Living through Ebola: A teenage survival story
14-year-old Hawa has survived the Ebola virus in the Kenema District of Sierra Leone, one of the areas of the country which has been hit hardest by the illness.
Hawa contracted the disease from her grandfather who she had been living with when he fell ill.
“I have stayed with my grandfather for four years and he was never known to be a sick person. Headaches and cold were his only illnesses. But it got to a time when he fell ill seriously. He was throwing up, having high fever, complaining of severe pain all over his body and crying all day long.
He was throwing up, having high fever, complaining severe pain all over his body and crying all day long.
“Our neighbours reported the matter. The ambulance came to our house and took him to the hospital. A few days later he tested positive.
“Exactly two days after, I started showing the same signs and also tested positive.
“My grandfather died shortly afterwards. I did not get to see his body. I was admitted at the hospital and was worrying over my own situation,” Hawa says.
The agony of Ebola is still fresh in Hawa’s mind.
“A lot of people died of Ebola in the hospital. There was crying all over the hospital. I was crying too. Whenever I thought of the people dying, I became afraid and thought of dying too,” she observed.
"There was crying all over the hospital. I was crying too. Whenever I thought of the people dying, I became afraid and thought of dying too.”
"I was all alone at the hospital. Nobody was allowed to visit me during this period. I didn’t get to see any of my relatives until I came out," she explains.
Hawa recovered from Ebola after one month in the treatment centre.
“The doctors that were treating me told me I survived the disease because I reported early for treatment”, she said.
Sadly for Hawa and many children like her, some people have shunned their loved ones who have been ill with Ebola.
Like many other survivors, Hawa has also experienced this rejection.
“When I came out of the treatment centre, my friends could not play with me any longer. Whenever I got closer, they went far away from me. Even with my free-from-Ebola certificate, people are still afraid to come close. Even my biological father could not accommodate me when I went to him. He drove me out, telling me I have Ebola,” she explained with tears.
Sadly for Hawa and many children like her, some people have shunned their loved ones who have been ill with Ebola.
It takes around three months for Ebola survivors to be accepted back in to their communities.
Hawa currently stays with her mother Jenneh in Kenema.
Many people, who have survived the Ebola epidemic, are still struggling with post-Ebola stress, ailment and stigmatization.
Counseling and post-Ebola treatment units have been set up by World Health Organization and their partners in a bid to encourage and support Ebola survivors.
Hawa attends the sessions at the Kenema Government hospital.
“The counseling sessions are helping us. Most of us had given up on society. We felt we had no place. But the sessions are giving us hope to fit in again,” she notes.
World Vision has been working in Hawa’s district distributing personal protective clothing and equipment (PPE) to keep health workers safe.
The PPE will be used by medical staff for the treatment of Ebola patients, and also as preventative measures against other non-Ebola related diseases.
You can support the work World Vision is doing to help fight Ebola here