By Millicent Senava Mannah
Although it is an established fact that the Ebola Epidemic was put behind us as a country, however, one cannot deny the negative impacts it left on survivors and especially children who unfortunately became orphans as a result of the ravages of the deadly disease.
It was against such a backdrop, that Caritas Freetown, a Non-Governmental Organization, in collaboration with Caritas Germany, implemented and concluded a 9 months Project geared towards improving the lives of the targeted beneficiaries who were supported to embark on various livelihood programmes or trades.
At the end of the 9 months duration, Caritas Freetown awarded certificates to about 50 Ebola Survivors residing in different communities within the Western Area and Rural District, on the 11th of January 2022 during a ceremony that took place at the Twin Hall in Hastings, in the outskirts of Freetown.
Giving the overview of the program, Kumba E. Gando, the Public Relations Officer of Caritas Freetown disclosed that the name of the project is: “Enhancing Resilience of Ebola Orphans, Ebola Survivors and Their Families through Livelihood, Quality Healthcare and Psychosocial Services in The Western Area”.
Kumba E. Gando revealed that the project, which came to an end in December 2021 encompassed providing free health care treatment through their Mobile Clinic to Ebola victims as well as providing Psychosocial support through counseling to families of victims and supported them to establish small scale businesses.
“Caritas as an organization is not fighting to be seen but to change the lives of people, to upgrade their livelihoods in order for them to live in dignity in their communities, ” Ismail Alfred Charles, Programmes Director of Caritas Freetown stated.
He disclosed that it is the reason why as an organization they supported them to start small business enterprises in order for them to have sources of livelihoods.
The Program Manager continued that they encouraged them to save some of the profits gained from their businesses for 6 months, stating that it was deliberately a way of teaching them how to save their monies in order to expand their business ventures.
He pointed out that stigmatization of the survivors was difficult to wipe out, but through the small scale businesses, transformation has taken place in their lives and people now consider them relevant in their various societies.
Charles intimated that their organization has been helping these survivors since 2014 to date maintaining that if these survivors were neglected they would still been psychologically disturbed.
Musu Dumbuya, one of the beneficiaries who saved the highest, expressed her appreciation and gratitude to the organization for empowering her to take care of herself and her three siblings after they lost 16 members of their family with their parents inclusive.
Another beneficiary, Gbessey Sankoh, admonished her colleagues to handle their businesses with all seriousness. She furthered that they should minimize their expenses in order to save.
The ceremony was climaxed by the issuance of certificates to 50 survivors for their successful participation and completion of the project. Their savings were given to them by the organization for them to go and expand their businesses.
