here. Malaria is here and many
common diseases. We don't want people dying…
because they don't feel safe using use health
services." The re-opening of clinics and hospitals
after the country secured additional supplies of
disinfectants and protective garments for health
providers is important to avoid the mounting
deaths from common, treatable diseases, as well
as from unattended childbirth.
Yetts spoke as Unicef flew in 70 metric tons of
emergency medical supplies. He said the
shipment includes 27 metric tons of chlorine and
900,000 gloves, the lack of which had resulted in
the deaths of dozens of health workers. He
announced that a second flight, sponsored by the
Liberian government and the World Bank, is on its
way.
The U.S. Agency for International Development
and the U.S. Ebola Disaster Assistance Response
Team have airlifted more than 16 tons of medical
supplies, including 10,000 sets of personal
protective equipment last weekend. These are in
addition to a plane load of supplies brought in by
the Chinese earlier in the month.
But ordinary people aren't letting the stream of
outside supplies diminish their vigor to lend a
hand. "I have no country other than Liberia. It's
also my responsibility to make sure my child
grows up in a healthy society," said Moriah
Yeakula, a young law student and a mother of
one. She and a group of friends have been using
their own money to buy and distribute sanitary
materials in various communities in Monrovia.
"We aren't complaining… we help one another out
with gas and other things as we go to these
communities," she added. Her ad hoc group,
which has grown to nine members, is now
planning to buy sanitary pads for women in
isolation units.
There's been an outpouring of goodwill from the
local business community too, with some
Liberians and Asian business owners contributing
merchandise to the national Ebola task force. A
picture of Mai Urey, wife of vocal presidential
hopeful and millionaire business man Benoni Urey,
helping a sick family out of their shack and into
an ambulance, went viral here.
Lawmakers from various parties are spearheading
prevention efforts in their local constituencies are
constantly giving updates on progress, some of
which suggest previous hot spots are becoming
"calm", although the disease continues to spread
in other areas.
The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control,
Dr. Tom Frieden, who has been in Liberia this
week as part of a visit to the three most-affected
countries, said the number of cases is more than
had been known. A new World Health
Organization statement says the spread of Ebola
is accelerating. Experts agree that it will get
worse before it gets better.
There is still no sign of the kind of international
response that would allow Liberia and its
neighbors, Guinea and Sierra Leone, to really get
on top of things. But with more international
assistance than before and with civic action
giving local people a sense that they can do
something to make a difference, the grip of fear
may be loosening. With all hands on deck,
Liberians are becoming more hopeful that the
fight against Ebola will eventually become
something of the past !!!