Ebola arrived in Komende Luyama, a community 20 kilometres outside of Kenema in eastern Sierra Leone, at the end of September 2014 when the relative of a local family was brought to the community for treatment after beginning to suffer from stomach pains. It is thought that transmission to other community members occurred primarily when people came to visit her while she was ill, and when her family washed her body after she died. A total of 42 people from the village became infected with Ebola; 13 survived. The entire community was placed under quarantine for three months and was only released 21 days after the last known case of Ebola. During the quarantine, no one could leave their home and no one could enter or leave the community.
This is the story of Ebola survivor Fatmata Amara, approximately 60 years old, as told to Anna MacSwan, British Red Cross.
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 came to the village because she was ill, and three days after she died, she was found to be Ebola positive. I felt bad because it was a result of the love that the rest of the community showed my daughter that Ebola spread and other people became sick.
After my daughter’s death, we were quarantined and soon after that, I began to feel feverish. My son called an ambulance to take me to Kenema General Hospital. I was taken to the hospital with my children and grandchildren, many of whom have now also died. When I was told that I too had Ebola, I was seriously traumatized and distraught.
I was taken to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) treatment centre in Kenema and while I was there I started responding to the treatment. I spent a month there in total, in October. They gave me treatment and counselling and responded to all of my needs.
I have been treated fine by the local community since coming back but 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. I am appreciative that the community is now free of Ebola, but because of the outbreak and new by-laws restricting movement, farming activities have been abandoned. 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 but we don’t have enough food. I am aged, which restricts me and I am not physically fit to cater for my needs.
Read more on the ongoing efforts to stop the Ebola outbreak and a blog post on Red Cross efforts to support survivors.
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