A Synthetic Drug Ravages Youth In Sierra Leone. There’s Little Help, And Some People Are Chained

A group of youth meet in a compound where they rehabilitate Kush users in Freetown, Sierra Leone, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/ Misper Apawu)

BY KEMO CHAM

FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (AP) — In Sierra Leone, a cheap, synthetic drug is ravaging youth. Trash-strewn alleys are lined with boys and young men slumped in addiction. Healthcare services are severely limited. One frustrated community has set up what it calls a treatment center, run by volunteers. But harsh measures can be used.

The project in the Bombay suburb of the capital, Freetown, started in the past year when a group of people tried to help a colleague’s younger brother off the drug called kush. After persuasion and threats failed, they locked him in his room for two months. It worked. He has returned to university and thanked them for setting him free.

“The only time I left the room was when I went to the bathroom,” Christian Johnson, 21, recalled. He said he was motivated to kick the drug by thoughts of his family, the fear of becoming a dropout and the abandonment by many of his friends.

The volunteers then expanded the effort and took over an abandoned building. They seize people at families’ request and sometimes chain them to prevent them from escaping — an echo of a practice the West African country’s only psychiatric hospital previously used. There’s little padding against the concrete floor and walls, and little to do beyond confronting their craving.

“We turn parents away for lack of space,” said Suleiman Turay, a local football coach who helped launch the center. “The people in the community cooperate and help in their own individual ways. Some bring food, some bring water, doing whatever they can to help.” A doctor in the community visits from time to time. Police said they were not aware of the project or the practice of chaining people.

So far, the Bombay Community has treated 70 to 80 people, volunteers said. One showed the chains used in extreme cases, although no one was chained at the time. The youngest held was a 13-year-old boy sent there by his father.

“I was very angry, and I wanted to have nothing to do with him,” said the father, Gibrilla Bangura, a college lecturer. “I am very grateful to these men and women for their role in helping my son.”

Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio this year declared a war on kush, calling it an epidemic and a national threat. He has launched a task force on drug and substance abuse, promising to lead a government approach focused on prevention and treatment involving law enforcement and community engagement.

“We are witnessing the destructive consequences of kush on our country’s very foundation, our young people,” Bio said in April.

People rarely know what they’re getting with kush, a derivative of cannabis mixed with synthetic drugs like fentanyl and tramadol and chemicals like formaldehyde. In some communities, civil society workers say, people have dug up graves to grind bones to cut with the drug, seeking chemicals used in embalming.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s director in Sierra Leone, Daphne Moffett, said one challenge in responding to the crisis is the drug’s changing composition. “Before appropriate interventions can be developed, we need to know what materials are in Kush,” she said in an email.

The drug leaves people lethargic, desperate and ill. While the government does not publish official figures on kush-related deaths or hospital admissions, Ansu Konneh, the director of mental health at the Ministry of Social Welfare, said there had been a sharp rise in people addicted to kush turning up at Sierra Leone’s only psychiatric hospital since 2022.

Konneh heads Sierra Leone’s first public drug rehabilitation enter, which opened in Freetown in February. He said kush has affected Sierra Leone like no other drug.

“It’s making young people drop out of college, and it’s having a physical effect on their health. You can see they have swollen feet, they have multiple organ failures, they’re involved in crimes,” he said. “It’s a very serious situation. It’s creating family disintegration, problems in communities, and they’re dying every day.”

Prince Bull-Luseni, the director of the West Africa Drug Policy Network, a group that aims to promote policy reforms, said Sierra Leone is the worst-hit country in the region. “Every community in Sierra Leone, not just in Freetown, has been hit by kush and it’s tearing them apart,” he told the AP, adding that with no treatment or rehabilitation for most users, “there’s no way to address it.”

The Social Linkages For Youth Development And Child Link, a nonprofit organization that seeks to fight drug use, relies on former users of the drug to help educate young people about its toll. The organization had lobbied the government for years to allocate more resources to fighting addiction.

“Overcoming the addiction wasn’t easy. It was one of the hardest steps of my life,” said Ephraim Macaulay, a peer educator who came across kush in college and soon was paying less than a dollar for a day’s supply. “It’s like you trying to get out of water and there’s water all around you.”

He motivated himself by comparing himself to friends and family. They were clean. He stank. Gradually, he stopped taking the drug. Now he sometimes feels like crying when talking to peers, reminded of what his life could have been if he hadn’t kicked the addiction.

Habib Kamara, the executive director at SLYDCL, said the availability of kush has grown exponentially after suppliers began to manufacture it locally. He said law enforcement needs to do more to target manufacturers at the top of the supply chain instead of chasing buyers and low-level sellers. The government has said it wants to help, not punish, those who use the drug.

“This country has fought two pandemics,” he said, listing COVID and West Africa’s devastating Ebola outbreak that began a decade ago. Kush has had a similar impact, causing young people to drop out of school, straining the healthcare system and tearing apart families.

“If we cannot have an approach that reduces usage, in the future we will not have people to replace us tomorrow in the workforce,” Kamara said.

Some parents are exhausted. Memunatu Kamara, 49, sells smoked fish at a market in Freetown, providing the main income for her family of six. Her husband is an imam. Their son, the oldest, has dropped out of school and stolen the few valuables they owned to buy the drug.

“A very intelligent boy has become a dropout,” she said, wiping away tears. “I feel pain seeing him in this condition. I feel shame among my peers. I feel discouraged about his future. I have no idea what else to do about it.”

She has put her son on the waiting list for the Bombay Community.

Associated Press writer Jessica Donati in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Kush: What Is This Dangerous New West African Drug That Supposedly Contains Human Bones?

BY MICHAEL COLE

PROFESSOR OF FORENSIC SCIENCE

ANGLIA RUSKIN U NIVERSITY

A new drug called kush is wreaking havoc in west Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone where it is estimated to kill around a dozen people each week and hospitalise thousands.

The drug, taken mostly by men aged 18 to 25, causes people to fall asleep while walking, to fall over, to bang their heads against hard surfaces and to walk into moving traffic.

Kush should not be confused with the drug of the same name found in the US, which is a mixture of “an ever-changing host of chemicals” sprayed on plant matter and smoked. Kush in Sierra Leone is quite different; it is a mixture of cannabis, fentanyl, tramadol, formaldehyde and – according to some – ground down humans bones.

It is mixed by local criminal gangs, but the constituent drugs have international sources, facilitated no doubt by the internet and digital communications.

While cannabis is widely grown in Sierra Leone, the fentanyl is thought to originate in clandestine laboratories in China where the drug is manufactured illegally and shipped to west Africa. Tramadol has a similar source, namely illegal laboratories across Asia. Formaldehyde, which can cause hallucinations, is also reported in this mixture.

As for ground human bones, there is no definitive answer about whether or not they occur in the drug, where such bones would come from, or why they might be incorporated into the drug. Some people say that grave robbers provide the bones, but there is no direct evidence of this.

But why would bones be incorporated into the drug? Some suggest that the sulphur content of the bones causes a high. Another reason might be the drug content of the bones themselves, if the deceased was a fentanyl or tramadol user.

However, both are unlikely. Sulphur levels in bones are not high. Smoking sulphur would result in highly toxic sulphur dioxide being produced and inhaled. Any drug content in bones is orders of magnitude less than that required to cause a physiological effect.

