Keeping Kakata Liberia Safe From Ebola

The news from Liberia just gets better every day.  While not at zero yet, there are few new ebola cases and they are once again far from Kakata. Hospitals and clinics have reopened, the government is back to work, markets are open, schools are reopening.  People don't shake hands anymore in Liberia. People don't hug much. Thumbs Up is the standard greeting these days!   Across the country there is a new awareness of the importance of hand-washing.

Last month we were awarded a second grant from Global Giving for our work during the ebola crisis - keeping our communities safe and healthy. The first grant provided funding for ebola education and purchase of materials to build hand washing stations.  This latest grant provides funding to hire and train ten new community health workers, including funds for uniforms, health kits, and bicycles.  Dr. Chris has already started the search for these next ten trainees.  

Like everyone, we've been doing all we can in terms of prevention - educating people, placing buckets with a continuing goal of placing them in every school, church, mosque, and marketplace in Margibi County.   Our clinic is busier than ever still treating fevers, malaria, diarrhea, sore throats, wounds, typhoid, STIs, and deworming just as we have always done.  Our emphasis continues to be on community health, keeping people and communities safe and well.  Last week we saw a spike in malaria cases, every week it is something different. 

As a result of the ebola crisis, there are new requirements for all clinics in Liberia to establish triage areas, where incoming patients are evaluated. If there are questions about a patient's health status during triage -- perhaps the patient has an extremely high fever, or some other symptom -- the patient is sent to an isolation area where the patient is further tested. But if patients don't show any symptoms, they can enter the clinic's waiting area confident that they won't be exposed to the disease.  We are in the process of implementing these new procedures.

Good progress is being made on the construction of our new Medical Center.  The Ground Breaking Ceremony was held on January 7.  All of the workers are local, from the communities we serve.  Cement and soil blocks are being build on site and all the materials for this construction phase are being purchased locally.  So many young men have been put to work, new construction jobs created, new skills being learned.  

The goal is to have the walls build and the roof completed before the raining season begins in June.  About 80% of the required capital has been raised, we still need to raise over $100,000.  The first Global Giving Bonus Day this year is Wednesday, March 18th at 9am EDT!  Matching at 30% up to $1,000 per donor per project. There is $60,000 available with two $1,000 bonus awards -  for the highest number of individual donors and $1,000 for the most money raised.   This is a great opportunity to double your donation.  

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People don't shake hands anymore in Liberia. People don't hug. Thumbs Up is the standard greeting these days!  

Everybody is still focused on Ebola, but there are beginning to be signs of hope.  Last week’s World Health Organization (WHO) Ebola Report stated that transmission appears to be stabilizing in Liberia.  Liberia's government has set a highly ambitious goal of zero new ebola cases by December 25.  The size and scope of ebola treatment facilities that the American troops are building are being reduced.  Defense officials said that instead of 17 isolation units, the military would be building 10, and that seven of them would have 50 beds each, rather than the 100 beds previously planned.

Like everyone, we've been doing all we can in terms of prevention - educating people, placing buckets. Last month we authorized the purchase of another 1000 buckets with a continuing goal of placing them in every school, church, mosque, and marketplace in Margibi County.   When the hospital reopened last month, we reopened our clinic and went back to treating fevers, malaria, diarrhea, sore throats, wounds, typhoid, STIs, and deworming just as we have always done.  Our emphasis continues to be on community health, keeping people and communities safe and well. Sometimes we see potential cases of ebola and make the referrals necessary for treatment.  We are continuing to work with communities to allow the ebola teams in to do what they need to do.   This crisis has brought urgency and attention to our work, but it hasn't changed the work.

New concerns have surfaced about the devastating impact on the economy. When ebola hit the country, the toll was immediate. Earlier this month, a World Bank report said that "nearly half of the working population of Liberia is no longer working since the crisis began."  Wealthy Liberians with dual citizenship and foreign nationals fled the country, taking their purchasing power with them. When the state of emergency was declared, the government closed.  Restaurants and bars had to close at 6 pm. Schools closed, gatherings prohibited.  People avoided public places and public transportation.  Fearing infection, people stopped visiting hairdressers and clothing shops. Mining companies slowed or stopped operations, and suppliers across the board lost their incomes. Small businesses around the country had to close.  Hundreds of thousands of people are now out of work.  Tax revenues are down significantly and fuds are being expended on ebola, not development.  Liberia was one of the fastest growing economies in the world last year, but recent projections show that the country’s growth could be going backwards in 2015.  

Things are beginning to turn around.  The rainy season is over.  Farmers are being encouraged to start planting again. Investments are being made in roads and construction, industries that create jobs and opportunities for suppliers. Mining companies have started operations again and will be exporting minerals in the coming months. Thousands of foreign workers have also arrived in the country, which is giving a big boost to the service sector.  If things remain stable schools are expected to reopen in January.

At HWHL we are focusing on the future too.  There continues to be a scarcity of health workers everywhere in Liberia. Dr. Chris is one of only three doctors in Margibi County.  The other two work for the government at C.H. Rennie Hospital.  Our Community Health Workers serve as the primary health care providers for patients in and around Kakata. Community Health Workers provide health education, they lead the vaccination and immunization campaigns and provide first aid to community members when they are sick. They encourage pregnant women to seek health care and mothers to seek postnatal care.   They are the first responders.  We are moving forward in 2015 to more than double the number of trained Community Health Workers from 8 to 18. 

Last week we finished the grading work required to set the foundation for our new Medical Center facility. We are now able to share the drawings for this beautiful new facility.   Building Goodness Foundation has been supporting our work to design and construct a beautiful, new space over the next twelve months.  Their knowledge and experience have already provided so many benefits to our Liberian team.  Job skills are critical for community development.  Even though we primarily do work in healthcare, one of our goals in building this facility is to use local labor and to train as many men as we can in world class construction skills so that when our facility is complete they can continue with a valuable trade.

Like the government our plans for the coming year are ambitious - building a new Medical Center, doubling the number of trained healthcare workers, keeping Margibi County healthy and safe.  With your help we have accomplished so much in the past three years.  We look forward to putting this ebola crisis behind us and with your continuing support, moving forward!

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