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| Nurse Samantha Mansaray and Dr. Valrie John-Cole |
In celebration of International Women's Day/Month, today's Inspire Series high lights and acknowledges the courage, dedication and selflessness of women on the Ebola front line in Sierra Leone. These women are shereos in every account.
Be inspired!
Since the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone,
women have been in the front-line as healthcare workers and caregivers in their
communities. This has meant that they face a greater risk of contracting the Ebola
virus. The role that women have played as first responders in the fight against
Ebola brings to mind the story of the Italian doctor Carlo Urbani.
In 2003 Dr. Urbani worked from the safety of his desk at the
World Health Organization office in Hanoi, Vietnam when duty called him to the
city’s French Hospital. An unidentified virus had invaded the wards and
unleashed terror. Dr. Urbani later identified the unknown virus as SARS and was
fore front in the battle to curtail it. In the space of one month, he saved
uncountable lives but was dead a month later. The natural law of self-preservation
made his family beg him to stay away from the front-line of the battle against
SARS. But the courageous Urbani responded: “If I can’t work in such situations,
what am I here for?”
Such has been the story of dedication and courage of women
in the Ebola front-line in Sierra Leone. They are first responders, nurses,
doctors, members of burial teams and more. I cannot give the exact number of
women who have bravely fought Ebola and neither can I single out all of them
for this piece. But the story of two young women, one a doctor and the other a
nurse serve as a testimony to professionalism, dedication, bravery and courage.
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| Dr. Valrie John-Cole |
Dr. Valerie John-Cole, a final year post graduate Masters in
Medicine (Mmed) in Obstetrics and Gynaecology student at the Ternopil State
Medical University in Ukraine was on vacation when Ebola struck. She had the option
of fleeing for safety but in her own words, decided to “work and help my
country in my little way”.
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| Nurse Samantha Mansaray |
Nurse Samantha Mansaray, who prior to the outbreak was a
volunteer at the main maternity hospital in Freetown, also made a similar
commitment at a time when health workers were being infected and dying in droves.
As Ebola spread its evil tentacles throughout the length and breadth of Sierra
Leone, no one felt safe more so health workers. None of them were prepared for
the scourge that followed. Within the first few months, Sierra Leone’s front
line responders started to die because they were ill prepared to protect themselves
and their families from the virus. This dampened the spirits of many women
health workers and resulted in a good number of them abandoning ship.
These two brave young women, Dr. Valerie John-Cole and
Samantha Mansaray stayed the course as the battle raged. Both women had worked
at the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital in Freetown prior to the Ebola epidemic.
But as soldiers in the Ebola front-line, they put on their boots with a sense
of purpose to combat the disease.
For Valerie whose vacation was cut short, she admits there
were times she felt fear that her life was in danger. She had to make a shift
from her relaxed state of mind to deal with the pressures, frustrations and dangers
she faced in her work. As a representative of the Sierra Leone Medical and
Dental Association to the body charged with dealing with the Ebola fight, her
responsibilities included but were not limited to advocating for the wellbeing
of medical personnel, the creation of policy structures to enhance the services
rendered to Ebola patients, the development of Standard Operation Procedures
(SOPs) and serving on the Ebola Rapid Response Team during the three days lock
down in the country. During the three days lock down,
Valerie says she considered it a “priviledge to work as a
supervisor in the East Ward. I worked with a formidable team to coordinate all
activities in that area ranging from the call center, command center and the
burial team”.
Nurse Samantha Mansaray was transferred to the Hastings
Ebola Treatment Center where she’s been administering oral medications, feeding
and bathing Ebola patients and orphans. For Samantha, going to work to find
that some of her colleagues were infected with the virus made her feel like
giving up. There were times she cried thinking she would be next. Valerie also
admits that there were times she felt frightened but drew strength from a verse
in the Bible that says “God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power,
love and of sound mind”. Though she staggered and felt frail at times, this reminder
from the Bible helped her stay on track.
Listening to the stories of these two remarkable women, I
could not help but feel a sense of great admiration for their bravery, modesty
and strength. These are the people who have worked quietly behind the scenes and
have made it happen in the fight against Ebola. They sacrificed to do what some
might refer to as dirty and dangerous work. When others fled, they chose to
render service to their compatriots putting themselves in the line of fire so
others could live.
I discovered the strenuous conditions they had to work under
meant there was constant pressure on them and other health workers. Even though
there were not enough holding and treatment centers in the capital city to cater
for patients, a lack of ambulances at the time and insufficient protective
gears for health workers, this did not deter these two ladies from working
selflessly. In fact what bothered them was the fact that there was no cure for
the disease and the delays in their ability to respond to situations.
Nurse Samantha Mansaray wearing her personal protective Equipment (PPE)
We see such people only when they step into harm's way, or
join the sorry toll of victims, but their dedication endures longer than the
outbreaks that attract global media attention. As Lisa Jameson puts it,
"it's easy for people to forget what goes on unnoticed all the time. This
is what we do."Thankfully these two have not become a number in the
statistics of dead health workers. But like gallant soldiers who fight bravely,
have survived to fight another day.
As a Sierra Leonean, I am thankful and grateful for these two courageous, dedicated selfless Sheroes and many others like them who continue to put their lives on the line. Thank you and rest in peace to all those who gave who sacfriced their lives doing this.
Thank you Hannah Foullah for sharing their stories with us at As Told By Baindu.
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