Where is the drug found?

The drug is reported in both Guinea and Liberia, which share porous land borders with Sierra Leone, making drug trafficking easy.

Kush costs around five leones (20 UK pence) per joint, which may be used by two or three people, with up to 40 joints being consumed in a day. This represents a massive spend on drugs and illustrates the addictive nature of the mixture, in a country where the annual income per capita is around £500.

The effects of the drug vary and depend on the user and the drug content. Cannabis causes a wide variety of effects, which include euphoria, relaxation and an altered state of consciousness.

Fentanyl, an extremely potent opioid, produces euphoria and confusion and causes sleepiness among a wide range of other side-effects. Similarly, tramadol, which is also an opioid but less potent than fentanyl (100mg tramadol has the same effect as 10mg morphine) results in users becoming sleepy and “spaced out” – disconnected from things happening around them.

The danger of the drug is twofold: the risk of self-injury to the drug taker and the highly addictive nature of the drug itself. A further problem is the need to finance the next dose, often achieved through prostitution or criminal activity.

Joining the ranks of existing polydrugs

Kush is another example of polydrug mixtures of which forensic scientists are becoming increasingly aware. Another tobacco and cannabis-based drug, nyaope, otherwise known as whoonga, is found in South Africa. This time the tobacco and cannabis are mixed with heroin and antiretroviral drugs used to treat Aids, some of which are hallucinogenic.

A further polydrug, “white pipe”, a mixture of methaqualone (Mandrax), cannabis and tobacco, is smoked in southern Africa. These drugs are inexpensive and provide an escape from unemployment, the drudgery of poverty, sexual and physical abuse, and the effect, in some cases, especially in west Africa, from having been a child soldier. So what can be done about these drugs?

The effectiveness of legislation alone is questionable, and many of those who attend the very limited rehabilitation centres return to drug use. Perhaps what is required is an integrated forensic healthcare system where legislative control is backed up by properly resourced rehabilitation centres coupled with a public health and employment programme. What changes are made in response to this epidemic remains to be seen.

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Deaf University Of Tennessee, Knoxville Student Graduates With PhD

BY KRISTEN GALLANT

KNOXVILLE, TENN. (WATE) — The first of 11 the University of Tennessee commencement ceremonies begin on Thursday morning.

One graduate, in particular, is sharing her story of triumph and overcoming adversity. Life is filled with many challenges and some may face more than others.

Amie Sankoh is celebrating not only graduating but overcoming numerous challenges throughout her life, including hearing loss.

“I grew up in West Africa in Sierra Leone,” she signed. “I moved to America when I was 12 years old. At that point, I had no experience with the language.”

With the help of her interpreter, Kristi Pearson, Amie Sankoh shared how she got to where she is today.

At just three years old she lost her hearing due to a high fever from malaria.


She did not learn American Sign Language until she was in her early teens.

Sankoh stated, “Oh it was very difficult, yes, because I hadn’t learned English yet at that point. I had to learn English, I had to learn American Sign Language and everything. And learning English was very hard for me. I was motivated and once I had ALS, it opened up so many doors that I was able to take English classes. I was able to really fight to catch up to my hearing peers.”

Sankoh is now graduating from the University of Tennessee with her Ph.D.

When asked what has been your biggest accomplishment, Sankoh, shared with a laugh, “I’m standing here. Honestly, this has been unreal and it’s beyond my farthest dreams. I never would have predicted that this was possible. When I started my Ph.D. program, I started just to try. That was my goal. I didn’t think that I was actually going to be able to complete it, but I was happy to try, and I was wanting to quit, but I didn’t and it’s been such a big achievement. I’d never dreamed this would be possible.”

She says this is just the beginning for her.

“Next I will be working at the Danforth Center, the Danforth Plant Science Center in Missouri, and I will be working there while I’ll be looking for jobs dealing with industry,” Sankoh signed.

She adds that overcoming challenges begins with trying. Once you try, there is no telling where you can go.

“Start doing things that are necessary, then do what’s possible, and then you’ll find yourself doing the impossible, and that’s what happened with me,” she shared.

Sankoh will be the featured speaker at her Ph.D. graduate hooding ceremony on Saturday.

Her family still lives in West Africa. They will all be making their way to East Tennessee to watch her walk across the stage Saturday.

Business As Usual For Sierra Leone Sex Workers Despite Aid

‘It has to pay for the girls to leave sex work. If they cannot earn as much, then they will always go back.’

BY NGOZI MONICA COLE AND SHANNA JONES

When Oxfam staff in Haiti were caught paying earthquake survivors for sex, many aid organisations moved to overhaul their safeguarding policies and tried to clamp down on the practice of transactional sex, noting the power disparities between staff and the people they serve.

But five years after the 2018 Haiti scandal gave way to the supposed reforms of the #AidToo movement, little has changed on the ground – particularly in countries like Sierra Leone, where sex workers say aid workers are still part of their clientele.

To better understand the experiences of sex workers and what has changed in the sector and what hasn’t, The New Humanitarian spent six months with dozens of women in Sierra Leone and a few of their clients in 2019 before the pandemic struck. Earlier this year, reporters went back to some of the women who reported having aid workers as clients, asking how their lives and clientele had changed.

Most said the lack of job opportunities and government help – coupled with the lingering presence of well-paid aid workers and rising costs – have kept them in the trade. Sex workers in Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo also told The New Humanitarian that aid workers still represented a large part of their clientele.

“Foreign men think that we like the life, but I hate it,” said *Isata, a 17-year-old sex worker in Sierra Leone’s capital of Freetown, who said aid workers were among her clients. “The men don’t realise many of us are homeless.”

Isata turned to sex work to support her younger brother after they lost their mother to Ebola during the 2013-2016 outbreak that killed nearly 4,000 Sierra Leoneans and orphaned more than 12,000 children here. It claimed more than 11,300 lives across West Africa.

Nearly all international aid organisations ban staff from paying for sex while on assignment, and many have so-called zero-tolerance policies for engaging in transactional sex or the broader category of fraternisation.

More often than not, cases of aid workers visiting sex workers are lumped under the category of transactional sex, which can encompass everything from survival sex, where aid beneficiaries trade sex in exchange for food or money, to relationships that may or may not be consensual.

Several male aid workers told The New Humanitarian that sex – in Sierra Leone and elsewhere – is often transactional, and prohibiting aid workers from such arrangements is both naive and unrealistic.

“The whole thing is kind of a grey area,” said *Tom, an expatriate aid consultant in Sierra Leone who also asked not to be identified. “Right after sex, women I sleep with say 'I need some help' or 'I can't pay my rent this month'. It's perfectly reasonable for them to expect you to give them something.”

For some 26,000 women, sex work has been one way to earn cash in uncertain times in Sierra Leone, which still has a large humanitarian presence since the Ebola outbreak, which brought in a surge of some $900 million in aid. Before that, an 11-year civil war ensnared some 10,000 child soldiers and killed 50,000 people between 1991 and 2002.

The economic fallout from the pandemic has been the country’s latest setback, which like many crises, has disproportionately impacted women – often tasked with caring for family members and working as street vendors, cleaners, or other jobs in the informal sector, which is largely unprotected by any government safety net.

Inflation has also surged compared to last year, a jump attributed to rising food and energy costs, supply chain interruptions, and the war in Ukraine.

