I've been spending quite a bit of time with a young lady I know who survived Ebola, because of the stigma attached to Ebola I'll call her Angel rather than using her real name here.
Angel's father became sick so her mother took care of him.......when her mother started to get sick Angel took over looking after her father.......then Angel became sick too. They were all taken to an Ebola treatment centre. Angel's mother died first, then her father died two days later. Angel waited to die as well, but she surprised herself by recovering - after seeing her parents die she'd fully expected that she would die too.
Angel has three younger sisters and a younger brother, fortunately they all tested negative for the virus.
When Angel was discharged from hospital and returned home everything she owned was destroyed when the house was cleansed. She is now living with her Grandmother along with her younger siblings.
Angel has three younger sisters and a younger brother, fortunately they all tested negative for the virus.
When Angel was discharged from hospital and returned home everything she owned was destroyed when the house was cleansed. She is now living with her Grandmother along with her younger siblings.
Angel is around 18 years old, at the time Ebola was at it's height she should have been starting Form 5 in school (SSS2), but the schools were closed to try to stop the virus spreading. Now that the schools have reopened there is no one to pay for her to go to school. Although the government are paying school fees there are other costs such as uniforms, text books, supplies, extra lessons....the list goes on. Her Grandmother who has suddenly found herself with 5 extra mouths to feed can't afford it.
All of Angel's previous school reports were destroyed when the house was cleansed - but she tells me that on her last school report she ranked 8th in her class. Her favourite subject is Cost Accounting and when she leaves school she has dreams of being a bank manager. She has 3 more years left of basic education.
Although she is keen to return to school Angel is scared to go back to her former school because some of the other students know that she had Ebola and she thinks they will mock her......she told me that they laugh at her.
Although she is keen to return to school Angel is scared to go back to her former school because some of the other students know that she had Ebola and she thinks they will mock her......she told me that they laugh at her.
She has already missed the first term of school since the schools reopened, so we have planned to enrol her in a new school when the new school year starts in September.
She is such a sweet, shy, caring, gentle lovely young lady who deserves so much more than life has thrown at her so far.
If anyone would like to help Angel with her education please contact me.
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