Posted: 18th December 2014
We have been asked by Nehemiah Lifeline to develop an Ebola holding centre at the edge of their community.
It has become apparent from the evidence coming out of Liberia that small scale centres are more effective than larger centres. People are afraid of going to larger centres and centres outside of their area. The Nehemiah team wish to develop an existing empty building into a centre at the edge of their community which will serve the local people. Within the centre people will be given medical help, counselling and will be fed.
Mission Direct have committed to supporting this Ebola Holding Centre project and have already raised £2000 to get the drainage sorted – all waste has to be treated rather than using the current drainage system. We would like to raise another £8000 to continue supporting our partners.
Earlier this week we received the following letter from Harriet, the Development Officer at Lifeline –
“On behalf of Lifeline Network International and Lifeline Nehemiah Projects, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to Mission Direct for the grant of £2000 that we received on 9th of December.
“We are very grateful for such a generous donation, which was immediately put to good use. Using this money, we were able to put together the initial structure of the Ebola Community Care Clinic, clear the ground and dig pits for waste disposal. This attracted the attention of several large international NGO’s including MedAir and Oxfram, who we are now very excited to be partnering with.
“MedAir helped us secure funds from the Foreign Disaster Assistance office of USAID. These will be used to complete the construction of the clinic, and oversee the recruitment of staff and daily management of the clinic once it is completed. It has now been extended from an 8 bed to a 20 bed facility. Oxfam have agreed to provide other essential utilities for the clinic, as well as contributing to its completion. In partnership with MedAir, we are currently recruiting the 40+ members of staff that will be required to run the clinic, which we hope to achieve over the next five days. We believe that the clinic will be up and running within the next ten days.
“Your generous donation sparked a chain reaction which will make the world of difference in this community, and helped our team play their part in reducing the transmission of a virus which is threatening to destroy their home.
“We will keep you updated on the situation on the ground, how the team is responding and the difference that your donation has made in this community. Meanwhile, please feel free to follow our Ebola Response activities here: http://lifelinenehemiahprojects.org/ebola.”
Thank you for helping us to support our partners through this Ebola crisis. However, it is unfortunately still continuing and many families and communities are suffering from devastating loss. We will help to support our partners for what looks like many months to come. If you would like to know more on how you can help us in doing that, please contact Steve Loryman.
