Stop Ebola: What you can do

BRAC is responding to the ongoing West Africa Ebola outbreak, which has infected over 14,000 and killed over 5,000 people. The capacity to deal with health emergencies must be built and maintained at the local level, and therefore BRAC is training our existing network of 6,000 community leaders to raise awareness and stop the spread of the disease.Tackling the Ebola virus rests on four pillars: avoidance, early detection, isolation and safe burials.

With the help of Global Giving supporters, BRAC has distributed Ebola hygiene messages in local languages to remote areas, conducted street theatre and delivered radio broadcasts about the symptoms of Ebola and the responses that are necessary to keep people safe and reduce the spread of the disease. In addition, BRAC has donated supplies including gloves, chlorine, face masks and buckets with taps for hand washing.

BRAC has nearly 1,000 community health promoters in Sierra Leone and Liberia. These self-employed women, committed to the protection of their own communities, are the best front-line defence against Ebola. BRAC’s Ebola response in Liberia and Sierra Leone consists of the following elements:

• Capacity building and training: Training provided to the existing force of nearly 6,000 BRAC community promoters, youth leaders, school teachers and Ebola survivors enables them to become change makers, sharing Ebola awareness messages and knowledge in their communities.
• Community sensitization and outreach: BRAC’s community Ebola prevention workers will engage in awareness and sensitization training interventions, focusing on community and village leaders, survivors, women and children. Activities will promote the benefits of early presentation of suspected patients at Ebola facilities and the need for safe, culturally acceptable burial practices through leaflets, flyers, posters, billboards, radio jingles and theatre.
• Ensuring adequate supplies are available:BRAC has assisted in the distribution of essential Ebola-related health commodities including gloves, buckets and chlorine.
• Psychosocial support: BRAC plans to provide psychosocial support to affected community members including family members, orphans and survivors.
• Building economic and social resilience for the future: beyond containment of Ebola, BRAC is planning long-term to support communities against future shocks. This includes working to develop a higher quality, integrated health system, assisting affected communities with livelihood support to enable their recovery, promoting financial inclusion and entrepreneurial capital through access to microfinance and strengthening social protection mechanisms by provide Ebola affected communities with food and cash transfers.

Thank you for continuing to support our efforts, we will continue to provide updates as the situation on the ground changes.

Links:

• BRAC in the Liberian Daily Observer