In response to the Ebola outbreak that is still ongoing in West Africa, Development and Peace is contributing an additional $100,000 to Caritas Sierra Leone’s humanitarian interventions.
Sierra Leone has been, and continues to be, the country most severely affected by this epidemic. It has experienced the largest number of infections and deaths, and there are still several focal points of infection in the country.
Since viruses do not recognize borders, the Ebola virus disease has become a threat for several neighbouring West African countries. Adding to the difficulty of finding a transnational solution is the pressure of controlling a disease that has social, psychological and economic implications.
More than a decade after a horrifying civil war ravaged Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002, leading to the death of 120,000 people and the mutilation of thousands of civilians, this small country in Western Africa of 6.3 million people, is courageously rebuilding itself. Since peace accords were signed in 2002, there have been two presidential elections, in 2007 and in 2012, and successive governments have put in place a variety of policies, programs, initiatives and reforms in several sectors in an attempt to meet the challenges facing the country.
I first visited Blama in November, 1989. It was my first trip as a program officer for Development and Peace. After visiting the Pastoral and Social Center, where Development and Peace was funding an impressive leadership training programme called D.E.P.
