A Death in the Family

everyday gandhis friends and family,

We regret to inform you that the Ebola crisis has hit home for us in Liberia. Lasana Kamara, eg Project Coordinator and Field Supervisor has lost his own son to the disease. Amara L. Kamara was just 16 years old, vibrant and full of potential. It is unsure where he contracted Ebola virus after a recent motorbike accident landed him in the Voinjama hospital. Upon developing symptoms, he was transferred to a treatment center in Foya, cutting him off from family and friends. He passed on August 16th, 2014.

For those of you who do not know Kamara, we have been working closely with him for nearly 10 years. He is a tireless, dedicated, skillful peacemaker whose particular skill is working with traditional communities in traditional ways. Since the start of the outbreak he has been assisting the Ministry of Health in their Ebola prevention awareness campaign and distributing sanitation materials in remote villages where other NGO’s and MofH personnel had been attacked, but where he and our team has been welcomed thanks to Kamara's great skill in building trust with local communities through deep listening and by respecting traditional community entry protocol.

This is truly disheartening news and we send our love and condolences to Kamara, his family and all of our Liberian brothers and sisters during these difficult times. May we begin to find solutions to this terrible epidemic so that the needless deaths of people like Amara might finally end.

At the time of this writing, all of our extended eg family are safe in their homes and will remain there for the next several weeks. Schools are closed and travel within Liberia is restricted. Food prices are skyrocketing and medical care for routine illness such as malaria and typhoid is nearly impossible. We are deeply concerned and are doing all we can to ensure their safety.

Please consider making an emergency donation towards the protection of eg staff and extended family, and/or towards the rapid mobilization of our local and cross-border Mobile Peace Teams once the epidemic is over. There will be much work to do to prevent food shortages, ensure political stability, maintain sanitation, and console those that have lost friends and family. We are already working with colleagues and local grassroots elders and leaders to strengthen the community's ability to respond to these and other crises, including the prevention of violence in the wake of this epidemic. Please see the attached SitRep report for the lastest details and developments.

Sending our love and best wishes to all of those affected,

-Cynthia Travis & Jenna Hammerslag, everyday gandhis