EducAid today: 23rd October 2014

Continuing on from last week’s
update, here is a fresh one for today. To begin with, we have an update
from Sierra Leone today, it reads:

Due to the number of new Ebola cases in
Western Area, Western Area is now considered an Ebola High Transmission Area.
This means that certain measures have been put in place.

Below are the key points:

1.            
CDC have reported that
70-80% of all new Ebola cases nationally are caused by people having contact
with the bodies of those who have died from Ebola, and this % is increasing.

2.           
In order to reduce new
infections we have to reduce the number of people who have contact with the
bodies of the deceased.

3.           
Now that Western Area is
considered a High Transmission Area:

a.            
All deaths have to be
treated as suspected Ebola deaths (even if the family know the death was caused
by old-age or another illness).

b.            
All bodies of the
deceased must be removed from the community by the burial teams, ASAP, and
always within 24 hours.

c.             
It is not possible to do
a swab test on all bodies to learn whether the cause of death was Ebola or not
before a body is removed from the home. It takes between 1-3 days to get the
test results back from the labs, and 1-3 days is too long to leave the body in
the house.          

This is a dramatic, but important, step forward in the
containment of Ebola. With the medical services operating at absolute maximum,
too often family members of the deceased do not have the necessary support once
their loved ones have passed. It must be extremely upsetting for a family to be
forced to keep the corpse of their deceased family member, potentially toxic
and deadly, so close in the home and without being able to touch them. It is an
awful scene.

This is a big move from the Freetown government
officials, but one that we accept is necessary. Of course there will be
families that are unable to prepare their relations for burial, or even to bury
their dead, but at this stage it is most important that safety comes first so
that we can contain this ferocious disease.

The update also states that the gravediggers have been
re-trained in the medically hygienic practice of burial. These are safe,
medical, and dignified burials that most importantly do not include the washing
of the bodies; this method will also enable a priest or imam to read the final
prayers, and for a small number of family members, under 10, to watch from a
safe distance.

We hope that the people of Sierra Leone, most
importantly the Western District around Freetown, adopt these measures
wholeheartedly and without any resistance.

To put this in to perspective, we have collected some
figures for you to understand the rate of growth. These figures are accurate of
20th October, and the new cases only pertain to that day.

The growth rate is an alarming figure, and one that will
grow with the virus itself.

We have had some disappointing news from the EducAid
sites in Sierra Leone. 7 students in total have left the sites over the past
week, the numbers that have changed are highlighted in red below.

There is a reduction in the number of students in
Rogbere and Rolal.  In Rogbere, 5
students, 3 female and 2 male, were asked to leave the home. These students
went to Waterloo, the local town that is rife with disease, without permission.
They were not allowed back in.  In Rolal,
two students left the site, 1 male and 1 female. Mariama Jalloh, a female
student, left the home to attend her uncle’s funeral without obtaining
permission. Ibrahim Jalloh [Rasta] went to Port Loko town, and even stayed out
for the night, without obtaining permission. 
Both of these students were also asked to leave the home.

Restricting the movement of both staff and students is
one of our preventive policies for the control of Ebola, so if this is violated
by any students, he or she will be asked out of the home. However harsh it may
come across, our responsibility is for the whole and not the individual. If
these students are short-sighted enough to be tempted away from our safe sites,
we cannot risk allowing them back in. These are rules that they are fully aware
of; it is harsh, but it is fair.

In addition to the 7 students leaving the 2 sites, we
have also welcomed back 2 of the educational audio program recording staff, AK
and Cobra. They have bneen working hard on our distance-learning project, phase
2 of our #AfterEbola campaign, but they are temporarily back on the staff
lists.

Aside from the continuation of the audio programs, our
tasks for next week include sending 4 coordinators around all of the school
sites to check on our food, medical, and power supplies. We are in need of
greater resources, particularly considering the increasing costs within the
country, Anything that you can do to help support us is hugely appreciated. We
only ever spend your money directly here in Sierra Leone.

Read last
week’s post here, follow us on
Twitter, like us on facebook,
or Donate to our campaign
#AfterEbola now.

All of your support helps us in ways you can’t even
imagine. £15, the price of a bottle of wine, will feed, house, medicate and
educate a vulnerable child in Sierra Leone.

Think about how much you can afford…and please keep giving.

Are you still confused about how one might contract
Ebola? Read
this.