Hassan Fuad, director of the Youth and Child Advocacy Network (YACAN) in Sierra Leone, said the recent rising costs of essential items and transport have pushed girls as young as 12 into sex work, adding that little has changed with the aid worker clientele – aside from men turning to WhatsApp groups to buy sex more discreetly, or becoming better at hiding their name badges.

“The clientele are still present at the locations they use to pick up sex workers,” Fuad told The New Humanitarian. “It’s just harder to know who they work for now.”

The ban has been difficult to police, however. Sex workers don’t report cases, because they rely on aid workers as clients, and some aid workers ignore the ban entirely.


“Foreign men think that we like the life, but I hate it.”

“Yes, we’ve been given the lectures about power imbalances and everything – and I understand that – but if we don’t pay women for this type of thing, then realistically that means they or their children may not eat for the day. It’s as simple as that,” said *Leonard, who visits sex workers and works for a UN agency in Sierra Leone, asking that neither his name nor that of his organisation be used because of the restrictions.

Those in favour of the ban say transactional sex harks back to colonial-era fetishisation of women from the Global South and blurs the line of consent when the economic disparities between aid workers and local populations are extreme.

One sex worker told The New Humanitarian that a British charity worker reported her to the police and accused her of being a thief after she refused anal sex. Other sex workers say it is not uncommon for foreign men to ask for anal sex or other acts traditionally viewed as taboo in Sierra Leone.

“Rich foreigners working for various organisations come here on the pretence of helping us,” said *Amie, 29. “But then they want to dominate us in our own country.”

But others say the aid sector ban is equally colonial and paternalistic, robbing sex workers of their agency and opportunities to make a living when jobs are scarce and sex work is legal.

“We believe sex work is work,” Charles Mukoma, a representative of the African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA), an alliance of sex workers and partner organisations working to empower and protect people in the sex work industry.

“You're telling me to stop sex work, and you're not telling me how to pay my rent,” said Mukoma, who is not a sex worker but speaks on behalf of many in the sector who want stronger social protections and more work opportunities.
Aid economy

Lumley Beach, a long stretch of sand near Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, comes alive on weekends with aid vehicles parked outside flashy restaurants and clubs.

Sex workers say the area is a magnet for clients from aid organisations, consultancy firms, and the mining sector.

“I was in this very location with my school bags when a white guy offered me $100 for sex,” said *Mabinty, a 26-year-old law and music student who turned to sex work after her father demanded sex from her and threw her out of the house.

She said the man who paid her $100 for sex said he worked for the World Bank.


“If we don’t pay women for this type of thing, then realistically that means they or their children may not eat for the day. It’s as simple as that.”

“I stayed in the hotel with him for about two weeks,” Mabinty said. “I don’t know why he wanted to give me so much money because we weren’t having sex that much. He just wanted someone to pleasure him while he went on the computer.”

In total, Mabinty said the man paid her nearly £3,000, which she used to buy land. The World Bank offered no comment by the time of publication.

“Most of the women here engage in sex work not because they like it, but because they do not have another option,” Julie Sesay, programme manager for a female-led local legal aid charity, AdvocAid, told The New Humanitarian. The charity helps women in need, including sex workers who have been abused by clients or allegedly harassed by police.

“They tend to be from very poor backgrounds. [Sometimes], the parents died during the war, Ebola, or [in] the mudslide,” she said, referring to a 2018 disaster that left more than 1,100 people dead or missing. “Often, even the families send them to the streets.”

*Khadija, for example, was forced into sex work at 17 by her aunt after she lost both of her parents in the civil war.

“When I started doing prostitution as a teenager, it was so, so bad for me,” she said, noting that her clients have come from the UN and other aid groups. “Many times when I was with men, I would say stop and they would not stop even though I was crying.”

Others say foreign clients treat them better than local clients – and pay more.

“Some of the foreign men treat me very nicely,” said *Mariama, 19, who lives with other sex workers and their dependents in an abandoned nightclub on Lumley Beach. “I always look for white men when I go out. My friend married a man from Germany because he got her pregnant and now she lives there. I want that to happen to me.”
Sex abuse scandals

Over the years, the aid sector has been plagued by numerous headline-grabbing scandals involving UN peacekeepers, UN personnel, and other aid workers from NGOs like Oxfam.

The Oxfam scandal, first reported by The Times of London in 2018, involved former country director Roland van Hauwermeiren and other staff of using young sex workers while based in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, which killed between 100,000 and 300,000 people, and left some 1.6 million people displaced.

In the same year, The New Humanitarian revealed that van Hauwermeiren had been dismissed for similar misconduct several years earlier in Liberia, highlighting shortcomings in tracking and vetting personnel.

An internal Oxfam investigation in 2011 led to four people being sacked and three others resigning, including van Hauwermeiren. But a report published by Oxfam after the investigation failed to mention sexual exploitation – a revelation that prompted an inquiry from an independent commission and triggered a loss of funding for Oxfam.

The scandal, coming alongside the #MeToo movement, also triggered wider discussions about the persistence of sexual harassment as well as exploitation and abuse in the aid sector as a whole. Oxfam bore the brunt of the negative publicity, but misconduct, bullying, sexual harassment, and toxic workplace culture were reported in many non-profits, from Save the Children to UNICEF.

Oxfam declined to comment for The New Humanitarian’s piece, saying questions would be better placed with Bond, a UK network of more than 400 organisations working in international development, which has worked closely with Oxfam.

“Obviously, the 2018 scandal was a real wake-up call, and our members have fundamentally changed their approach to safeguarding policies and practice,” Stephanie Draper, CEO of Bond, told The New Humanitarian.

“Since then, we've seen changes across codes of conduct, mandatory training, bringing in professional staff, taking action on reporting, the whole recruitment practices – all of these have been overhauled in order to reduce sexual exploitation and harassment.”

But while the scandal focused global attention on how people affected by crises – especially women and girls – are vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation, the sector has yet to fully address the roots of the problem, according to Jasmine-Kim Westendorf, author of 'Violating Peace: Sex, Aid and Peacekeeping' and senior lecturer in international relations at La Trobe University, Australia.

“There's a complex mix around exploitation, but also consent, and the agency of women making shrewd choices in less than ideal material conditions,” Westendorf told The New Humanitarian in February. “I think there's a lot more to be done in the sector to address the material conditions and to address the inequality that's created."

Westendorf said confusion over what constitutes acceptable behaviour is rife, particularly in countries like Sierra Leone where sex workers often frequent night clubs, hotels, and restaurants seeking to create a connection in order to generate clients.

“Clients may choose to interpret those relationships as being driven by the women,” she said. “There's quite a lot of evidence around peacekeepers and aid workers who say things like, ‘she was enthusiastically competing for my attention… I was sitting at a bar… I didn’t do anything… I was the victim.’”
Unapportioned blame

Like other Ebola-hit countries, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the sudden influx of aid dollars left a mark on the local economy in Sierra Leone, pushing many women and girls into sex work and keeping them there.

But the government of Sierra Leone has also been accused of mismanaging Ebola recovery funds, and of being too slow in providing assistance to people who were impacted by the outbreak.

Just as a national safety net programme was being rolled out in 2015, the country was hit by the Ebola outbreak and falling prices of iron ore, its key export.

