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More than 2,500 quarantined people in Sierra Leone have received vital supplies after distributions by Plan International.
Many families, whose members have come into contact with a confirmed case, are being quarantined to stop the spread of Ebola.
The isolation makes it difficult for them to access food and other essential items, which is why Plan’s distributions are so important.
“I had escaped from quarantine several times in search of food. I know it’s risky. Now with these food supplies, I have peace to stay at home,” says Abdulai from Port Loko district.
Nancy, who is head of a household in Western Area, says: “If Plan had not come with donations for us, I wonder what our fate would have been.”
Ebola has already killed 6,500 people in West Africa, more than 1,800 in Sierra Leone.
The packages are being handed out in Western Area Urban and Western Area Rural, Port Loko, Bombali and Moyamba.
Plan’s food packages include: rice, beans, smoked fish and luncheon meat. Other items include Dettol, soap, sanitary pads, charcoal and a telephone top-up cards to ease isolation during the quarantine.
“Quarantine can be a frightening experience,” says Casely Coleman, Plan’s Country Director in Sierra Leone.
“People can feel cut off from the world and have difficulty accessing basic items. This is why some leave the quarantined areas in search of food, which puts others at risk.
“Distributing these items is so important, not only to ensure that people are more inclined to stay in their homes, but also so that while they are there, they have a life-line to the outside world,” he adds.
The project is being implemented by Plan International with funds from UKAID and Irish Aid. It will run until March next year.
In addition to the quarantine distributions, Plan is working to stop the spread by operating community care centres, which act as triage centres, helping to diagnose and care for those suspected of having the virus.
One of those centres, in Port Loko, was visited by UK Secretary of State for International Development Justine Greening on Monday (DEC 15).
Plan International has worked in Sierra Leone since 1978 focusing on education, access to clean water, child rights and emergency relief.
For more information on Plan’s work or to make a donation call 0800 526 848 or visit www.plan-uk.org
