Sierra Leone: the fight against Ebola - Save the Children UK

Sierra Leone: the fight against Ebola - Save the Children UK

Is there one thing  you never leave home without? For Francis, there
are two: his toolbox and a first aid kit. As a carpenter, he was already
used to fixing things in his community. Now he has been trained by Save
the Children as a Community Health Worker, so he can also provide basic
medical care.

“Usually when people come for treatment I leave the woodwork, get my
hands washed and attend to them – then get back to work,” he says.

Francis’s robust attitude, skills and kit can do a great deal of
good. But they can’t fight one disease that has recently broken out in
his region: Ebola.

Great pain. No cure. And a fatality rate that can hit 90%.

Ebola virus affects both adults and children and there is currently
no cure.  Fever, weakness and muscle pain lead to a rash, vomiting, loss
of kidney and liver function, and in some cases both internal and
external bleeding. Of those who catch this horrible disease, through
contact with the bodily fluids of affected people or animals, up to 90%
will die.

So far, there are 178 suspected cases across the region. 66 are
confirmed in Guinea, 5 in Liberia. None are confirmed yet in Sierra
Leone but we need to act fast to limit the virus’s spread.

“Korglor yia laygor eh kpokowa,” says Francis, which means “information about an impending war can save the aged from being killed”.

 

Francis, a Community Health Worker in Sierra Leone