“There is little safety net for women and girls in Sierra Leone,” Hannah Fatmata Yambasu, head of Women Against Violence and Exploitation in Society (WAVES), a Sierra Leonean rights group, told The New Humanitarian in March.

Mineral and resource-rich, Sierra Leone is a top producer of iron ore, but little of this wealth – or international aid money – has trickled down to the country’s most marginalised, according to Marie Benjamin, director of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA), a federation of several groups.

“It has to pay for the girls to leave sex work,” said Benjamin. “If they cannot earn as much, then they will always go back.”


“We need a comprehensive social protection programme for sex workers.”

Her group works with the National HIV Response Program, which also assists sex workers in Sierra Leone by creating support groups and getting them into technical and vocational programmes.

Benjamin, however, said even when women have been given funds to start a small business, some have been arrested for defaulting on microcredit loans.

Mukoma, from the African Sex Workers Alliance, said better protections and opportunities are needed more than bans.

“We need a comprehensive social protection programme for sex workers,” he said. “It needs to include food relief for those sex workers in places who can’t eat; healthcare measures for those who are HIV positive; and economic empowerment programmes that sex workers can train in to supplement their income and give them more choice about how they earn their money.”

Mabinty, who hopes her law studies may be able to help a next generation of women and girls by offering better protections, said many sex workers have been driven into the trade because there’s a lack of investment in education and infrastructure: “You have engineers among these women, you have doctors, you have people who have been a professional in their own field.”

Since the pandemic, Mabinty has focused on her studies and said she “wasn’t officially” continuing her sex work.

She said her human rights law course was paid for by an Australian man she befriended in Freetown.

“He didn't ask me for sex,” she explained. “He only wanted to help me and my country. If foreign NGO staff can afford to pay us to use our bodies for their own pleasure, they can afford to pay us for nothing.”

*Names have been changed to protect the identities of sex workers and their clients who requested anonymity.

With reporting and video support from Susan Koroma and Michael Duff.

Edited by – and with additional reporting from – Paisley Dodds in London.

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Deadly Anti-Government Protests Erupt In Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh

BY CLARENCE ROY-MACAULAY

FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (AP) — Anti-government protesters in Sierra Leone clashed with police in the streets of the capital on Wednesday, as tensions over the rising cost of living turned deadly in the West African nation.

In a national broadcast, Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh confirmed fatalities without giving further details. He announced a nationwide curfew from 3 p.m. local time in a bid to stem the violence.

“These unscrupulous individuals have embarked on a violent and an unauthorized protest, which has led to the loss of lives of innocent Sierra Leoneans including security personnel,” Jalloh said, adding that some public buildings including police stations had been attacked and burned down.

The protesters on Wednesday were calling for the departure of President Julius Maada Bio, who was elected in 2018 and still has 10 months left in his term. The demonstrators chanted “Bio must go” as they made their way through the capital, Freetown.

The cost of living in Sierra Leone has risen by more than 40% within the last few months: A bag of rice that used to cost 350 leones now costs more than 500, consumers say. Meanwhile, electricity and fuel prices also have spiked.

The government has criticized the unidentified organizers of the protest, warning that the country already has suffered enough through more than a decade of civil war that ended in 2002.

“Sierra Leone has gone through a lot so let us change the trajectory and not allow people to divide us,” Abdul Karim Will, spokesman for the Office of National Security, told the national radio broadcaster earlier in the day.

SIERRA LEONE: DJM Brunch Starts Fundraising Drive For West African School Kids

BY KARESHA GRAHAM

The David Jamina Movement Brunch was held on Friday, April 22 in an effort to make an impact and spread love on campus while also raising money for schools and orphanages in Sierra Leone. Attendees enjoyed free food while listening to Jamina and several others speak about the business’s mission.

“The goal is to make an impact and spread love,” found and student David Jamina ‘22 said in an interview with The Beacon.

Jamina gave a speech about the very first time he visited West Africa, saying, “After coming back to America, I realize how we took things for granted. The children didn’t have water or an education facility and I wanted to help make that change.”

Jamina had different color shirts were students and staff could purchase. Of the profit made, 17% of the proceeds go to his fundraiser.

“The shirts that I have created are to send positive messages to people because you never know what they are going through. The messages that are on a few of the shirts are “I love you” and “Make a difference,” he said.

“I chose to host it at MCLA to spread awareness of the cause on campus. As well as inspiring students and even staff to grow a similar motive.” Jamina said “I also want to keep this consistent and have an annual event like this to inspire and impact more people. I really believe the MCLA community can help impact the world, and it is definitely manifesting here through this movement.”

Thirty people including students and staff came out to show their support for Jamina’s business. Jamina said that the brunch was super successful after finding out that he raised around $700.

“The event was very successful. I think we were able to have a mixture of students and staff to hear the amazing works of the business. As well as birthing something new to the MCLA Community. I’ve had some staff and students come up to me and tell me how inspiring it was for them to be there,” Jamina said.

Staff members such as April Wright, MCLA President James Birge, and Professor Michael Birch among many others came out to support Jamina at the DJM brunch.

Being a full-time student did not stop Jamina from pursuing his goals. With the help of some friends, he made the brunch party happen. Jamina’s friends were inspired by what he was doing and how well the event was put together.

Ravy Gomes is a senior at MCLA and one of Jaminas’ friends. Gomes was a guest speaker at the brunch and believes that the work Jamina s doing is something great.

“I major in Business and being the guest speaker for today’s event gave me the opportunity to speak about his movement and highlight his motives. We want to make sure that those people who have less opportunity have access to better education and healthcare systems,” said Gomes.

“It feels good to know that there are still good people in this world wanting to make a change. We’re giving those children hope and education to have a better life. When David asked us to help we were happy to give a helping hand” said Bmenet Girum ‘22.

Mardo Bouanga ‘22 was born in Central Africa. Bouanga was one of the guest speakers at the DJM brunch. He spoke about his experience living in Central Africa before he came to the United States. Bouanga knows the ins and outs of the issues that are taking place. He express his happiness and gratefulness for the amount of staff and students who came to support them.

“I was born in Congo, Central Africa and I’ve been to South Africa before. I’ve lived there and I know the struggles. It was an amazing moment for me to see everyone coming out to support,” Bouanga said.

The money that was raised for this event will be sent through Moneygram to Jamina’s father so the principal could receive it. Abu Bakarr Sahid Fornah, who is the principal of the Rural Education Committee primary school, met Jamina through a parent of a child at the school in Sierra Leone.

“One parent came with David and introduced him. David said he had a vision for helping the children so we discussed more of it,” Fornah said in an interview with The Beacon.
“[David] explained to me that when he returns to the USA he will ask for help and money he will send for the school and he did it,” Fornah continued.

Fornah express his gratitude towards Jamina’s business and the help that he provided for the children. “I am grateful because I used the money to buy some exercise books for the children and some furniture for the school such as benches and desks,” said Fornah.

Jamina is currently not working with an organization but he plans on expanding his business by traveling to different countries and offering his help.

“I plan on going to Africa again very soon and checking out more schools and talking to principals there. As well as traveling to other countries and offering help,” said Jamina.

MCLA students said that Jamina’s business will rise to the top if he stays positive and motivated, they also said they believe that he should reach out to more people to make his start-up business bigger. Students like Bouanga and Gomes who are close friends with Jamina are proud of his works.

