The Inspire Series - HOPE IN A TIME OF EBOLA by Victor O. Forna

The Inspire series kicks off with a poem written by Victor Osman  Forna,  a young talented Sierra Leonean high school student and writer  currently residing in the country  in the mist of the Ebola out break.

Inspiration behind the poem

When Ebola came to Sierra Leone, it had a devastating effect on everybody, both home and abroad. Everybody was stressed out, no schools, a state of emergency, some people even traveled out of the country seeking safety elsewhere, but some like myself stayed. And I have seen how tensed and sad this virus made my lovely country, how horrible the news on TV were, this filled me with emotions, it made me sad, it made me fear, there was nothing I could do, the only way I could overcome these feelings was through my passion, writing. I took my pen and the words just flowed out from the bottom of my heart, I wrote "Hope in a time of Ebola." It is a piece that means a lot to me.

Enjoy and be inspired!

                                                      HOPE IN A TIME OF EBOLA

Ebola comes to a nation,

ruled by #poverty, #ignorance, #corruption,

and there is more;

#tribalism, #unpatriotism, #greed.

These are the reasons why

Ebola may succeed.

I close my eyes to pray,

yet all I see are people dying,

What is happening?

The doctors and the nurses,

the ones giving

all the caring

and #sensitising,

God rest their selfless souls

but with them gone,

Ebola may have won

Down my cheeks tears roll,

as I see a child of four in pain,

the mother dead, the two will soon meet again.

Oh #SierraLeone, Ebola has left its dirty, dirty stain.

Education on a stand still,

#vaccine has not been found still,

People don't know their next step,

as the nation tumbles down hill.

Ebola will end, yes it definitely will.

But first we must unite as a nation,

throw away the tribalism

Love our country, increase our #patriotism.

Lying-thieving politicians,

put the country first,

use the money,

the #world sends in.

Life is but one chance,

Sierra Leoneans, kill the ignorance,

Learn #hygiene.

Ebola is real.

#Contagious ,

a bleeder,

Killer headaches and fever,

Ebola is real.

But together, #united against Ebola,

there is hope still.

 About the Author

Victor  Osman Forna is an ordinary, down to earth young man, growing up with dreams and hopes, a proud Sierra Leonean and African. I try to live a simple and uncomplicated life, living each day as given to me by the universe. I consider myself as talented but very lazy. Most people think I am shy, but that is because they don't know me. My friends say I am crazy and weird, they are right too, I am both of these things, just in a good way. The major difference I think I might have compared to others is that I find time for myself, thinking time, a time I use to connect with my inner being.

I am still in school, I did my O levels at the Limount college, I am currently trying to take my A levels at the Lebanese International School . I am a science student, but I am an art person, if I may say, science is in my brain and art runs through my veins.

Passion for writing

Even though I am a science student, having to solve all this Mathematics and study all this Physics and Chemistry, writing is my passion, I just love to write. My greatest goal is to become an established writer, well known all around the world. I am trying my best to accomplish this as it would make me the happiest man on earth. But as with everything in this life, I might not be able to accomplish this dream of mine, my plan B is science, acquiring a degree and masters in civil engineering will also make me very happy. Though right now, with health and will power from God, I am trying for both of these goals of mine to be reached, a little science and a little art.

How it started

I have been writing for about seven or eight years now, at a really young age my father was telling me stories, African, Western, all sorts, this made me fall in love with words. As I grew older, my
mom (My greatest inspiration) started buying books for me too, as I read these books, I tried to replicate the writings, but with my own ideas, I started many stories which I never finished, but as time went on, I discovered poetry, I started by writing short pieces but the older I grew, the longer and more complicated my poems became, it was a beautiful thing to see myself improve. The thought of my words, changing the emotional state of people also inspires me greatly, whether it's to calmness or to anger or to thoughtfulness and fear or to hopefulness and happiness, the thought of my ideas making a difference always makes me smile.

Future plans

In the future, I hope to continue writing, to improve my skills and even evolve from poetry to actual novels.  

Thank you Victor for sharing and inspiring us with your poem. All the best with your future plan. We look forward to see seeing more of your art.  

You can follow Victor’s work on Wattpad @loneobserver_VF and on twitter @vforna12