Your help is urgently needed in Sierra Leone. Although coverage in the global media has reduced, people continue to die and live in fear for their, and their families, lives. While it seems that the number of new cases is rising less quickly, there are also fears that the virus may be mutating which could make it more contagious. It is vital that we help our colleagues in Sierra Leone to continue the great work they are doing to stop the spread of the disease and ease pain and suffering.

We have now raised £39,646.32 for The Shepherds’ Hospice Sierra Leone which has had a huge impact. Gabriel and his team have reached 2077 people affected by Ebola since our appeal began in October 2014. They have opened an Ebola Care Centre, which they converted from a disused school and 28 nurses and 28 community volunteers have been recruited and trained. The burial teams they set up are conducting about 7 burials a day to keep families and communities safe while providing dignity and respect for those who have died and the bereaved.

But there is still much that needs to be done. We need your help to raise another £10,353.68 for the Shepherd’s Hospice. This is so that Gabriel and his team can keep the Ebola Care Centres running, reaching more affected people and freeing up health care centres. We need to help Gabriel and his team to bring an end to the loss of life, suffering and fear in the communities where they are working.

This is Yenor’s story:

Yenor was a 21 year woman who was a school teacher who had moved across Freetown for work. She became ill with Ebola and was forced from her home by fearful neighbours. She persuaded a motor bike driver to help return to her home village where her aging mother lived. They were stopped outside the village by fearful and angry youths from her extended family who accused them of bringing Ebola into the village. Violence ensued and they were forced to turn around. The motor bike driver dropped the woman alone at the road side. The mother in the village had been told what was happening and came looking for her daughter. She found her very sick at the roadside. With nowhere to go she pitched a tent and they stayed the night together there. The next day Yenor died. Her mother guarded her body for three days at the road side until the hospice burial team found out about her situation. They helped her mother and buried Yenor safely and respectfully in the village where she had been born. Her grave was marked and the hospice team educated villagers and family members around Ebola prevention and care.