“We live in a society where people will always talk bad about what you’re doing and making bad comments. David needs to know what he’s doing is amazing and he should be proud of himself,” said Bouanga.

“David should try to reach out to more people back home and here in the United States because based on today’s event I feel like more people would be willing to listen and help out,” said Gomes.

5-Year-Old Girl Paralyzed By Rape Shocks Sierra Leone

In this Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018 file photo, Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters. At first no one knew why the 5-year-old girl could no longer move her legs. Some blamed witchcraft but the real reason was more horrific: She had been brutally raped and left paralyzed. The case has brought sexual violence to the forefront in Sierra Leone, where President Julius Maada Bio has declared it a national emergency. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

BY KRISTA LARSON

FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (AP) — At first no one knew why the 5-year-old girl could no longer move her legs or control her urine. For months she lay on the ground, unable to walk or play.

Some in the community blamed witchcraft but the real reason was more horrific: The child had been brutally raped and left paralyzed as a result of her injuries.

The case has brought the issue of sexual violence against children to the forefront in Sierra Leone, where such crimes are often dealt with between families in private. In February, President Julius Maada Bio declared sexual violence a national emergency and he has vowed to help the 5-year-old get medical treatment abroad.

But months later the girl’s case has shown just how difficult combating sexual violence can be: Her father objected to the rape being tried in court, requiring police to issue a restraining order so she could continue receiving medical treatment. No court date has been set, not even a prosecutor chosen.

Little has changed, too, for the child whose life was so cruelly affected.

“She doesn’t understand about bail or no bail. But she’s concerned that he’s walking, he’s mobile and she’s not,” said Fatmata Sorie, the lawyer representing the child, about the man who assaulted the girl, whose name is being withheld by The Associated Press because she is a minor.

Fatima Maada Bio, the wife of Sierra Leone’s president, has been vocal in promoting the rights of girls and initially heard about the child’s case. She and her husband later traveled to the Aberdeen Women’s Center where the 5-year-old has been receiving medical care free of charge.

The president’s proclamation in February has not been without controversy despite the widespread support for sexual violence victims: Opposition party legislators objected to the president’s unilateral declaration. The parliament must still approve the measure, though Sierra Leone’s attorney general has ordered judges to start applying it already.

The declaration calls for a special police division to handle sexual assault cases involving minors. Most significantly, it calls for life imprisonment for those convicted of raping children.

The law in the West African nation had carried a maximum penalty of 15 years, with no minimum sentencing requirement. Advocates say one man convicted of raping a 13-year-old served only 24 hours last year.

The man accused in the 5-year-old’s case — who is her uncle — remains jailed without bail while his case is before the country’s high court. A defense lawyer has yet to be assigned.


Health workers at the Aberdeen Women’s Center have determined she was in fact only 4 when the rape took place. Those who have cared for her especially want to see the law fully implemented as a deterrent.

“It’s OK for us to declare such an emergency and to say that we’re going to give life imprisonment. But until it happens to one person, two people — that’s when we start to see the law taking effect,” said Ivy Kalama with the Freedom from Fistula Foundation, which runs the clinic.

The government also must secure the funding to set up a 24-hour call center and train those who would work in the special division for child victims. And it is unclear whether how accessible these new services will be in Sierra Leone’s rural areas.

Sorie, the lawyer, praises the government for its new focus on sexual violence.

“We’re only concerned, however, that ... we’re still waiting for some of these things to happen,” she said.

A year after the assault, the 5-year-old is still unable to walk, and has had to use a hand-crank wheelchair to move around the health center’s grounds. She has been undergoing treatment for bed sores that developed on her back while she was immobile at home for months.

One of her leg bones has broken — health workers believe it is a complication of her paralysis — and now she lies in a hospital bed with her leg in traction.

A tiny foot with specks of pink nail polish peeks out of her cast, which is tethered to the metal bed frame. Nurses coax her to eat so that she can recover more quickly but she wants corn flakes, not rice for breakfast.

She has been out of school for a year and is getting restless.

“Even yesterday she was saying she wants to go to school and is going to need a motorbike,” her mother said in the local Krio language as she bounced her infant son on her lap. “When her grandmother was here sometimes she would ask her grandma: ‘When can I walk again?’”

Associated Press writer Clarence Roy-Macaulay contributed.

Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa

At Least 600 Mssing In Deadly Sierra Leone Mudslides

Crowds gather outside the Connaught Hospital waiting for loved ones outside a mortuary in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Mudslides and torrential flooding killed more than 300 people in and around Sierra Leone's capital early Monday following heavy rains, with many victims trapped in homes buried under tons of mud. (Society 4 Climate Change Communication-Sierra Leone via AP)

FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (AP) — The death toll from massive mudslides in Sierra Leone's capital was certain to rise Tuesday as bodies washed up on a beach and workers searched for an untold number of people buried in their homes. The Red Cross estimated that 600 people were still missing.

Authorities have said more than 300 people were killed in and around Freetown on Monday following heavy rains. Many were trapped under tons of mud as they slept. The Connaught Hospital mortuary in central Freetown was overwhelmed on Tuesday with more than 300 bodies, many spread on the floor.

"The magnitude of the destruction as a result of the disaster is such that the number of victims in the community who may not come out alive may likely exceed the number of dead bodies already recovered," said Charles Mambu, a civil society activist and resident of one affected area, Mount Sugar Loaf.

In a sign of hope, he said, "two bodies were brought out alive from the debris last evening." Government spokesman Cornelius Deveaux said rescue operations began early Tuesday to remove people still believed to be buried in the rubble. Heavy equipment was deployed to dig into the piles of red mud.

Deveaux said definitive death figures were unknown "as the mortuary is overwhelmed with corpses — men, women and children." Many bodies were in a horrible state, missing arms, heads or legs, Deveaux said, adding that proper burials will be vital in keeping disease at bay. "Contingency plans are being put in place to mitigate the outbreak of disease like cholera," he told a local radio station, FM 98.1.

Sulaiman Parker, the environmental protection officer in the Freetown City Council, said bodies will be buried in the next 48 hours. Some rescue workers and volunteers dug overnight through the mud and debris with their bare hands in a desperate search for missing relatives. Military personnel have been deployed to help with the operation in the impoverished West African nation.

"I have never seen anything like it," said Abdul Nasir, program coordinator for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "A river of mud came out of nowhere and swallowed entire communities, just wiped them away. We are racing against time, more flooding and the risk of disease to help these affected communities survive and cope with their loss."

An estimated 9,000 people have been affected, Nasir told The Associated Press. The Sierra Leone National Broadcasting Corp. showed people carrying the dead to the morgue in rice sacks. Many of the impoverished areas of Sierra Leone's capital are close to sea level and have poor drainage systems, exacerbating flooding during the rainy season. Freetown also is plagued by unregulated building of large residential houses in hilltop areas.

Thousands of makeshift settlements in and around the capital were severely affected. "The government has been warning people not to construct houses in these areas. When they do this, there are risks," Nasir said. "People don't follow the standard construction rules, and that is another reason that many of these houses have been affected."

Deforestation for firewood and charcoal is one of the leading factors of worsening flooding and mudslides.

