Grafton Scout Camp Offers Hope for Ebola Orphans and Survivors in Sierra Leone

FREETOWN - Sierra Leone Scouts Association in partnership with St. George Foundation and with support from the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children Affairs are constructing an Isolation Centre at the Grafton National Scouts Camp. The camp will serve as a holding centre for Ebola survivors for a period of 21 days from their date of discharge as they await to be re-integrated back into their communities. It will also offer refuge for children orphaned by the ongoing Ebola Virus Disease pandemic in the West African region. Over 700 adults and children including pregnant women, suckling mothers and children under five years old are presently under quarantine.

Since the outbreak of the Ebola Virus in May 2014, the Association, through the Messengers of Peace programme, led by the National MoP Coordinator Abdul Kamara, embarked on taking care of street children and children in difficult circumstances including Ebola orphans and survivors, to help in addressing their needs of access to Food, shelter, clothing and education; that have for long affected the socio-economic status of the Country and its citizens. This is part of their ongoing efforts to support the government in eradicating the disease.

According to an unofficial survey conducted by the Association at Cultural Village, one of the most populated slums in the Freetown Municipality that was most seriously affected by the Ebola Virus Disease, the situation was compounded by poor hygiene and inadequate toilet facility. A community of over 2,000 inhabitants was only privileged with a single public toilet facility that resulted in many deaths in that part of the City.

In responding to this situation and with training provided by Welt Hunger Hilfe, a German NGO, the Association is undertaking a project at their campsite in Grafton Village to construct ten local upgraded dry pit toilet facilities with a comfortable seat and does not pollute underground water. They are looking for more support to complete the project.

As a sign of appreciation, a community based civil society organization formed in the UK to advance the course and welfare of Africans living abroad and returning home to better integrate and contribute meaningfully to their communities and societies as a whole called Diaspora Focus, awarded the 2014 Humanitarian Award to Scouter Mohammed Kamara, on behalf of the Sierra Leone Scouts Association for being the first organization to create awareness and take action on the serious impacts of the Ebola Virus Disease in the Waterloo locality and the western rural axis as a whole.

Other challenges faced by the communities there include teenage pregnancy, child and maternal health problems that have rapidly increased due to the closure of schools as a result of the state of public health emergency invoked government.

Expectant women refused to go to hospital for maternal health care and mothers are also afraid to take their babies for immunization for fear of contracting the disease. For this reason the Association has picked up these as part of their post Ebola activities and are now working on a community service project on how to support street kids/ Ebola orphans, Ebola survivors and teenage pregnancy and also to grow Messengers of Peace Network in the country by encouraging others to join them in taking action.