Ebola outbreak updates

JP Bohanan -

Check out the Ebola outbreak update page from The United Methodist Church.

Residents of the quarantined community of West Point, a slum in Monrovia, Liberia, reject government assistance: (Article posted 21 Aug by Julu Swen on West African Writers, excerpts below)


Residents of the quarantined slum community of West Point have turned down the offer of the Liberia Government to assist them with food and water amidst an imminent food shortage. Speaking to WAW on a telephone line, Rev. Agrippa Nyentee who is a United Methodist pastor now trapped in the community said the government brought in 300 bags of rice (25kg) and 60 large bags of water which each contain 30 small plastic bags of drinking water on Thursday morning (August 21, 2014). “The food aid will create more confusion between the government and the people of the community,” Rev. Nyentee said.


The UMC Liberia pastor said there are over 75,000 persons living in the community and supplying them with 1,800 bags of water is like a joke on the part of the Liberian government. He confirmed that authorities of the community were now holding meetings for their next course of action. “Some of the assistance we want from the government of Liberia is to open a corridor for business people to bring in needed food commodities.”


An update on the UMCOR response and United Methodist mission work in Liberia and Sierra Leone:
(dated 28 Aug)
United Methodist missionaries, Helen Robert-Evans, who serves in Liberia, and Beatrice Gbanga, who serves in Sierra Leone, say that because of the Ebola crisis, many other areas of life are affected.

“The markets are closed. Schools are closed. Public gatherings are cancelled,” said Robert-Evans. 
Gbanga added that when there are public gatherings such as at church in Sierra Leone, everyone is asked to wash exposed skin with a chlorine wash. “We pass the peace now with a wave or a bow,” she said. “This is a big cultural change for people who like to hug and touch.”
Robert-Evans and Gbanga are currently in the United States, along with a number of other missionaries who serve in the two countries most impacted by the Ebola crisis. They are speaking at United Methodist churches about the work that is happening and how churches can help.
Kip and Nancy Robinson, who serve in Sierra Leone, want people to know that, “Sierra Leone is more than just Ebola.” The Advance projects there and in Liberia need continued support so that when the crisis passes, the schools, ministries and other health programs will have the funding to resume.