A Harvard Doctor Just Won $1 Million For A Project That Could Prevent The Next Deadly Pandemic

BY ARIEL SCHWARTZ

BUSINESS INSIDER

Raj Panjabi getting his blood pressure checked by a community health worker

Before the Ebola virus ravaged West Africa, killing thousands and leaving entire towns reeling, it started small. The virus wound its way out of a rainforest-adjacent village in Guinea and spread through other rural areas in Liberia and Sierra Leone, going undetected for months. By the time the world realized what was happening, it was too late to stop the virus's spread.

It's hard to find outbreaks if people aren't actively looking for them. And in rural communities across the world, people lack access to healthcare workers who might be able to detect future Ebola outbreaks — or on a more regular basis, help diagnose and treat problems like pneumonia, malaria and diarrhea.

Dr. Raj Panjabi just won the $1 million TED Prize for an idea that could dramatically increase the number of paid community health workers around the world. The prize is given each year at the TED conference in Vancouver, Canada to make the recipient's "big wish" a reality.

Panjabi is a physician at Harvard Medical School and the co-founder and CEO of Last Mile Health, an organization that expands access to healthcare in remote areas through the hiring of professional community health workers. Panjabi tells Business Insider that he wants to "recruit and train the largest army of community health workers that's ever been known."

He calls his concept the Community Health Academy.

"I want to help countries where they're already working on this to do it at a higher quality and lower cost, to create and curate the best in digital education resources, and to [use] self-learning and online courses to recognize the next outbreak," he says.

All of these steps could reduce unnecessary deaths from treatable diseases and potentially prevent future pandemics, according to Panjabi.

Panjabi grew up in Monrovia, Liberia. He lived what he calls a normal childhood as a math and science geek, until civil war erupted when he was nine years old. The war sent hundreds of thousands of families fleeing, and Panjabi's family ended up moving to North Carolina.

"I wanted to go back to see if I could contribute to serving those we left behind," he says. When Panjabi returned to Liberia in 2005, he discovered the country had the one of the biggest doctor shortages in the world, with just 51 doctors for four million people. The physicians available to see patients were clustered in urban areas, forcing many rural residents to travel over a day to get care.

That's why he started Last Mile Health in 2007 — to bring healthcare to rural areas at a low cost by training paid community health workers to detect and treat diseases. "I believe no one should have to die in the 21st century from lack of access to a doctor or a clinic," he says.

Last Mile Health came into existence at the right time, technologically speaking, since smartphones have made it easier than ever to access medical knowledge without a degree or a lab.

Panjabi gives the example of a child with a shortness of breath. A healthcare worker could check to see if the child has a fever with a digital thermometer, count their breaths using the phone as a smartwatch, and come away knowing whether the child is likely to have pneumonia.

In the next year, Panjabi hopes to use his TED Prize money to set up online training courses for community health workers across the globe. He wants to start in countries with the most dire healthcare shortages (like Liberia).

Online education platform EdX has already committed to working with Last Mile Health on the project. The next step after that is to work with ministries of health in various countries to set up official certifications for trained health workers.

"If we can't understand the value they bring, their labor is undervalued. This would help countries measure training competencies," he says.

Ultimately, Panjabi believes community health work is both an economic and a national security issue. By hiring health workers, governments can create much-needed jobs in rural areas. And as the recent Ebola outbreak revealed, blind spots in rural healthcare lead to diseases that threaten people all over the world.
"You can't bomb Ebola," he says.

Israel Retaliates For UNSC Resolution With Series Of Countermoves

Netanyahu recalls ambassadors to New Zealand and Senegal, stopping aid to the West African nation, and mulling cutting ties with UN agencies operating in Israel. He also cancels planned visit of Ukraine's prime minister to Israel.

BY ITAMAR EICHNER AND TOVA IZIMUKI

Y-NET NEWS, DECEMBER 25, 2016

Benjamin Netannyahu of Israel

Israel has taken a series of diplomatic moves against nations that voted in favor of the contentious UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to settlement construction, from recalling ambassadors to cutting ties and canceling official visits.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the Foreign Ministry to "reevaluate all of our ties to the UN within a month," and said he had already cut NIS 30 million in funding to five UN institutions. "Five institutions that are particularly hostile towards Israel," he explained.

Israel is also considering stopping work visas to employees of these UN agencies and expelling UNRWA spokesman in Israel, Chris Gunness, who Jerusalem is accusing of inciting against the State of Israel.

Another measure being examined is to stop payments of NIS 186 million a year (about 46.5 million euros) to the UN in membership fees.

Netanyahu, who is also the foreign minister, recalled Israel's ambassadors to New Zealand and Senegal soon after the vote and has summoned the ambassadors of all nations who voted in favor of the resolution—except the US—to his office on Sunday morning to rebuke them.

He also instructed the Foreign Ministry to cancel a scheduled visit of the Senegalese foreign minister to Israel in three weeks as well as cancel all Israeli government aid to the West African nation.

"Those who work with us will gain, because Israel has a lot to offer the nations of the world. But those who stand against us will lose, because there will be a diplomatic and economic price to their actions against Israel," he said in a speech on Saturday night.

One of the aid projects Israel is leading in Senegal is of drip-irrigated vegetable farms, which are part of an initiative to alleviate poverty through agricultural innovation. The program is based on low-pressure drip-irrigation that saves water and produces improved quality of vegetables and fruits.

As part of the project, Israeli experts train locals in advanced irrigation methods and help construct infrastructure like greenhouses, nurseries and study centers. Several dozens of Senegalese arrive in Israel every year for further training.

Israel has invested hundreds of thousands of shekels a year in this project over the past decade, and it is one of the biggest projects in Africa.

New Zealand, which is ending its two-year term as a member of the UN Security Council at the end of this month, has in the past submitted its own initiative that included an expression of commitment to the two-state solution, condemnation of settlement construction, condemnation of incitement and violence on both sides of the conflict and addressing the humanitarian situation. The initiative was not taken seriously and New Zealand's representatives had to withdraw it but decided to support the original Egyptian resolution draft that was also adopted by Malaysia and Indonesia.

And while New Zealand and Senegal submitted the resolution along with Venezuela and Malaysia, Israel has no diplomatic ties with the latter two nations, so there are no countermoves it can take against them.

Israel was disappointed with some of the countries that supported the vote, primarily Britain (whose Prime Minister Theresa May is leading a pro-Israel policy), Ukraine, Japan and Uruguay.

Ukraine, which is a normally friendly state towards Israel, voted in favor of the resolution. In protest, Netanyahu decided to cancel a scheduled state visit to Israel by Ukraine's Jewish Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.

Ukraine’s decision to vote in favor of the resolution appears to demonstrate the extent to which President Barack Obama was behind the decision.

According to officials in Israel, Groysman is thought of as one of Israel’s main supporters and even wanted that his country not be involved in the consultations held on the resolution.

However, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko decided to vote in favor of its passage following a telephone conversation with US Vice President Joe Biden.

Jerusalem did not expect much from France or Spain, but has hoped Russia's President Vladimir Putin would veto the decision. Netanyahu even called him twice last week.

Sierra Leone Is Fast Becoming The Murder Capital Of West Africa

THE SIERRA LEONE TELEGRAPH

DECEMBER 24, 2016

Barrister Imran Rahman

SIERRA LEONE (SIERRA LEONE TELEGRAPH) -- Communities around Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone are tonight gripped by fear and shock after the brutal murder last night of another well know public figure – the highly acclaimed Barrister Imran Rahman. (Photo: President Ernest Bai Koroma).

