We're Making an Impact! Part One: Story from Mayagba

The following story comes from a local aid worker from Sierra Leone on the impact of the Sierra Leone Alliance Food Program:

"These four male orphans [pictured below] of Mayagba village were left to their paternal aunt when their mother and father died of an undiscovered trace of Ebola in October and November 2014, respectively. The father was a renowned herbalist and sorcerer and the mother supported her husband by helping to wash patients or clients with local herbs. It is the opinion of the people that they must have treated an infected person, which cost them their lives. The neighbors of the couple testified that even when the rule was passed that no one should administer treatment of any kind to any person, but direct all treatment to the health center or hospitals, these two were still doing their healing work underground.

After their parents died, these orphans were only going to live on yams and salt in their quarantine condition, but that very day World Hope visited them with an attractive package of food items. The aunt they were staying with was overwhelmed with joy that she wept while the orphan children excitedly opened their surprise gift. The aunt, with tears in her eyes, thanks World Hope for such an unexpected gift."

We're Making an Impact! Part Three: Rosint Junction Story

A local aid worker in Sierra Leone shared the following story with us:

"A husband and father of five children went to a funeral ceremony in Makeni. Upon his return, he complained about feeling sick. He left the larger family compound to go to the smaller family compound just off the main road to avoid being tracked by other villagers who might dial 117 [Sierra Leone's emergency number] for him. After just a few days in the new compound, he died and was tested positively for Ebola after his burial.

The two compounds--with three and one families respectively--were quarantined. A few days later, the man's wife fell ill and is currently at the Government Hospital Holding Center.

It was just today (November 22nd) that two of the children were collected by the ambulance for complaining about being sick. The Elder of the three families in the larger family compound expressed his thanks and gratitude to World Hope for being so generous [through providing food for the family members in quarantine]."

Pledge 10 this Holiday Season

Dear Blog Subscribers,

We are asking that this Holiday Season you think about contributing to our "Pledge 10" campaign.  This is a 3 week campaign to raise $5000 for our Sierra Leone Food Program. Click here to learn more about this program.

We want to challenge you to ask 10 people to give $10 towards this life-saving program. The people in Sierra Leone need our help. Let's give them real hope this holiday season.

Click here to give directly into the Food Program Fund.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!

From,
The Global Health Outreach Team

We're Making an Impact! Part Two: Story from Makankoi

This testimony from a Sierra Leonian in Makankoi, forwarded to us by a local aid worker, illustrates the hardships that many in the country face during this epidemic:

"My son's wife had a miscarriage and started bleeding from every part of her body--ears, mouth, nose, etc. When this was detected, we called 117 and asked for the ambulance to come and collect her. She was then taken to the holding center, were she was tested and later died. We were then asked to stay within [under quarantine] and not move until after twenty-one days. From the time this was done, no food was given to us."

The aid worker writes, "When I ask her why she thinks they have been treated this way, she answered saying, 'Maybe it is because we are in the interior part of the country, but they should know that we too are human beings and important ones as well.'"

The Sierra Leone Alliance Food Program featured in The Buffalo News

In case you missed it, our food program was featured in The Buffalo News during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Highlights from the article included the following quotes from Pastor Daryl Largis of The Chapel and Dr. Myron Glick of Jericho Road Community Health Center:

"We're not in the position to provide medical care for people infected with the disease, but we can do something, given the fact that we have resources and that we have people here." --Pastor Largis

"They [those under quarantine in Sierra Leone] are often going hungry or just getting the very basics, and it is a big problem. They become so hungry that in desperation they flee quarantine to look for food for themselves and their families." --Dr. Glick

"For a dollar, you can feed a family of four for dinner. That's the kind of economics that we're looking at." --Pastor Largis

Read the rest of the article at The Buffalo News' website here.

To read more about the Sierra Leone Alliance and our food program, check out our website here.