Africa > West Africa > Liberia > What Happened to Liberia's Ebola Orphans?

Liberia: What Happened to Liberia's Ebola Orphans?

2015/10/13

Additional than 5,900 Liberian children lost one or both parents to Ebola. Some are with a surviving parent, others found loving homes with friends or relatives, but a lot of have been left orphaned on the streets or are finding it tough to adapt to new lives with host families.

Sitting outside her former home, a presently-abandoned home on the outskirts of the capital Monrovia,12-year-old Sarah recalled the day in August 2014 at the same time as she was discharged from an Ebola treatment centre. Her joy at having survived was quickly crushed at the same time as she was informed that both her parents had succumbed to the virus. An only child, she was presently as well an orphan.

Next additional than 4,800 deaths from the virus, Liberia was declared Ebola-free for the second time last month and is trying to move forward. Sarah, however, is still trying to find her place. Unable to track down any of her relatives, a local advocacy group assigned her to a host family.

"They brought me... to live with these people, but I am not happy at all," she told IRIN. "I am sitting here because my guardians, who are strangers to me, said if I come home they will beat me. Each little thing I do in the home gets them angry. I am really scared and I don't know what to do."

Sarah refused to identify her guardians but said that in addition to the beatings, they called her names and sometimes wouldn't even give her food. She said she often comes back to her former home to sleep and escape the abuse.

"I am no longer in school. The people I live with send all their kids to school but do not send me. I cry each day, thinking about my parents. I really want to leave, but I don't know where to go."

Tony*, a 14-year-old boy who is crazy about football, lost both his parents and two sisters to Ebola.

He presently lives in an orphanage on Buchanan Highway in rural Liberia and said his "friends" call him the "Ebola orphan" and refuse to eat with him.

"This makes me sad," he told IRIN. "A lot of times they shun me and call me names. Sometimes, I want to leave this place but again where do I go?" he asked. "I pray each night for God to help me through this. It is painful to live this kind of life."

No support systems

While Sarah and Tony have been given some assistance, a lot of orphans are left to fend for themselves.

Tete Kollie*, a 16-year-old from the town of Tubmanburg who lost her father a lot of years ago to an unknown illness, was left homeless next her mother died of Ebola last year.

"I presently go on the street to beg just so I can eat," she told IRIN. "My mother's family members say I shouldn't be around them anymore. They say my mother died from Ebola and so I shouldn't come near them. Sometimes I sleep with hunger. No food to eat."

Single parents widowed by Ebola are as well struggling to care for children battling to adjust.

"My six-year-old daughter misses her mother still," said Alex Blamo, who lives in the Monrovia township of West Point and lost his fiancé to Ebola. "She has not been herself since her [mother's] passing. Each time I come home, there is a new complaint... Her friends do not want to play with her."

Mother-of-three Dede Sirleaf told IRIN it was difficult to support her children next the loss of their father, the major breadwinner. "I have been [forced] to change my children's school to a additional affordable one," she said.

Additional help needed

The Liberian government has partnered with UNICEF, Save the Children and Plan Liberia to provide basic services to some Ebola orphans, inclunding help with school fees, food distribution centres and counselling.

But the large number of orphans has made it difficult to follow up on individual cases. A lack of appropriate programmes and the need for a government awareness campaign are common complaints.

Samuel Morris, who runs an Ebola orphanage in Monrovia, told IRIN they were doing the best they can despite the a lot of challenges.

"Right presently we are catering to seven dozen orphans who lost relatives due to Ebola," he said. "We are just trusting God for someone approaching to our aid. We have to ensure these kids are in school."

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