The former Magistrate and Barrister is reported by police to have been strangled at his home by unknown armed men who broke into the house in Marjay Town in the west of Freetown.

His death comes just two days after the retired head of the country’s military – Lieutenant General S.O. Williams, was shot dead by armed men at his home in the east of the capital. Police are still investigating his killing.

Lawyer Rahman was aged 78 and comes from the very popular Rahman family in the Foulah Town community of eastern Freetown.

His murder has once again raise serious questions about the ability of the Koroma government in running the country, as well as the capacity of the police in maintaining law and order in the capital Freetown. How safe is Freetown tonight?

If top military men and senior lawyers are not safe in Sierra Leone, then what chance do ordinary men and women have in their own homes? (Photo: Barrister Imran Rahman).

Since coming to power in 2007, president Koroma has failed to stem the rising levels of serious crime in Sierra Leone, including armed robbery, hijacking, and brutal murders.

In his end of year speech delivered to the people of Sierra Leone in 2015, president Koroma mentioned the alarming rise in lawlessness, and promised to do whatever it takes to bring law and order to the country.

But it seems the president has woefully failed the people of Sierra Leone and the international community, that has invested millions of dollars in promoting law and order as well as building the capacity of the judiciary and criminal justice system.

Sierra Leone is ranked in the Global Human Development Index as one of the poorest nations in the world, and by Transparency International as one of the most corrupt countries in Africa.

Soon the country will be ranked as one of the most dangerous nations in the world, and the murder capital of Africa, if the current senseless killing continues.

Few overseas investors are brave enough to invest their capital in Sierra Leone today, with the exception of the chinese – whose imported security experts are looking after the chinese community, despite recent improvement in the country’s business environment.

Two weeks ago, the residence of the popular opposition politician and one of the aspiring presidential candidates for the SLPP – Alie Kabba, was attacked by heavily armed men in military uniform in the capital Freetown. No one has been arrested for that attack.

The current spate of high profile murders will only serve to drive away investors from Sierra Leone to other West African countries where their capital will be safer.

As the Koroma government continues to lose control of the streets of the capital to armed gangs, one has to wonder how long before they start planning armed insurrection against the government itself?

No government should sit idly by and watch the life of its citizens routinely snuffed away by criminals, in such despicable, cold blooded and brutal manner.

Whilst the ruling APC party may be enjoying enormous political capital from large sections of the unemployed youths, the president must remember that turning a blind eye to criminality simply to curry votes at elections is morally wrong, if not damn right unconstitutional.

Those of us that have campaigned against the reintroduction of the death penalty for those found guilty beyond all reasonable doubt by a court of law, are now calling for the government to bring back the death penalty.

If this is what has to be done and quickly, in order to restore confidence on the streets and in the homes of citizens, as well as guarantee public safety, then so be it.

Of course the government should have done more to diversify the economy, so that jobs can be created for the millions of young people that are out of work in the country.

But it seems there is a growing number of hard core criminals that would continue to kill their fellow citizens for their property, regardless of their employment status.

Two months ago the minister of the interior – Palo Conteh, a man many would not trust with the key to the gallows, announced that he has completed the refurbishment of the gallows.

Well if he had thought then that his public show of the newly refurbished gallows, would serve as a deterrent to murderers, then he too must be in a state of shock tonight after the killing of Barrister Rahman in cold blood.

The blood of the former head of the military and Barrister Rahman is in the hands of Minister Palo Conteh (Photo).

Both he and the chief of police – Francis Munu, must go out there and bring those responsible for all the recent murders in the capital to justice.

According to police report, a few suspects were earlier today arrested at Funkia Junction in the west of the capital.

The suspects were driving the stolen vehicle of Barrister Rahman.

Such is the brazenness of the criminals in Freetown today. Are they hired by highly connected individuals in the country to go out and steal from the rich and to assassinate?

What is tonight puzzling analysts is the question as to why is it that, whenever the All People’s Congress Party (APC) is in power, Sierra Leone is at risk of becoming a failed state – characterised by lawlessness, armed robbery, violence, breakdown of law and order in society, and the flagrant abuse of power with impunity by those in authority?

As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission found in its enquiry, the seeds of the brutal ten year civil war in Sierra Leone were sown in the 1970s and 1980s by the ruling APC. And it seems very little has changed today.

Poverty, mass unemployment, thuggery, armed robbery, highway robbery, street violence, mental disorder, drugs and alcohol abuse, are changing the psyche of young people into highly dangerous, professional and hardened criminals.

Soon they will be large enough in numbers and brave enough too, to turn their weapons against the government as rebels. No one should want this for Sierra Leone. But it seems the choice once again, remains with the Koroma government.

As 2016 comes to a close, we must ask: Where is Sierra Leone heading?

May the soul of Barrister Rahman rest in perfect peace.

Ebola: 11th Sierra Leone Doctor Dies; Fire Destroys Supplies

A healthcare worker dons protective gear before entering an Ebola treatment center in the west of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Dr. Brima Kargbo, Sierra Leone's chief medical officer, confirmed Thursday Dec. 18, 2014, that Dr. Victor Willoughby died earlier in the day after being tested positive for Ebola on Saturday, the 11th doctor in the country to die from the disease that is ravaging West Africa.

FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — One of Sierra Leone's most senior physicians died Thursday from Ebola, the 11th doctor in the country to succumb to the disease, a health official said.

In neighboring Guinea, a fire destroyed medicine crucial to fighting Ebola. The fire engulfed a warehouse at the Conakry airport and burned everything inside, said Dr. Moussa Konate, head of logistics for Guinea's Ebola response. He could not immediately say how much had been lost.

The world's largest Ebola outbreak has drawn a massive international response, and supplies, including everything from rubber gloves to ambulances, have poured into West Africa. The disease has sickened more than 18,600 people and more than 6,900 of them have died, the vast majority in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

Ebola has taken a particular toll on health workers, killing more than 350, depleting the ranks of doctors and nurses in countries that already had too few to begin with. Because Ebola is spread by bodily fluids, it is only transmitted through close contact. It is often called the "caregivers' disease" because those infected are typically family members caring for the sick or health workers treating them.

The death of Dr. Victor Willoughby, who tested positive for Ebola on Saturday, was a major loss for Sierra Leone, said Dr. Brima Kargbo, the country's chief medical officer. "Dr. Victor Willoughby was a mentor to us physicians and a big loss to the medical profession," said Kargbo. "He has always been available to help junior colleagues."

The 67-year-old died Thursday morning, just hours after an experimental drug arrived in the country for him. The arrival of ZMAb, developed in Canada, had raised hopes for Willoughby's survival. But he died before a dose could be administered, said Kargbo. ZMAb is related to ZMapp, another experimental drug that has been used to treat some Ebola patients. The drugs' efficacy in treating Ebola has not yet been proven.

Diallo reported from Conakry, Guinea.

US Hospital: Surgeon With Ebola Extremely Ill

An ambulance carrying Dr. Martin Salia, a surgeon working in Sierra Leone who had been diagnosed with Ebola, drives to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Neb., Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014. Dr. Salia is the third Ebola patient at the Omaha hospital and the 10th person with Ebola to be treated in the U.S.

