December 22: An update from Lynn in Sierre Leone

December 22

It is hard for me to believe that Christmas is only a few days away.  The hours and days are flying by in a whirl and every day seems the same:  Wake up at 6:30.  In our vehicle at 8:00.  Arrive at the ETU at 8:30.  Morning report and we are off and running.  Our day ends about 6:30 or later, then there’s a half hour drive home through three check points each way.  We have something to eat, check our email and then go to sleep.  The next day we start again.  We have had one day off since we arrived.

I think about Christmas in the states; the lights, the decorations, the hustle and bustle that is all part of the holiday scene.  There is a stark contrast in Sierra Leone this year.  The celebration of Christmas in this country has essentially been cancelled.  Christmas is usually celebrated by Muslims in some way and by all the Christians.  It is normally very festive with big gatherings in private homes and villages.  Most people take time off work from December 22 - January 5.  People travel the long distances from the capital of Freetown to the provinces and their home village… but not this year.  This year Ebola has changed everything.  I understand that the media in the United States has all but quit writing about the toll Ebola is still taking, but here on the ground the fight is far from over.  Some have told me we have not yet seen the peak in Sierra Leone.

The government has issued another lockdown through at least Christmas, perhaps longer.  No one will be allowed to travel through check points unless for authorized Ebola business.  You must also have a valid sticker in your vehicle and a name badge.  Even sending our patients home is impacted now.

The new curfew went into effect Saturday at noon.  All shops and businesses were shut down from Saturday at noon to Monday morning.  All businesses, restaurants, etc. must close this week at 6:00.  No public gatherings are allowed and all beaches are banned.  Normally the beaches would be packed with people enjoying the holiday.  House to house searches for the sick begins on Monday.

We have been extremely busy with 32 patients admitted in one day last Tuesday and on average 10-15 admissions each day.  About one fourth of our patients survive at this time but we are working hard to change that and increase the survival rate.  We reunited three Ebola-positive survival mothers with their infants last week.  One was a set of 10 month twins, and two other babies just a few months old.  No one knows yet why the nursing children did not get sick, but we thank God for their survival.  We had placed the children in an interim care center where they were watched.  And the system worked when it was time for discharge.  It was a day of giving thanks and spreading hope as we watched the mothers receive their children.

As we celebrate the birth of Christ and gather with friends and loved ones, please take a moment to remember those living in West Africa suffering through this Ebola crisis and those helping to fight it.  I have only been here about 3 weeks and I am tired.  The Nationals, Doctors without Borders and others have been fighting it for as long as 6 months.

Progress is being made but no end is yet in sight.  Prayer and more people on the ground joining the fight is the only way this will end.

A very Merry Christmas to all!

Lynn