Sierra Leone: CAFOD honours work of community faith leaders on first Ebola-free anniversary

Safe, dignified burial team - image Louise Norton/CAFOD

One year since Sierra Leone was declared officially Ebola free by World Health Organisation, UK aid agency CAFOD are honouring the community faith leaders who played a vital role in tackling the deadly outbreak which claimed almost 4,000 lives.

CAFOD worked across several parts of Sierra Leone, including the northern town of Kambia, alongside its local partner, Caritas Makeni, to ensure victims' bodies were buried safely and with dignity.

However at the time burying the dead caused anger amongst villagers, who were upset loved ones were denied proper funerals and traditional burial rites, such as having their bodies washed and dressed by loved-ones.

A former Catholic mission boy, Abubakarr Tony Kamara, who coordinated burial team operations, said: "We put together a database of religious leaders who could take teams to a victim's house. Priests could offer prayers from a distance, while Muslim leaders could seek out Koranic verses explaining to families that there are special circumstances where people can be buried without the usual rites."

Over time, public understanding increased regarding the importance of dignified and safe burial procedures helping to slow the spread of the virus. Religious leaders also played a critical role on in spreading the right information about public and personal hygiene practises. A time when people were told not to greet each other with a hand shake or a friendly hug.

Almost two-thirds (60%) of Sierra Leone's population are Muslim and the remaining third (30%) Christian. And while the two communities live harmoniously, CAFOD and its local partners recognised that faith leaders from both faiths would make an incredible impact on the population by working together, to end the devastating Ebola virus in their communities.

Rev Fr Christopher Vandi, Catholic parish priest in Boajibu, Kenema District, said: "I owed a great obligation to protect and prevent my community from the dreaded virus. They listened to me and had confidence in me."

Kenema Central Mosque Imam Alhaji Osman Swaray, 56, says: "I was trained by to engage the Muslim community, sensitizing them on messages about Ebola and using hope messages based on Koranic Scriptures to relieve them of their fears."

Explaining how the messages he was trained to deliver got through to his congregation, Reverend Pastor Kamara, 53, of the Flaming Bible Church, Kenema, says: "It removed the fear from them and helped them with hygiene and sanitation."

Likewise, Imam Idrissa Kamara, 49, says hygiene practices have improved massively within the community at Kissitown Mosque, Kenema. "CAFOD's work helped to educate us about the basic facts on Ebola, how it can be prevented and to instil hope and confidence in the people to relieve their fears," he adds.

CAFOD continues to alongside local partners, helping to rebuild the lives of those devastated by the outbreak including members of the Ebola burial teams, who were stigmatised for their involvement, as well as those widowed and orphaned by the virus.

Kayode Akintola, CAFOD's country representative for Sierra Leone and Liberia, said: "Priests and Imams played a central role in tackling the Ebola crisis. They, along with government and health workers, saved lives. One year on, we are continuing to work with faith leaders and now focussing our efforts on rebuilding lives and communities."