Lifesaving Information: Halting Ebola in Liberia

Liberia was declared Ebola-free on 9 May by the World Health Organisation, after 42 days of no new cases. People and agencies working on the ground in Liberia, strong government commitment, and good communication efforts all played a key role in eradicating the virus in the country.  

Some of the tragic statistics from Liberia give a sense of the devastation that Ebola wrought:

• At the peak of transmission in August/September 2014, 300-400 new cases were being reported each week
• 375 Liberian health workers were infected with Ebola, and 189 lost their lives
• A total of 10,666 Liberians were infected with Ebola during this outbreak, and 4,806 died

Community radio stations in Liberia played a pivotal role in informing citizens about how to protect themselves, and what to do if they suspected they’d been infected. However, in such a poor country, many people didn’t have access to radios, or could not afford batteries. Our Polaris solar radios allowed people to hear the news and information, without having to worry about the cost of batteries or electricity. The integrated flashlight allowed them to see at night.

With Liberia’s status as an Ebola-free zone, this will be our final report on this project. We have been asked for help with radios in Sierra Leone, and further donations for Ebola will be used for this new project. We will be working with Develop Africa, on their project to help pregnant teenage girls continue with their education, by providing a networked computer lab, with access to both curriculum materials, video tutorials and coaching support, as well as supporting girls learning from home.  Our radios will be used as part of this initiative.

We are committed to ensuring that our donors have a meaningful giving experience. If you are not satisfied with the donations being used for our Sierra Leone project, GlobalGiving will refund your donation in the form of a gift certificate equal to the value of the original donation, which you are invited to contribute to another project on the site. If you have any questions or if you would like to reallocate your donation to another GlobalGiving project, please contact GlobalGiving by following this link: https://www.globalgiving.org/contactus/

We would like to thank you for your donations to a country faced with a terrifying and devastating virus. Your donation made an impact, not only in terms of allowing people to hear important information that helped keep them informed, but to provide the comfort of hearing trusted voices on the radio.