The invisible enemy
Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, photographs WFP/Rein Skullerud
GUINEA 21–27 FEBRUARY 2015
At the end of February, the critical Ebola situation subsided with only one proven case of Ebola treatment from Lola.
WFP continues to provide general food distribution to victims of the Ebola epidemic and vulnerable people in communities such as N‘Zérékoré, Kankan and Forecariah where WFP is supporting contact cases, patients in Ebola Treatment Units (ETU) and Ebola survivors.
MOTHERS ENDURE AS EBOLA SURVIVORS
Aisha and Ahmadou are both mothers and Ebola survivors. Aisha’s story is a heartbreaking one. Still wearing her blue bereavement colours she retells how she has lost three of her children, her husband and her daughter to the epidemic. Left a widow raising her three surviving children and grandson alone, Aisha now receives WFP food assistance to help her care for her family.
Ahmadou’s story begins with the kind act of caring for her pregnant daughter. It was during this act that she came in contact with the infectious Ebola virus. She was taken to the treatment center in Kerouani in December with 29 other patients and became one of nine survivors. Ahmadou is very grateful for the food assistance that she receives and shares with her husband and four children. Her children all go to school apart from her 28 year-old daughter who works and helps as much as she can from a nearby village. “Baraka” (thank you) she said.
Schools in Guinea are all being equipped with sanitary measures that will help avoid the risk of infection.
HUMANITARIAN FOOD DISTRIBUTION SIERRA LEONE, MARCH 2015
General Food Distribution (GFD) in Lagor Community, Lower Banta Chiefdom.
WFP and its implementing partner, Community Integrated Development Organization (CIDO), are providing food assistance for the next several weeks in several hot-spot communities in this chiefdom where the majority of new Ebola cases came from.
A Norwegian funded basecamp and Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) in Moyamba (below). The basecamp has been built by the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB) to “help the helpers”, providing hygiene, food and accommodation for the humanitarian workers in the ETC or those undertaking work in response to the Ebola pandemic.
General Food Distribution in Pamlap Village, Makari Gbanti Chiefdom, Bombali District
WFP along with its implementing partner, Caritas, give life-saving food assistance in several high-priority communities in this chiefdom where the majority of new Ebola cases are being reported. On the day of the visit, 20 metric tons of assorted food commodities (rice, beans, SuperCereal, salt, oil) were distributed to approximately 400 households with distributions ongoing to reach all targeted households in the community. Those who receive food assistance must wash their hands and have their temperature taken before proceeding to register at the food distribution point.
WFP is providing 30 days worth of crucial food aid to all quarantined families, as requested by the District Ebola Response Centre (DERC). These commodities will help meet the fundamental nutritional demands and reduce the need to move outside their quarantine to find food.
Other partners are providing non-food items to support the quarantine period. One of the main challenges WFP faces in responding to the needs of quarantined households is lack of information or correct information from the surveillance teams that do the line listing/registration. In many cases, the head of the household or landlord and family are registered while other tenants in the compound are sometimes missed. When WFP delivers the food (done in 24 hours), additional beneficiaries are identified and the registration must be re-done by the surveillance teams. In other cases, the information flow from the DERC is slow, resulting in several days between the date of quarantine and the date of food delivery. WFP is working with partners to improve the communications structure.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE CARE FACILITY — LIBERIA, MARCH 2015
Monrovia
With its expertise in logistics, WFP has been given the job of coordinating logistics for the entire humanitarian community involved in the Ebola response through the Logistics Cluster. For example, the WFP logistics team in Monrovia built four Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs) as well as other units in other areas of the country.
In Monrovia the grounds of the Samuel K. Doe Stadium were designated to host the ETUs as well as the logistics cluster warehouse where items pertaining to all the humanitarian players involved are stored, dispatched and managed by WFP. With the confirmed cases steadily decreasing it was decided that WFP, with support from the German Red Cross (DRK) and the German Army, would transform one ETU into a Severe Infection Temporary Treatment Unit (SITTU) to fill a gap in infectious disease care.
The SITTU is designed to accept patients with symptoms consistent with Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) but not yet confirmed — an important gap to cover, given that much of the Liberian health system ceased providing non-Ebola related health services during the acute stages of the outbreak.
A second ETU has been transformed into a major training center for new health workers that will be deployed around the entire country. The SITTU accepts both walk-ins and referrals from other health facilities. Once at the SITTU, patients who test positive for Ebola will be transferred to an ETU; patients who test negative will be treated for other infectious diseases. Those with no symptoms will be transferred to a health facility. The SITTU is intended to improve the level of clinical care for infectious non Ebola affected patients as well as reducing risk for non-Ebola affected patients who may otherwise seek care at an ETU.
Bomi County
Tombekai is a 124 person village in Bomi, Liberia with three Ebola cases resulting in death and one female survivor, Miatta.
During the early part of the outbreak, many of the villagers fled for fear of being quarantined. Eventually, all of the villagers returned to Tombekai where farming is slowly being revived and stability is strengthening.
Thanks to WFP’s food intervention Bomi’s children, including children from Tombekai, are also resuming those schools declared safe and compliant. WFP’s school meals provide the essential nutrients children require, encourages attendance and improves their cognivitive abilities — they can focus on learning, rather than on when and where their next meal will come from.
COURAGEOUS SURVIVOR — MIATTA
An tower of strength, Mattia is the only survivor from the Tombekai village. After all that she has overcome, Miatta’s smile eminates her beauty and spirit and will to help others through her active participation in WFP’s food distribution to her fellow villagers.
SCHOOL MEALS AID IN ATTENDANCE INCREASE
Bomi County, Liberia
Vincent Ward Public School is one of the 54 schools assisted by the WFP School Meals programme in Liberia. The programme currently targets 127,000 pupils in 10 of the 15 counties in Liberia. Following the Ebola outbreak the government closed schools as a preventive measure to avoid the transmission of the disease in the scholastic environment.
Now that the pandemic is under control the government has allowed schools that are compliant with the protective measures to reopen in March 2015. Attendance is steadily increasing as the parents’ fears subside and from the food aid offered by WFP.
Photographs copyright WFP/Rein Skullerud
