July 24, 2015 By Ibrahim Tarawallie
Fambul Tok International has provided assistance to the people of Kissi Teng Chiefdom in the Kailahun District to put together a post-Ebola recovery plan code-named: “The People’s Ebola Plan”.
According to Fambul Tok Executive Director, John Caulker, the plan is geared towards ensuring a complete eradication of the deadly Ebola virus disease which has claimed the lives of thousands of Sierra Leoneans across the country, including scores in the chiefdom, as well as preventing future outbreaks.
Caulker said the document provides direction for the people of the chiefdom to get back on track through their efforts and shared commitment to post-Ebola recovery.
He stated that the plan came about as a result of meetings and discussions facilitated by his organization in various sections in the chiefdom where residents had the opportunity of identifying their priority needs with regards post-Ebola recovery.
He noted that the document represents the chiefdom’s commitment to use its own local knowledge and resources to develop the required resilience in maintaining zero new infection.
“The plan is not a replacement of government’s post-Ebola recovery effort but more as a complementary model of community resilience building. We only facilitated the process and it is the people who prepared the plan,” he said and added: “This is a pilot phase but we have plans of taking it to Koinadugu and Moyamba districts respectively.”
Mr. Caulker welcomed the move by government to put together a post-Ebola recovery plan, but stressed that what is missing in that document is the direct involvement of victims who suffered the most from the outbreak.
He therefore called on the government and other non-governmental organizations to work with communities to not only identify their challenges but also the wounds created by the outbreak, in order to ensure effective participation in the post-Ebola recovery plan.