Equip Liberians to End Ebola

Dolo Town, about 47 miles east of Monrovia, is home to about 17,000 residents. Much of the economic activity is connected to Firestone, the largest natural rubber operation in the world.  

In early August, Dolo Town was placed on quarantine by the Liberian government to contain the outbreak. Firestone employees were barred from going to work, and women who run the local market were no longer able to replenish their quickly dwindling supplies.  

The quarantine included a plan to provide rations and water, but for many residents, accessibility to food and water was at the mercy of family members outside the community who brought supplies.  As residents scrambled to keep healthy, the issue of water--to wash, sanitize, and drink--became a growing challenge. 

On August 23rd, Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa donated two trucks of mineral water worth $500 USD.  Ebola patients should consume over a gallon water per day to maintain hydration. Healthy persons need soap and water to keep areas sanitized.  The donation addressed water shortage access and was coordinated by GPFA, Rock Hill Community Women organizer Vaibah Fl. and received by the Chairman of River View Community Rev. Joseph T., Pastor  of the Conquerors Church Center and his Assistant Pastor Nathaniel M.

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• Resentment simmers in Liberia's 'Ebola jail town'

Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa supports GSA Rock Hill Community Women

Profile on Vaibah & GSA Rock Hill Community Women

Vaibah is a fierce protector of her close-knit Rock Hill community.  For over a decade, Vaibah has worked with her neighbors to safeguard the neighborhood they love. An impoverished district of over 25,000 residents, Rock Hill is located in Monrovia. Many of its inhabitants and their children still earn a living crushing rocks by hand to sell for construction projects. Access to clean water remains a challenge for many of its residents. Vaibah, and women like her, formed the GSA Rock Hill Community Women group to address local issues. GSA Rock Hill Community Women (“Rock Hill Women”) have worked vigilantly to expand access to clean water, and raise school enrollment for neighborhood children.

As news of Ebola worsened, Vaibah and her associates grew increasingly worried that the outbreak would spread to Rock Hill. With limited access to clean water and few health professionals, one infected neighbor could prove disastrous for Rock Hill. “If Ebola comes to this community,” explains Vaibah “what is there to stop it? The people here are too poor.” Rock Hill Women had a plan to prevent transmission, but no funds to implement it.

With a grant from Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa (GPFA), Rock Hill Women executed their two-prong plan: Outreach to youth to build awareness and health education tutorials. Vaibah with her team distributed buckets, chlorine and soap to various groups and centers where youths and adults gather on the daily including clothing shops, prayer bands, video clubs, and drug stores. Using support from GPFA, Rock Hill Women re-granted a modest amount to Young Women of Substance, a young women’s youth group aged 22 to 30 years old, to support anti-transmission efforts. “No one has come to help Rock Hill. No one has given us money to stop the virus from coming [here]. It is as if we are forgotten! Gbowee Peace Foundation was the only one who said, ‘Here. What can we do to help?’”

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