Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
By Christophe Boulierac & Timothy La Rose on 09 Dec 2014
Ebola in Guinea: changing entire cultures in 12 months
Why is it taking so long? Why are people still resistant after months of explaining and explaining about Ebola prevention? The people of Guinea, fatigued international responders, tired doctors, and weary communities grow impatient as the outbreak drags into its twelfth month. My colleagues in UNICEF Guinea have been working 16-20 hour days, no weekends, traveling on impossible, impassable roads, trying new ideas, new methods, breaking down resistance one house at a time.
But still the outbreak persists and the resistance grows and shrinks, or pops up in completely new places. Not wanting to pile more work onto my exhausted colleagues, I accepted their request to go myself and find the answers to these questions. I left Geneva and travelled to Conakry, then a quick flight to Nz?r?kor?, one of the epicentres of the outbreak.
...
I was asked to spend time in the Forest region and bring my perspective from years of working in emergencies to this response. When I arrived in Nz?r?kor?, I was met by the UNICEF Chief of the Field Office in Guinea Foresti?re, Dr. Thierno Bah. He looked tired. He told me the story of how he sent the first email, last February, about a mysterious disease that was killing people. He quickly distributed chlorine and soap that he had on hand knowing that it probably wasn?t cholera but hygiene always helps. One of UNICEF?s major focuses in combating this outbreak is the mobilization of communities to protect themselves and prevent further spread. I asked him what his challenges were in stopping the outbreak.
?There are many factors,? he explained, ?contributing to the difficulty of response. In a region where there are no less than 30 languages, deeply rooted traditions, ancient grudges, and general suspicion of outsiders and authorities, we have to go village to village, house to house, listening and explaining. Many times we have gained the trust of communities, only to find resistance crop up again and the whole process has to be restarted. And then there is the violence. People are afraid. They believe that there is manipulation. People are taken to the treatment centres, sometimes they don?t come back. How would you feel if someone came into your house in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), took your mother and you never saw her again? And, understandably, fear of the disease itself. The answer is in the communities themselves and that?s what we are working towards.
...
Full text:
http://reliefweb.int/report/guinea/ebola-guinea-changing-entire-cultures-12-months
Ebola in Guinea: changing entire cultures in 12 months
Why is it taking so long? Why are people still resistant after months of explaining and explaining about Ebola prevention? The people of Guinea, fatigued international responders, tired doctors, and weary communities grow impatient as the outbreak drags into its twelfth month. My colleagues in UNICEF Guinea have been working 16-20 hour days, no weekends, traveling on impossible, impassable roads, trying new ideas, new methods, breaking down resistance one house at a time.
But still the outbreak persists and the resistance grows and shrinks, or pops up in completely new places. Not wanting to pile more work onto my exhausted colleagues, I accepted their request to go myself and find the answers to these questions. I left Geneva and travelled to Conakry, then a quick flight to Nz?r?kor?, one of the epicentres of the outbreak.
...
I was asked to spend time in the Forest region and bring my perspective from years of working in emergencies to this response. When I arrived in Nz?r?kor?, I was met by the UNICEF Chief of the Field Office in Guinea Foresti?re, Dr. Thierno Bah. He looked tired. He told me the story of how he sent the first email, last February, about a mysterious disease that was killing people. He quickly distributed chlorine and soap that he had on hand knowing that it probably wasn?t cholera but hygiene always helps. One of UNICEF?s major focuses in combating this outbreak is the mobilization of communities to protect themselves and prevent further spread. I asked him what his challenges were in stopping the outbreak.
?There are many factors,? he explained, ?contributing to the difficulty of response. In a region where there are no less than 30 languages, deeply rooted traditions, ancient grudges, and general suspicion of outsiders and authorities, we have to go village to village, house to house, listening and explaining. Many times we have gained the trust of communities, only to find resistance crop up again and the whole process has to be restarted. And then there is the violence. People are afraid. They believe that there is manipulation. People are taken to the treatment centres, sometimes they don?t come back. How would you feel if someone came into your house in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), took your mother and you never saw her again? And, understandably, fear of the disease itself. The answer is in the communities themselves and that?s what we are working towards.
...
Full text:
http://reliefweb.int/report/guinea/ebola-guinea-changing-entire-cultures-12-months