Rotary Responds to Ebola Crisis

Posted 
on Oct 21, 2014
 
EBOLA a Disaster of our Time
Rotary Project:  Ebola Disaster in West Africa
 
Description:  The Rotary Club of Monrovia in Liberia is working directly with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to enhance locally needed support for Ebola patients, health workers and support personnel. While international assistance is mainly focused on materials and providing health workers, our club is soliciting funds to buy locally available items, carry out needed transport, tracking of potential cases, and supporting reintegration into the community. The needs are far beyond the capacity of our Government, and the tracking of potential victims is a vital factor in controlling this terrible virus. In the 7 days up to 30 July the number of people requiring tracking / monitoring has increased from 481 to 823. Funding will go towards local vehicle repairs, fuel, per diem, medicine, mattresses, buckets, etc. 
 
Donations: 
send funds via electronic bank (SWIFT) transfer  to:
Citibank New York, NY 10043.  Swift: CITIUS33
Account title: Liberia Bank for Development & Investment
USD Account number: 36910591
For further credit to: Rotary Club of Monrovia-Ebola Response
Account Number: 002USD21223402606
              

Why should we be supporting the Rotary Club of Monrovia?

  1. They are a Rotary Club actually working at the sharp end, so there are virtually no administration costs.  All the money collected is used to good advantage.
  2. We are happy that they meet all the criteria of good practice.
  3. They are a part of the community and trusted by the community.
  4. When the current outbreak is contained, the NGO’s will move on.  The Rotary Club of Monrovia will continue working, supporting the victims of the outbreak.
  5. Because we are Rotarians - and follow the 4 way test
  6. Our response / mobilization time is less
  7. Our knowledge and wide professional coverage to effectively carry out any task locally
  8. We can better assess who to work with / purchase from / where to make effective donations and fill gaps of the donors and assist locally based NGO
Background: 
 
Brian Jonson Ebola presentation to Conference 1130 and RIBI International chairs halfway meeting  17.10.14
In 1976, Ebola (named after the Ebola River in Zaire) first emerged in Sudan and Zaire. This first outbreak infected over 284 people, subsequently there have been spasmodic out breaks in Africa reaching from the West African coast as far East as Uganda.  These outbreaks have been relatively small in size the biggest being 318 cases, mortality varied from 50% to 70% plus.  But this being Africa there will be many un-reported cases and I am convinced that this is the case now.
 
In March this year the current outbreak started and by mid-August the reported infection rate was in excess of 1300 cases.  It is possible that the world could have responded better and helped stop the outbreak at source.  Certainly, during the first few months was very poor.
 
It was about this time that we asked the question in our club (Rotary club of Marlow, District 1090) ‘what can we do about Ebola’.   Our International Chairman Jim Clarke started to research.  Initially the response was – ‘leave it to the NGO’s they know what they are doing’.  Rotary only comes into play, post the event when they can help with the clean up and long term implications through global grants, etc.  Not happy with this, we continued our research and stumbled upon the Rotary Club of Monrovia on the web.  Theirs was a desperate plea for funds to help on a day to day basis at ‘the sharp end’.  At that point, they were supplying various essential items such as mattresses, bedding and medical protective items including gloves, boots even soap that could be sourced locally.
Liberia is a relatively small country, 43000 sq miles with a population of about 4 million, Monrovia is the capital and only city. 
 
We instantly formed a relationship with the Club by email and Skype. We planned that Marlow would do a street collection and send a payment, but on discovering that David Frankfort, the Chairperson of the Ebola Response Committee, was going to be in the UK this was a perfect opportunity to have a public meeting and to present to Rotary District 1090.   At this initial meeting on the 1st September, 16 Clubs from the District attended along with the Town Mayor, members of the public and Churches in Marlow, by the end of that first meeting we had collected just short of £1000.
 