OMAHA, NEBRASKA. (AP) — A surgeon who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone was in extremely critical condition Sunday at a Nebraska hospital, his doctors said.

Dr. Martin Salia, who was diagnosed with Ebola on Monday, arrived in Omaha on Saturday to be treated at the Nebraska Medical Center's biocontainment unit that has successfully treated two other Ebola patients this fall.

Salia is "extremely ill," said Dr. Phil Smith, who is helping oversee Salia's treatment. The 44-year-old Salia might be more ill than the first Ebola patients successfully treated in the United States, according to the hospital.

"This is an hour-by-hour situation," Smith said Sunday, adding that a team of specialists is treating Salia's most serious issues. "We will do everything humanly possible to help him fight this disease."

Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leona. Of the 10 people treated for the virus in the U.S., all but one has recovered. After Salia arrived in Omaha, his ambulance to the hospital was accompanied by a single Nebraska State Patrol cruiser and a fire department vehicle — a subdued arrival in contrast to the August delivery of Dr. Rick Sacra, whose ambulance was flanked by numerous police cars, motorcycles and fire vehicles.

Salia has been working as a general surgeon at Kissy United Methodist Hospital in the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown. It's not clear whether he was involved in the care of Ebola patients. Kissy is not an Ebola treatment unit, but Salia worked in at least three other facilities, United Methodist News said, citing health ministry sources.

Salia, a Sierra Leone citizen who lives in Maryland, first showed Ebola symptoms on Nov. 6 but tested negative for the virus. He eventually tested positive on Monday. The U.S. State Department said it helped facilitate the transfer of Salia; the U.S. Embassy in Freetown said he paid for the expensive evacuation. The travel costs and care of other Ebola patients flown to the U.S. have been covered by the groups they worked for in West Africa.

Salia's wife, Isatu Salia, said in a telephone interview that when she spoke to her husband early Friday his voice sounded weak and shaky. But he told her "I love you" in a steady voice, she said. The two prayed together, and their children, ages 12 and 20, are coping, Isatu Salia said, calling her husband "my everything."

Nebraska Medical Center spokesman Taylor Wilson said members of Salia's family were not at the hospital Saturday, but were expected to arrive "in the near future." Sierra Leone is one of the three West Africa nations hit hard by an Ebola epidemic this year. Five other doctors in Sierra Leone have contracted Ebola, and all have died.

Gresko reported from New Carrollton, Md.
Associated Press writers Clarence Roy-Macauley in Freetown, Sierra Leone; Mike Stobbe in New York; and Matthew Barakat in McLean, Va., contributed to this report.

US To Track Everyone Coming From Ebola Nations

Passengers stand, most waiting for incoming flights, in the arrivals area at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York. Starting Monday, Oct. 27, travelers and from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will have  to report in with health officials daily and take their temperature twice a day.

ATLANTA (AP) — All travelers who come into the U.S. from three Ebola-stricken West African nations will now be monitored for three weeks, the latest step by federal officials to keep the disease from spreading into the country.

Starting Monday, anyone traveling from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will have to report in with health officials daily and take their temperature twice a day. The measure applies not only to visitors from those countries but also returning American aid workers, federal health employees and journalists. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the new step Wednesday.

CDC Director Tom Frieden said monitoring will provide an extra level of safety. Passengers already get screened and temperature checks before they leave West Africa and again when they arrive in the United States.

"We have to keep our guard up," Frieden told reporters on a conference call. The Obama administration has resisted increasing pressure to turn away any visitors from the three countries at the center of the Ebola outbreak, especially after a Liberian visitor to Dallas came down with the infectious disease days after he arrived and later died. Instead, passenger screening was put in place at 5 key U.S. airports. That was tightened Tuesday to funnel everyone coming from those countries through those airports so all are checked.

The monitoring program will start in six states — New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Georgia — the destination for the bulk of the travelers from the outbreak region. It will later extend to other states.

Each passenger will be required to provide contact information for themselves as well as a friend or relative. They will be instructed to check for a fever twice a day and report their temperature and any symptoms to health officials daily for 21 days.

How the checks are done — in person, by phone or Skype — will be decided by the states, Frieden said. If a traveler does not report in, public health officials can track them down. How far they can go to get them to cooperate is up to those officials, CDC officials said.

They will also receive "CARE" kits — the name stands for Check and Report Ebola. The kits include a thermometer and instructions on what to do if symptoms occur. Also included is a card to present to health care providers if they seek care.

CDC already was telling its own employees and other health professionals returning from the outbreak zone to monitor their temperature. It can take up to 21 days to develop symptoms, which include fever, headache, muscle aches, vomiting and diarrhea.

Earlier this year, roughly 150 travelers to the U.S. each day were from the three countries. But it appears there are far fewer now — there are no direct flights and flights to the area have been curtailed. New York's Kennedy airport — which handles the most traffic — has averaged 34 a day since screening began Oct. 11.

The other airports are Washington's Dulles, Newark's Liberty, Chicago's O'Hare and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson. While a few of the people screened thus far have been taken to the hospital, none had the infectious disease.

According to an Associated Press-GfK poll released Wednesday, Americans are worried about Ebola spreading here, and many say the government hasn't done enough to prevent that from happening. The poll found a surprising 9 out of 10 people think it's very necessary to tighten screening procedures.

Some would go even further: Three-quarters think it's definitely or probably necessary to prevent everyone traveling from places affected by Ebola from entering the U.S. On Wednesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the president has been following advice from scientists that a travel ban could do more harm than good. Health officials fear travelers will just find alternate routes and spark harder-to-trace outbreaks.

Many health experts agree that a travel ban is a bad idea. But one faulted the CDC for being slow to institute the daily monitoring. Monitoring can't stop Ebola from coming in, "but we'll have a better chance" to quickly identify and isolate cases, said Dr. Richard Wenzel, a Virginia Commonwealth University scientist who formerly led the International Society for Infectious Diseases

Such tracking measures might have made a difference in the case of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who became the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, Wenzel said. Duncan wasn't sick and passed the screening when he left Liberia. He didn't develop symptoms until after his arrival. He died Oct. 8.

Two nurses who took care of him at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital were infected; both remain hospitalized. The family of one nurse, Amber Vinson, said Wednesday that tests show the Ebola virus can no longer be detected; the Atlanta hospital where she is being treated wouldn't release any information.

Maryland's health secretary said it will depend on individual circumstances how closely the state monitors people. Dr. Joshua Sharfstein said the approach will recognize "that some people who come from West Africa are at a higher risk than others." The CDC isn't mandating that everyone be watched the same way, he said.

Also on Wednesday, an American video journalist who has recovered from Ebola was being released from a Nebraska hospital. He caught it while working in Liberia. "Today is a joyful day," Ashoka Mukpo said in a statement issued by the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He arrived Oct. 6.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama brought together top aides and his new Ebola coordinator Ron Klain. After their meeting, Obama gave assurances that hospitals across the country were becoming better prepared in the event they have to deal with cases of Ebola.

The virus has killed more than 4,800 people in West Africa, nearly all in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Associated Press writers Michael Felberbaum in Richmond and Connie Cass, Alicia Caldwell, Ben Nuckols and Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington contributed to this report.