Youngest Ebola Survivor Gets Relief

The West African Youth Network –Liberia, on Sunday, March 8, 2015, presented assorted items to the youngest Ebola survivor and orphan in Liberia- eight (8) month old Jusufu Koroma, in the Banjor Community, outside Monrovia. 

Mr. Arthur R.M. Becker, Sr., Country Director of the West African Youth Network- Liberia said the items, which included clothes, pimples, socks, baby powder, as well as baby wipes, among others, were his institution’s way of giving the youngest Ebola survivor and orphan hope, as he grows up during such difficult moment in his life without parents.

According to Mr. Becker, also escorted by his Program Officer- Mr. Abraham J. Paasewe, during an assessment tour in January 2015 across Montserrado and Grand Cape Mount Counties, the institution was touched by the plight of Ebola survivors and orphans. The tour included Banjor community in the Township of Virginia in Montserrado County when they first met Jusufu.

According to him, his institution was working to increase attention to the welfare of young Ebola survivors and their upbringing. 

“The children left behind as orphans need every attention to grow up by having a bright future,” he noted, expressing gratitude to Mr. Stephen B. Gbablo and family of the United States of America for their modest support to the West African Youth Network to help little Jusufu for a hopeful future.

Mr. Becker further indicated that there were 100 Ebola orphans that his organization has identified across the country, emphasizing his institution’s intention to help support them, with the hope that the organization would get the needed support required to give the young kids a brighter future.

In response, the aunt to Little Jususfu, only referred to as Ma Musu, thanked the West African Youth Network- Liberia for the ‘God-sent’ support for her young nephew who has to grow up without parents, appealing for increased attention and support from the government, international partners and philanthropists to enhance the growth and development of Ebola survivors and orphans. She also expressed gratitude for the support given by Mr. Gbablo and family, and asked God’s blessings upon them. 

She noted that there were more children who are in similar conditions in her household that needed similar support.  

Meanwhile, Mr. Becker has also announced that his organization will, early May this year, organize a one-day symposium to bring together 150 youth leaders, students, Ebola survivors and orphans, as well as policymakers on the theme “Understanding the Dark Moments of Ebola: Restoring the Hope”. 

The event will also be characterized by a fund-raiser geared towards supporting Ebola survivors and orphans in Liberia. The one-day event will also include a memorial vigil for Liberians and foreigners who died as a result of the deadly Ebola disease.