By Sir Kt Bro. EDDIE PRAH
As Christmas approaches, many families are planning travels and family reunions. Apart from various church activities that characterise Christmas festivities for most Christians, Christmas is also a time for general merry-making and joyous gatherings for both Christians and non-Christians.
In West Africa and other parts of the world, the rich and middle class homes would have the usual parties during which the whiskeys, cognacs, beers etc, would flow with the accompanying meals of beef, pork, turkeys and chicken in overflowing quantities.
Similar gatherings take place in poor homes too, though notion the scale of those who have.Whatever their circumstance, what most people look forward to is the coming together of their families at Christmas.
Unfortunately for many families in the three West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, Christmas 2014 will be very different. Instead of the joy that the occasion brings, this year’s will be filled with mourning, sadness and unhappy memories for many families.
In these countries, more than 6,000 people have died from the dreadful Ebola disease in just about six months of its first occurrence. With more than 15,000 others infected with the deadly disease, the situation looks really bad if nothing is done to curb it.
Today, people in these countries, including husbands, wives and children living in the same house try to keep a safe distance from each other. There are no handshakes, no embracing, cuddling or hugging of children and spouses. Indeed in many homes, intimacy between spouses has come to a complete stop.
People mostly stay at home with the attendant negative effects on economic, social, educational and even religious activities. Shops and markets are closed; farmers have stopped cultivating their farms; schools at all levels, primary, secondary and tertiary are closed, and social gatherings banned. Many churches have closed their doors to worshippers and in the Catholic Church, holy water bowls at entrances of Churches are dry, and worshippers simply wave “peace” to each other at Mass.
All these are happening because Ebola is a contact and contagious disease transmitted through body fluids such as sweat, blood, urine, droplets from sneezing and coughing and sex. In the most affected countries, traditional and cultural practices largely played a part in the speed of spread of the infection.
At the initial stages when people knew nothing about the disease, the way dead bodies were handled, such as being kept at home, touching and bathing them meant that many members of the dead person’s family contracted the disease merely by touching the dead bodies. In one sordid case reported by CNN in Guinea, the water used in bathing a dead religious scholar who died of Ebola was used to wash the faces of children in the family so they would grow to become as scholarly as the dead scholar. Following the preparation of infected dead bodies for burial in the traditional way, bereaved family members who handled the dead shake hands with mourners who in turn shake hands with friends and relatives and so continued the spread of the infection. Another contributory factor to the spread was the element of mistrust for health workers some of whom were accused of being the source of the disease at the initial stages of the outbreak.
In other West African countries like Ghana where by the grace of God, the Ebola virus has not yet been found, basic cultural behaviours and practices like shaking of hands and bathing of dead bodies are being flagged for attention and caution.
Surely, this is not the first time that Ebola has struck in the world but it is certainly the first time that it has killed so many, so quickly.
Pope’s message
In his message to the World Day of Peace 2014, Pope Francis said in part that the “Church is called to be a community of brothers and sisters who accept and care for one another and serve as a leaven of reconciliation and unity for the whole human family”. Put another way, this was a call to the people of the world to take the Vocation to Fraternity seriously, cast out what the Pope described as the growing “globalization of indifference” and instead build a community of brothers and sisters who accept and care for each other.
And by the way, need we remind ourselves that if not stopped, this Ebola virus has the potential to grow in the globalised world with the increased mobility of people? Scientists predict that as many as 1.4 million people could be infected if nothing is done and quickly too. Question, would all these 1.4 million people come from Africa? The answer is clearly no.
There are many African countries including Ghana, that today have not had the Ebola infection but Ebola deaths have been recorded in the US, Spain, Germany and Brazil, irrespective of how the virus got to these advanced countries.
As we celebrate Christmas with our families and friends and with all the goodies we can gather, there are some people in the Ebola stricken countries who would have nobody around them.
Going beyond prayers
For those who may want to go beyond praying, could we spare some Cedis from our Christmas budget and support the Supreme Knight’s and Grand Lady’s initiative to mobilise funds for the people of the Ebola affected countries?. So far it is understood that The Noble Order has mobilised some $3,000 that has already been sent to the Bishops of Freetown and Monrovia to provide basic hygiene materials such as disinfectants, hand sanitizers and some food for distribution to the most affected communities.
The need for food, protective equipment and basic cleaning materials is so big that what was sent was like a drop in the ocean and the Bishops have asked if we couldn’t do more. Surely we could, and if what we mobilize, however small, can bring some relief to even one person, we would have answered the call to our Vocation to Fraternity!
Pull Quote
“For those who may want to go beyond praying, could we spare some Cedis from our Christmas budget and support the Supreme Knight’s and Grand Lady’s initiative to mobilise funds for the people of the Ebola affected countries.”