By Lynn Pelton | Executive Director Greatest Goal Ministries USA
Dear GlobalGiving Donors,
After having spent four months working in Sierra Leone as part the Ebola Response with Partners In Health, I now have a much greater understanding of the toll this epidemic has taken on the country of Sierra Leone.
Not only have entire generations of family members died, but those surviving the virus are facing serious medical complications. After 6 weeks in an Ebola unit, I spent the next three months working at the Port Loko Government Hospital setting up triage and opening wards to patient care. The patients we saw were extremely ill as it has been virtually impossible to receive medical treatment during this epidemic.
Ebola is changing health care delivery in Sierra Leone and the other West African countries. The need to triage and evaluate all patients for possible Ebola infections after the country is declared Ebola free will be the new normal.
That is why I am so happy to announce that Greatest Goal Ministries has received a $20,000.00 health-strengthening grant to build a triage center at our Lady Deborah Berewa Hospital in Lakka. We plan to begin construction in September with the doors to our facility opening shortly after.
The triage center will allow us a safe building to determine whether patients meet the case definition as a suspect Ebola patient and then to safely isolate them for transport to an Ebola center for further evaluation. Once the country is declared Ebola free we will need to continue this type of evaluation so that if another outbreak develops it can be controlled quickly.
I am grateful I had the opportunity to be a warrior on the forefront of this epidemic. Our health care work in Sierra Leone since 2007 through Greatest Goal Ministries allowed me to understand why and how this epidemic swung so out of control. Because of the length of my deployment during this Ebola crisis I saw firsthand how an Ebola Unit operates. I saw firsthand how dismal and inadequate health care services currently are in the country and the urgent need to reopen health care facilities. With the rainy season beginning, malaria, cholera and other infectious diseases will once again surge.
The people of Sierra Leone deserve at least minimal health care. We are excited that the epidemic is winding down and that we can soon again deliver our high standard of basic medical care for the people of Sierra Leone. We are grateful to all of you who have supported us and hope that you will continue. The fundraising efforts from this Global Giving site provide much needed support to continue community education and provide the supplies needed to keep our health care workers safe.
Health care in Sierra Leone must be strengthened. We can no longer sit by and pretend it does not matter. The world has become a place where, because of modern travel, we are all connected. What happens on the other side of the world does make a difference in our lives.
Thank you for all your support!
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