Something that I have noticed while monitoring the
Ebola outbreak in Liberia for the last 21 days, is that for all the ‘experts’
who are called upon to make public statements and reports, there is a distinct lack of West African voices. People like
me can make suppositions about what everyday life is like for people living
with the threat and reality of Ebola in Liberia, but we can only truly understand
this by listening to Liberians who are experiencing the outbreak first hand.
I am honoured that in this my 21st and final blog
post my friend Morris Saysay has agreed for me to interview him, to give us all an
insight into everyday life in Liberia at present. Morris is married and lives in Monrovia, the
capital city of Liberia. He works as an
Operations Coordinator for an international NGO and in addition he is studying
sociology and management at the University of Liberia. He has asked me to emphasise that his answers
to my questions are his personal opinions, and they do not reflect on the
organisation he works for.
How has the Ebola
outbreak affected life for people in Monrovia?
"The Ebola outbreak has affected every aspect of life for
people in Monrovia and other parts of the country. There is no free movement, the healthcare
system has broken down, economic hardship has increased greatly and many people
are living in fear."
"Currently, there is a state of emergency being enforced by
the joint security and there is a curfew that runs from 9pm – 6am. Military and other security personnel are
deployed around quarantined communities and counties. There is no free movement. While
many welcome the idea of quarantining infested communities to prevent the
spread of the disease, there is criticism among many about the ways in which state
security are handling the situation. There have been complaints of mistreatment by
security personnel in quarantined communities, especially West Point where
there was a report of a riot between security forces and community dwellers
that led to several people getting wounded and the death of a 15 years old boy
who was shot and later died in the Redemption Hospital."
"Government, companies and humanitarian organizations have
asked their staff to stay home. They are currently operating with essential
staff only. The problem here is that
most of the people who work for government or at these organizations are services
contractors who are paid on a daily basis. Sending them home means that they
are left with no sources of income."
"The already poor healthcare system of our country is
overwhelmed by the outbreak. Doctors and
nurses are not attending to patients visiting the hospital for fear of being
infected. At a result, many people have
died from curable diseases. There are
instances where women in labour pain were not attended to and they lost both
their lives and their babies’. Government
has set up a few treatment centers within Monrovia and other parts of the
country but there are reports that those centers are filled due to influx. For the fear of health workers not disposing of
medical waste properly which might spread the virus, community dwellers are not
allowing the Ministry of Health to set up Ebola treatment centers within their
communities. The Liberia National Red
Cross, MSF and Samaritan Purse are all helping to boost government effort."
"The Ebola outbreak has increased the suffering of the
Liberian people."
"Most Liberians are self-employed, they are either farmers or
petty traders. They produce vegetables
and other agricultural products outside of Montserrado county, transport their
goods to Monrovia and after selling their products, they buy rice and other
goods that they don’t produce and take it back to their family. This is a daily routine. Now there is no free movement - you can imagine
the difficulties lots of Liberians are going through."
What are people saying
about Ebola?
"What we are hearing from many quarters in Monrovia is that
government lacks the capacity to combat this disease. And besides, there is a lack of trust in the
government and citizens are afraid that any resource that comes in will not be
used for the intended purpose. Others
believe that the government is hiding something. They don’t believe that it is because of the
Ebola outbreak that the government declares a state of emergency and deploy
military in Monrovia and other parts of the country."
Have you been affected
directly in any way?
"Yes the situation has affected my day to day movement, both
my study and business."
People say that fear
and denial are the biggest barriers to containing the outbreak. Do you agree?
"Yes I do agree fear and denial are the biggest barriers to
containing the outbreak. During the
early stage of the outbreak, major deaths occurred amongst healthcare workers
due to the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE). At a result, doctors and nurses abandoned the
hospitals for fear of their lives. Up to
present, many have not returned to work.
Because many people do not trust the government and are wary of corrupt
government officials going with impunity, they think that this is a scam from
government to misuse tax payers’ money. There
are still some, because of their faith or traditional belief, that deny the
virus exists."
What do you think is
needed to bring the outbreak under control?
"In my opinion, vigorous awareness is the first step. And this should be led by humanitarian
organizations supported by the government. Reason being, the people lack trust in the
government. There are credible
humanitarian organizations that have gained the trust of the people over the
years; they will be more easily accepted by the communities than government
workers. If possible, in addition to
testing the body temperature of people traveling from one county to another at
checkpoints and borders, fast track testing centers should be set up in
communities and hospitals to test and quickly isolate those with Ebola cases
from those with other illness instead of treating every illness as a suspected
Ebola case. Health workers should be
provided with personal protective equipment, logistics and properly trained in standard
operating procedures with regards to how to handle suspected Ebola
patients. Lastly, the country needs the
help of volunteer doctors from the international community to help fight this
outbreak."
If you would like to support Liberia to fight Ebola, CLICK HERE to visit my fundraising page and donate to the Red Cross Ebola Outbreak Appeal. This is a quick and effective way of getting money quickly to the people who need it most. Thank you for your help.