Support Traumatized Child Soldiers in Liberia!

Even before we make preparations to build a re-integration center for the former child soldiers of Liberia, we are currently faced with a deadly epidermic disease called EBOLA with high number of casualties reported in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. These former child soldiers are the most vulnerable due to the conditions of their living.

EBOLA virus disease (EVD) or EBOLA hemorrhagic fever (EHF) is a disease caused by an ebolavirus. Symptoms start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus, with a fever, sore throat, muscle pain and headaches. Typically, vomiting, diarrhea and rash follow, along with decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys. Around this time, affected people may begin to bleed both within the body and externally. The disease has a high risk of death. 

The IDEFOCS/Action10 initiative

IDEFOCS/Action10 has agreed to join forces with the government and other concern groups to provide awareness and preventive measures on the EBOLA virus to the former child soldiers community (ghettos). We believe this requires an immediate response.

Justification

An awareness and preventive measures campaign against EBOLA is highly imperative in the fight against the deadly EBOLA virus.. We deemed this exercise a matter of urgency to erase the scepticism that the Ebola virus is not real in Liberia, as if ignore, it has the ability to endanger the lives of many citizens across Liberia especially the ghetto dwellers. We also think it is important to educate our targeted partners on the pandemic and provide them preventive measure to help reduce the risk of widely spreading the virus. This campaign exercise is going to involve everyone living in the ghetto vicinity, not the IDEFOCS/Action10 targeted partners alone.

Goal

The goal with the initiative is to provide awareness and preventive measures as to how we all can help combat the EBOLA Virus within ghettos communities.

Target partners

IDEFOCS and Action10 have agreed to focus our efforts on our Target partners and have identified ten ghettos in the Paynesville City, Monrovia ghettos for the initiative.

Objectives

The objectives are:

• To provide preventive education on the EBOLA virus
• To provide chlorine and other materials for each targeted ghetto
• To put in place a leadership structure that will manage the chlorine exercise and cleaning up of each ghetto everyday

Inputs

The inputs are:

• IDEFOCS/Action10 establishes and trains a team of eight men volunteers.
• The volunteer team carries out EBOLA virus preventive education in each of the ten targeted ghettos.
• Materials and chlorine will be provided to each ghetto which will last for ninety days.

Expected output and outcome

• Ghetto dwellers will be more knowledgeable of the EBOLA Virus and its preventive measures.
• Materials and chlorine will be available in each ghetto to help support the preventive measures in actual practice.
• A Leadership structure will be put in place in each ghetto to manage daily cleaning up and wash of hands activities within each ghetto.

Expected impact

• The spread of EBOLA Virus in the ghetto vicinity will be prevented.
• Ghetto dwellers will contribute to the combating of the wide spread of the deadly Ebola Virus in Liberia.

Campaign strategy

The campaign strategy was approved by the Action10 medical expertise in Sweden.

• The campaign starts with that IDEFOCS/Action10 conducts a one day workshop that will train eight volunteers on how to implement the IDEFOCS/Action10 EBOLA ninety days Awareness Campaign.

• After the workshop, IDEFOCS/Action10 visits each of the ten targeted ghettoes to post and inform about the work plan of the Ebola Virus Campaign activities. During this process, we will pre-identify the leadership structure which will be responsible for managing the donated materials from IDEFOCS/Action10.

• Thereafter IDEFOCS/Action10 holds a one day awareness campaign in each of the ten ghettos.

• The one day awareness activities will educate targeted partners on the history of EBOLA, its danger and preventive measures that can be applied on a daily basis. There will be distribution of flyers and stickers in the targeted ghetto community by ghetto dwellers.

• At the end of the activity, IDEFOCS/Action10 puts together a leadership structure with the responsibility of properly manage the prevention materials donated to each targeted ghetto. The campaign in each ghetto will climax with the distribution of water pump drums, chloride and other detergents. The water pump drum mix with chloride will be placed at a particular station where everyone can easily have access, so they can wash their hands every time they are going out and coming in to the ghetto.

• After the workshop the IDEFOCS/Action10 will organise a bi-weekly monitoring and evaluation of the hand washing and cleaning up of the ghetto to identify obstacles and way forward after the five days implementation.

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Global Giving Challenge

We believe, this is a good start to reach our goal of re-integrating the former child soldiers of Liberia to society.!

Your continous giving to this project is appreciated!

We are still aiming to raise $ 2 000 more to get a permanent spot on Global Giving website. This is a link to our project.

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/re-integrate-600-former-child-soldiers-in-liberia/

Thank you once again!

Frederick Owusu