Ebola letter from Liberia

As we await field reports from our own Liberian staff, here is a letter by B.D Colen and Michael Weah shared by our good friend, William Saa. It raises important questions about the international response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa.

At this moment hospitals and clinics are understaffed, and undersupplied. Most face an alarming lack of food and liquids, with reports of victims recieving a single meal and a small amount of liquid each day. Furthermore, hospitals lack the neccessary equipment to curb the spread of the disease such as protective garbs, rubber gloves, and masks. Morgues are overloaded, and proper disposal of infected bodies is becoming increasingly difficult.

Finally, as paronoia and confusion continue to spread with the disease itself, daily life has come to a stand still. Travel has been cut off at all effected borders and the international response has been shorthanded, and irresponsible as governments act out of fear-stigmatizing and criminalizing citizens. It begs us to ask the very question this article poses: If a developed nation were hit with the same crisis, would the response be the same?

-Jenna Hammerlag, Media Coordinator, everyday gandhis