When UCD lecturers Therese Herlihy and Marion Maher heard about the rising death toll from Ebola in Sierra Leone earlier this year, they decided immediate action needed to be taken.
The April Ebola outbreak had scuppered plans of a summer return to the Magbenteh Community Hospital in Makeni, where they had volunteered in 2013. So the pair embarked on an ambitious philanthropic mission to ship urgently needed supplies to the area.
Following an intense fundraising campaign, Ms Herlihy and Ms Maher are set to see off two 40-foot containers packed with vital goods, which are destined for the destitute west African state.
“We’ve raised over €14,000 in the last couple of months, which is just enough to cover shipping costs for the containers alone,” said Ms Herlihy, who lectures at the UCD School of Medicine.
Nothing wasted
“There’s all sorts of things going over: medical equipment, lab supplies, electrical goods, an X-ray machine complete with a fully operational processing unit. On top of that, we’ve got small things like soap, bed linen, books, clothes and protective gear, including 60,000 pairs of gloves.
“The containers themselves will go to good use too. The hospital’s canteen is actually a portable container, and the ones we’re sending over now can be kept for storage or whatever’s needed.”
Ms Herlihy, from Waterford, has been in constant dialogue with medical workers in Makeni over what is needed most.
Companies such as General Electric (which donated the X-ray machine) and Fannin Healthcare (which gave a container full of medical supplies), as well as friends, family and acquaintances who gave generously, were vital contributors to the operation's success, Ms Herlihy said.
The containers are due to leave from Dublin Port on Tuesday. The sea fare is covered by funds raised, though efforts continue apace in order to pay for Sierra Leone’s “clearance fees” – an unregulated import levy on all goods entering the country – before the shipment arrives in January.
“Makeni recorded the highest rate of Ebola virus contamination in November since the outbreak began eight months ago. There’s just no reprieve,” said Ms Herlihy.
Changing customs
“A large part of local customs is that they wash the body before burial. You’re trying to make them change their traditions, because they genuinely believe that if they don’t wash the bodies, the deceased won’t pass into the next life. This is what they’ve always done.
“Often they get a basin of water from the well and bring it back. While the first person who washes their hands with it is clean, with the rest of the family there’s cross-contamination,” she said.
“These practices are very difficult to change, but the least we can do is supply them with the equipment to make it easier.”
Charity website: aidforsierra leone.org