Collecting for Africa needs to be properly checked and monitored, but in the Rotary Club of Monrovia we found an amazing partner.  They had established shipping links by air and sea, they were working directly with the Government, the Hospitals and the local communities.  They are a ‘hands on club’ working directly in the front line.  We knew from day one that the needs would change on a day to day basis.  Initially, the club was supplying basic medical supplies and the support for these including petrol for the response transport.
The impact of Ebola is much wider.  People find themselves in a locked down (quarantine) situation when Ebola is present, so they need essential supplies; food, water, cooking coal etc.  When there has been a death of an Ebola patient, houses have to be sterilised and this may involve burning all fabric and sterilising the structure.  Most of these people are already desperately poor, and this will have the effect of making them destitute.
The situation is creating many orphans, who require care, as well as interim homes for children whose parents are in isolation wards.
Many of the hospitals, already overstretched, find themselves only accepting Ebola patients.  Normal medical care is now very restricted, due to lack of facilities.  So women and children are often turned away.  Maternity services are suffering badly, and the hospitals treating Ebola patients are over crowded and understaffed, often refusing admission, which results in people turned away and therefore putting others at even more risk.
 
There is a desperate need for education, awareness workshops even door to door visits to educate ‘the masses’.  
The majority of the population – which is fundamentally Muslim or Christian often revert to the village Medicine Man for advice, advice which may include washing the body and other forms of contact.  Villagers are fearful of Aid Workers, and often run away rather than accepting advice. 
Health and hygiene education is paramount to help stop the disease from spreading.
 
There will be a long term effect to this crisis.  Health workers, doctors and nurses are dying and when the epidemic is over the health system will need all the help it can get to re-build itself.  The victims of the disease will also need long term help to re-establish their lives, often without a breadwinner.   The impact on Liberia has been devastating in so many areas.
 
Schools have been closed for months. Airlines stopped from flying to countries who do not accept Liberians (understandably to minimise the burden of an Ebola outbreak).
The limited available health care workers are on the front line, and too many of them have passed away.
Focusing most of the efforts on containing Ebola, has found other health services collapsing.
A significant amount of country to country trade is conducted by air and with the transport bans in place, this has not been possible for over 4 months.  Road connections in Liberia are inadequate. 
Whole areas in Liberia are considered in quarantine, preventing the flow of goods and services. Many road projects, electrical power projects, mines, etc have seen the skilled expatriates leave, leaving the projects on hold.
The only major city Monrovia has had a curfew for months, brought in using emergency powers granted to the President.  Hotels are empty, conferences called off. The prices of many goods increases regularly overnight.
People have been traumatized, especially those who survived the Ebola virus. Survivors are often not accepted back by their families and/or communities.  
 
Liberia is a country in meltdown
 
Money is urgently needed NOW to support the Rotary Club of Monrovia in their various and many hands on efforts and long term money, potentially using Rotary global grants – is needed to re-build the health infrastructure.
 
The Rotary Club of Monrovia’s initial appeal was to the USA and they have subsequently  made contact with Clubs in Canada and Australia.
 
In the UK, the initial invite to the public meeting brought in several donations from clubs in 1090 as did a presentation to district Council.  Within days, street collections were organised for Marlow, High Wycombe and Maidenhead.  Witney, Reading and Banbury followed.  Donations came from other clubs in District 1090 and following the publication on the RIBI web and in Rotary Today more donations followed from other parts of the country.   We established a MyDonate link on our Club home page, this shows both the online and off line donations.  I have and am still willing to customise posters and promotional material for any club.  We have found the keep it simple keep it bold principle works.
 
So where do we go from here, well that’s up to you we are very happy to maintain the link with Monrovia and transfer money or UK sourced material directly to them, but if you would rather go it alone I’m very happy to help in any way I can.   I am currently talking to the Seattle Club and a Washington Club and they will be making this presentation to the RI President in the next few days.
 
I am passionate that Rotary should be ‘hands on’ we can not sit back and wait for the clean up.  We are very much in the front line with Polio, so why not Ebola?  If we want to ‘light up Rotary’, we need to do something now!