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.
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.
Today I received an email from Liberia with good news. Otis and Josiah, two of the men, volunteered to be resettled to another community far from Marshall. They are living in Cotton Tree in Bong County and are employed by Change Agent Network. They are part of a crew building the Foundation for Women Community School, the first school in the area which will serve hundreds of children. The cost of their transport, housing, mats for sleeping and food for this resettlement: $306.
The Ebola epidemic touched me deeply. I was in Liberia when it began, left in August 2014 at the height of the crisis, was unable to return for 7 months. I was blessed to interview many Liberians for the short documentary ONLY LOVE (www.ONLYLOVEisbest.com). Now I am working on a film documenting the tenacity and resiliency of the human spirit, HOPE. We have so much to learn from the Liberian people.
Would you please consider making a donation to the Foundation for Women today, in recognition of this two-year anniversary, so that we can continue to give hope to the Otises and Josiahes as the people and country of Liberia continue to create a new normal post-Ebola. www.foundationforwomen.org We are one human family. Can we let our brothers and sisters in Liberia know we are standing with them?
With love and gratitude, Deborah
The Ebola epidemic touched me deeply. I was in Liberia when it began, left in August 2014 at the height of the crisis, was unable to return for 7 months. I was blessed to interview many Liberians for the short documentary ONLY LOVE (www.ONLYLOVEisbest.com). Now I am working on a film documenting the tenacity and resiliency of the human spirit, HOPE. We have so much to learn from the Liberian people.
Would you please consider making a donation to the Foundation for Women today, in recognition of this two-year anniversary, so that we can continue to give hope to the Otises and Josiahes as the people and country of Liberia continue to create a new normal post-Ebola. www.foundationforwomen.org We are one human family. Can we let our brothers and sisters in Liberia know we are standing with them?
With love and gratitude, Deborah
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