Ebola Outbreak (Page 8)

As the Red Cross continues to scale up its response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Red Cross staff and volunteers who are responding to the global health emergency are taking every precaution to stay safe while they provide care to patients infected with Ebola.

The Round-up offers a weekly sample of what our sister Red Cross Societies are working on around the world.

Mamadou Saidon Bah wakes up each morning not knowing if he will spend his day grading student assignments and preparing lectures for his work as a teacher, or if he will instead lead a group of young volunteers from the local Red Cross branch on a mission to collect the body of yet another victim of the growing Ebola epidemic.

As communications staff at the Canadian Red Cross, we often get the opportunity to meet some of the many amazing individuals who contribute to our humanitarian work worldwide.

This week, the Red Cross (IFRC) opened its first Ebola treatment centre in Kenema, Sierra Leone, a district hard-hit by the outbreak. The centre can house up to 60 patients when at full capacity. The centre has so far admitted 5 patients, including an 11-year-old girl. 

How many times did you touch someone today: a family member, a friend, a colleague, the person beside you on the bus? How many times did you rub your eyes, touch your lips, scratch your nose? A world without touch is strange thing, and a humanitarian mission where you’re not allowed to touch other people is both physically and mentally challenging.

Sometimes getting there is half the battle. In reality the journey is more like one per cent of the battle, but when flights stand between you and your mission, it can feel like the biggest battle of all. I'm five flights into a seven-leg journey to Conakry, the capital of Ebola-affected Guinea, with every flight bringing me closer to supporting the regional Red Cross team providing services to the West African countries affected by the outbreak.

These photos were taken in Sierra Leone and Guinea during a recent visit by Elhadj As Sy, the Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) as Red Cross ramps up efforts in response to the Ebola outbreak.