Ebola survivors cry for help

Ebola Survivors Network in Liberia, an umbrella organization that unites Ebola survivors here has called for help from the Liberian people, especially, the government of Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

According to the network, they have been dehumanized and discriminated in their various communities since their respective recovery from the deadly virus. 

The Chairperson for the Ebola Survivors Network, Patrick Falleh, said they have been seriously stigmatized by the public, disclosing that one of survivors was dehumanized in the house she lived in; he landlord returned her rental and asked her out of the house. 

He said whenever she comes out of the bathroom, or uses anything in the house, the landlord would disinfect it.

Patrick lamented that Ebola survivors are not free to live with people in the community. He also said, Amos, an Ebola survivor from Caldwell has been stigmatized and dehumanized in the community so he (Amos) has decided to live in the Ebola Treatment or ETU at LY3 in Paynesville, outside Monrovia.

According to him,  Amos said he prefers living in the ETU and feels comfortable there than to live in a community where there is no peace. The Ebola survivor’s network chairman said Amos is presently in the ETU.

The Ebola survivor Coordinator Reverend Meckey Gbawon, is calling on the Government and people of Liberia to stop embarrassing the life of survivors.  

Reverend Gbawon said there are 1,538 Ebola survivors in the country and they need to live a dignified life and not discriminated against. She also said that the survivors are all Liberians and they have nowhere else to go but to live and work in Liberia.

Meanwhile, she said only one out of the 1,538 survivors has suffered side effect from the deadly Ebola virus. She said the survivor is paralyzed, while the youngest person to survive the virus is a five months old baby and the oldest person is a 91 years old man. 

By Ethel A. Tweh