Jinna Amara had been ill for several days. No one knew what was wrong with her.
Upon hearing that his cousin was sick, Mustapha Mambu did what anyone else would do – he cared for her and tried to get her treatment.
Mustapha went to fetch his cousin from her home in Kailahun, eastern Sierra Leone, in late September.
He wasn’t to know that she had Ebola. Sadly, three days after bringing her home, she died. But worse was to come.
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Through his cousin, Mustapha had unwittingly brought Ebola to his village and initiated a new wave of infections.
Ebola swept through Komende Luyama. A total of 42 villagers contracted Ebola. Only 13 survived. The entire village was placed under quarantine for three months. Nearly 40 children were orphaned.
Damaged crops
No one could leave their home and no one could enter or leave the community. As a result, crops failed.
The quarantine was lifted at the start of January, but the villagers now face food shortages.
“Even though Ebola is gone from our community, we are still not healthy as all we have are small farms in our back gardens,” says Mustapha. The 34-year-old wears a charming smile and speaks openly about Ebola in his village.
“Our rice crop was damaged, as no one could go to the farms. All of our farming was in vain. We suffer from light headaches and weakness, because we don’t have enough food. We need food to be able to go back to work.”
There are growing concerns of food shortages across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Food shortages are expected to affect poor households across much of the region by June, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network.
“There are serious food shortages here,” says Mustapha. “October is the season where rice pods open and, because of the quarantine, no one was there to scare birds away or put up fencing so that animals would not destroy our crops.”
The disease spreads
It was the love of a community that led to Ebola taking hold in Komende Luyama. Those who came to care for Jinna, or those who came to mourn her, were exposed to the virus.
The disease is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.
The bodies of those who die from Ebola remain infectious. Jinna’s family weren’t to know she even had Ebola. As is traditional in Sierra Leone, they washed her body before burial. And so the disease spread.
Anyone who displayed symptoms of Ebola was taken to the Red Cross Ebola treatment centre in Kenema, some 12 miles away. Mustapha was among those treated at the centre.
“I was there at the same time as my mother, but I was so ill that I didn’t realise that she died during this time,” he says.
“When I was confirmed as positive with Ebola I had two thoughts. My first thought was that I wouldn’t survive.
“But then, when I knew I was going to get treatment, that gave me hope. It gave me the hope that I would recover.”
Guilt and recovery
Jinna’s mother, Fatmata, also survived, but she knows the recovery process will take some time.
“When we first found out that Ebola had come to Komende Luyama, I felt bad because it was my daughter who had been the initial patient,” she says.
“It was a result of the love that the rest of the community showed my daughter that Ebola spread and other people became sick.”
Fatmata spent one month receiving treatment at the Red Cross centre in Kenema.
“I have been treated fine by the local community since coming back, but I have struggled because my belongings were burned, including my money.
“It is custom here for women to keep savings in their mattress and mine had to be burned because of the risk of contamination,” says Fatmata.
“There are also a lot of orphans and widows who have been left behind, and although we try, it is difficult to care for them. We support each other.”
As with all survivors, Mustapha and Fatmata received food and cash from the Red Cross when they were discharged from the treatment centre. The food and cash are part of a ‘survivor’s kit’ that supports people in the short term.
Red Cross teams also work with affected communities to reduce stigma attached to Ebola survivors and provide emotional support.
As the Ebola outbreak shows signs of slowing, the Red Cross has begun an assessment looking at the long-term recovery needs of countries affected by the virus.