 Angela is an MD in a country with one doctor for every 72,000 people vs one for every 400 in America. She operates Benson Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia with her husband Dr Jimi Benson. Benson Hospital is the only health care facility in the country that did not close for even one minute during the Ebola crisis. Truly amazing! Back our campaign on Kickstarter.
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 Foday drove an ambulance, helped hundreds of people and contracted the virus while holding a terrified sick young boy. Fortunately Foday survived - a miracle - thanks to God! He is an Ebola survivor and strong advocate for others who have lived through Ebola. If he looks familiar there’s a good reason, Foday was one of Time Magazine’s People of the Year. Back our campaign on Kickstarter.
New! Back Our Kickstarter Campaign for "Hope: Resilience in the face of war, poverty and Ebola"5/1/2016
Support our Kickstarter campaign to raise money for "Hope: Resilience in the face of war, poverty and Ebola". This film will help raise awareness and funds for our programs. As a backer you can chose from several great gifts including handmade bracelets, Premium Microloan Blend Coffee and more. Be a part of this exciting new project - you can even get your name in the film credits!
Ebola is back. The World Health Organization declared the Ebola epidemic over in January of this year. A 30-year old woman in Liberia became the most recent Ebola statistic. The virus has now claimed the lives of more than 11,000 people in the last 28 months.
La Jolla, CA - Two years ago this month Ebola began its unprecedented impact on the people and country of Liberia. Thousands of people became infected. Thousands of people died. Nearly 5000 people survived, only to face an unbelievable reality – life with tremendous loss.
I am deeply touched by this recent article in the New York Times "Ebola, Ruthless to Families, Leaves Liberian Man Alive and Alone". I know many Ebola survivors. Yes they thank God for their good fortune, but trying to make a new normal after Ebola is not easy. I am working closely with the men who ran the crematorium from August – December 2014 at the height of the crisis. They are heroes, not just for Liberia but for the world. Without their heroic efforts, who knows how the virus would have continued to spread, who know how much higher the death toll. Yet the men of Marshall are now outcasts; cremation in Liberia is viewed as sending a person to hell. There is a front page story in the New York Times today, “Empty Clinics Are Called a Misstep in Ebola Effort,” which I read with great interest. On September 16, 2014, President Obama announced an expanded US plan to help Liberia. I remember that day distinctly. I was in Kauai watching the announcement on CNN while speaking with His Excellency the Vice President of Liberia. I was telling him of the announcement. The number of new ebola cases in the country peaked the week after the announcement.
Geneva, IL - My welcome home yesterday included a confused hour-long process by customs and immigration at Dulles Airport in Washington DC. I was the first off the airplane from Brussels, the first to be taken to the holding area for medical screening, the first to be interviewed, the first to be given my “ebola packet” – and the first to be released to continue my travel after the disappearance of my checked luggage claim check and no customs exit documentation; just “She’s OK.” An hour-long process with 71 others behind me waiting to be screened…
Monrovia - The country is abuzz with the news of the new confirmed ebola case here last Friday, after so many days since the release of the last ebola victim from an ETU, ebola treatment unit, on March 5th. So much hope now dashed and so much wonder as to how this happened when there have been no cases in the country for so many days…
The cartoon in the Daily Observer newspaper today shows an awful character sweating and labeled EBOLA knocking loudly on a door with the Liberian flag. The caption reads, “I didn’t go anywhere! I was in the neighborhood, and you never knew that!!” Monrovia - I awoke early this morning but stayed covered and quiet, reviewing and reflecting on my two weeks here now. I am blessed that God urged me to regularly write and document all that has happened here in Liberia since July. I was particularly reviewing my time at Benson Hospital yesterday, thinking of the hundreds of health care workers who continually tried to help those suffering so much… The images of the hospital yesterday haunt me; the faces of those waiting for help, the enthusiasm and pride of the workers despite the most challenging conditions. I can only imagine what it all must have been like in the height of the crisis.
Late evening here in Monrovia - I just heard from a member of the Vice President’s staff – April 13th will not be Ebola Eradication Day in Liberia unfortunately:
Liberia Reports First Ebola Case in Weeks By SHERI FINK and RICK GLADSTONEMARCH 20, 2015 A patient in Liberia has tested positive for the Ebola virus, health officials said Friday, more than two weeks after the last known case in the country had been discharged from the hospital. |
About the AuthorDeborah Lindhom is the Founder and CEO of the Foundation for Women. For over 20 years she has lived and worked in Africa, India and the United States on issues of poverty, education and microcredit.
"Just a quick note to say how we appreciate all that you are doing in Liberia and wish we could do more to help. We enjoy reading your newsletters which are always so well written.
All the best!" ~ Ian and Julie Allen, Africa and Beyond Art Gallery Archives
September 2024
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