“Very importantly we must continue to recognize and celebrate the sterling efforts of African healthcare workers who have worked indefatigably to get the disease under control. They were there long before the cavalry arrived! Indeed, some have paid the ultimate price…” – Memuna Janneh, founder, Lunchbox Gift
This is part of a series (part one focused on Liberia and part two on Guinea) that is and has been an attempt to recalibrate our thinking and perception of the fight against Ebola; that essentially, a majority of Africans and Africa have been at the center of the fight and not by-standing on the periphery. Thus, this third and final installation of the 3-part series on Ebola, focuses on the West African country of Sierra Leone, which is cradled by Liberia in the south-east,Guinea in the north-east and the Atlantic Ocean on its western borders. These three countries make up the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak of 2014 and with the highest Ebola transmissions of the three West African countries, Sierra Leone is considered the “hotspot” of the epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of 13th February 2015, Sierra Leone had 10,987 confirmed cases and 3,363 deaths while Guinea had 3,081 confirmed cases and 2,032 deaths and Liberia 8,931 cases and 3,858 deaths, respectively.
Against this harrowing backdrop, our story first takes us to London, England to a certain diasporan from Sierra Leone, Memuna Janneh, founder ofLunchbox Gift, an initiative that provides freshly cooked meals for patients, healthcare workers and frontline staff at Ebola treatment centers in Sierra Leone’s capital city, Freetown.
Lunchbox Gift workers in Sierra Leone (Photo: Fatou Wurie)
A wife of more than 20 years, mother of two young men, a Finance Systems Integration Consultant by day and Ebola fighter every waking hour she finds, Mrs. Janneh, much like Solome Lemma of Africa Responds, Mamadou Toure of Africa 2.0, Zeinab Camara of Women in Mining Guinea and Africa 2.0‘s Global Lead on Ebola Response, Saran Kaba Jones of FACE Africa, and the countless unnamed and faceless fighters in this epidemic are the unsung heroes that undoubtably make up Time magazine’s 2014 Person of Year: The Ebola Fighters. Without a doubt, 2014 was a defining year for this fearless lot as they “risked and persisted, sacrificed and saved” according to Time, in the face of the Ebola giant. As Mrs. Janneh fervently described to me via our Skype call, “the Ebola epidemic and the fight against it tugs at the heart, propels you to action and needs your firm commitment; time or otherwise,” (make that monetary contributions for Lunchbox Gift, Africa Responds, Africa 2.0, FACE Africa etc.) as they complete the final but critical stretch of the fight against Ebola. It is a call to action that most Africans have indeed answered and I chatted with Mrs. Janneh to get additional insight on how she and her team responded to the Ebola crisis.
FARAI GUNDAN: Let me get right down to it; what have Africans such yourself done to reduce the spread of this virus in Sierra Leone? I ask, because in looking across media coverage of this disease, it would appear that Africans are not doing much (there is the heroic story of 22-year-old Fatu Kekula who nursed her entire family through Ebola in Liberia). African billionaires Dangote, Elumelu, Masiyiwa etc. have donated money – however not much else is being reported on “us” except that we seem to be doing the “spreading”.
MEMUNA JANNEH: Sanitation messaging is a major part of our feeding program, Lunchbox Gift‘s strategy. With our very first Ebola feeding program, each lunch box had a sanitation message on the lid – “To beat Ebola, always wash your hands.” This message was supported by a vivid graphic illustration for those who cannot read. Our distribution partners on the ground (national Non-Governmental Organizations, NGOs) reinforced this simple message with every visit, by giving a short health talk to the community before handing over their lunchboxes.
Our current hospital-feeding program goes one step further, providing an anti-bacterial hand wipe in each meal pack. With the support of our United Kingdom (U.K) based sanitation partner Clinell, we have been able to demonstrate how these individually wrapped anti-bacterial hand wipes can be used to promote good hygiene and control the spread of communicable diseases in parts of the world where there are challenges with clean water supply.
In addition, we have sourced specialist cardboard food boxes and bamboo spoons for packaging patient meals. This ensures that all packaging that goes into Ebola treatment centres can be safely incinerated after use.
News Source : Forbes.com covered by Farai Gundan
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