Instead of the melodious symphonies of the Pepper Bird, daily Ebola updates on the radio had become the wake-up call for many Liberians. Regular updates on fervently surging new cases and deaths had alarmed that the Liberia`s dream of recovery from its devastating civil conflicts would remain just a dream for the next couple of years. Every single day, news about new cases and Ebola-related deaths were reported not only from Monserrado and Lofa but also from the other counties such as Bong and Margibi indicating that sooner than later the whole country would be in the hands of death. But, still many people kept on living in their own way ignoring the ‘dos’ and ‘don`t`s’ in preventing the spread and instead of spreading the message of prevention, they kept on spreading rumours just the same way that the Pastor Jean-Paul explained in his letter about what happened in Guinea. Many Liberians were reluctant to accept that there was a disease which would spread if they continued in the way they lived thus far. To be frank, it was hard to refrain from the kind of food that one had been eating for decades and eating in the community sharing the same spoon which we believed as a gesture of unity and brotherhood. Besides, the kind of things that the community mobilizers used to tell regarding taking care of the loved ones and burials without proper rituals were considered as taboos in my society. I could recall how guilty I was when I was unable to facilitate my father to join the ancestors. And the years rolled on; the religious outlook changed, and there were new ways of lives emerging in from urban areas. We were the same Africans in our souls who were constantly connected to our ancestors for help and whose traditions dictated the rules of life. To the outside world, even for me, our whole nation appeared to be in a dormant stage where they had not gauged the real risk of Ebola, but we were in a constant struggle to accept the new phenomenon where the whole life was supposed to be changed. As a resistance to the newly imposed lifestyle it became very common to hear rumours such as those who go to the ETU never return home; in ETU the white man takes out organs of Africans, Ebola is an American conspiracy, westerners want to eradicate Africans, and they spread Ebola just like they did with HIV dispersed in all directions. Being largely a rumour driven society, many Liberians did not want to send their sick loved ones to the ETU. In the remote villages some of them had fled into the bush so as not to be caught by the health workers and on many occasions, the health workers were attacked by the communities when they went to pick patients from their villages.
Burial teams were attacked by the villagers many times because they did not want anybody in their communities to be buried without proper rituals. A few times, family members had hidden the bodies of their deceased loved ones and denied the fact that the patient was dead. Such behaviours with strong cultural bonds kept on fuelling the fires that had already burnt down a significant proportion of the country, and those very habits of the Liberians were the main challenges the international community faced amid their self-effacing efforts in fighting the epidemic.
Hiding behind the curtain of rumours and denial, Ebola crept into every single corner of the country. In the peak of the rainy season in 2015, by August and September the epidemic had already taken Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia completely into its fatal grip and crept through the frontiers to other countries, such as Senegal, Mali and Nigeria in West Africa. That lead to a situation in which three majorly affected countries were quarantined from the rest of the world. Many international airlines stopped coming to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone disconnecting us from the rest of the world which resulted in restricted movements as well as a big blow to the country`s economy that was miles behind its recovery after the civil conflicts.
After a few days, Free-port; international naval port of Liberia announced scaling down its operations as ships stopped coming in and the flow of goods into the country was blocked. Simultaneously, the government of Liberia closed the borders between Sierra Leone and Guinea. Ivory Coast too decided to close its borders with Liberia at the very onset of the outbreak blocking all the routes through which all the necessities entered the territory of Liberia. As a consequence, the prices of everything raised sky-high.
Liberia being a country where more than one-third of its population lived under the poverty line; the sudden rise of goods created a situation in which we were unable to afford the daily food requirements of the family which persuaded many a youth to get back to the criminal activities such as robbing foreigners, looting the warehouses and pick-pocketing in public places; especially near the supermarkets adding more numbers to the already existing criminality in the country.
‘It`s the NGO`s who are spreading Ebola to extend their programs in Liberia,’ My neighbour told his wife in a sarcastic voice which was loud enough for me to hear. I was drinking my Atae in the veranda.
‘George, I heard that they pay better to their staff now,’ he approached looking at me over his round eyeglasses.
‘Jameson, I get the same small amount.’ I told him with a smile as I did not want to engage myself in a never ending argument with him.
‘James, you come here! NGO spread Ebola.’ His wife Margaret`s loud voice turned him back.
‘Maggi almost fought with me this morning’ I did not know Aminatta was behind me.
‘What’ I wanted to know what made her quarrel with Aminatta who always had very friendly relationships with everyone.
‘She told that you were working for an NGO that spreads Ebola.’ Her response shocked me.
‘Aminatta, my organisation is treating people with Ebola, they save lives,’ I said aloud because I knew well what we were doing.
‘If she does not believe, ask her to come with me next day, I will show her.’
‘Aminatta, Dr. Harris is going give me a promotion.’ I said injecting a hope in her, but I made sure not to mention anything about Ebola.
‘You would be able to resume your education as well,’ I added with delight.
‘You are not going anywhere else?’
‘No, I will be in the same office,’ I replied quickly to close the discussion as I saw George II returning from his music class which he attended after school.
‘Papa Papa,’ he came running to me.
‘We can play the whole month,’ he looked triumphal.
‘Play?’
‘Yes,’
‘Why?’
‘No school from tomorrow on,’
‘Hmm,’ I felt Aminatta`s sigh as strong as the wind that blew across the Atlantic taking many tin roofs away during the rainy season. Ebola had finally deprived the right to education of those who were longing to discover a promising future after a decade-long period without going to school. I looked at Aminatta who was stroking the head of George II who was happy as he could play, but Aminatta`s face was covered with a black veil of hopelessness. A woman who was battling to recover from a life-long trauma after being gang raped during the brutal conflict which deprived her of all her rights including education was just hopeful for a few minutes, but the history looked like a rubber ball in waters.