Life after Ebola: Tools for Recovery

• Introductions

• About Y Care International & Liberia YMCA

• Life after Ebola

• Join Hands challenge

• Q & A

Y Care International

• International

development

agency of the

YMCA movement

in the UK & Ireland

• Founded in 1984

• Now working in

20+ countries

Y Care International

Our mission is to work in partnership with young people worldwide through the YMCA

Movement to help them enrich their lives and to build a more just world, free from poverty

Y Care International

• Our vision… empowered young people who are skilled, healthy, treated justly, and resilient.

YMCA of Liberia

• Founded in 1800s (making it one of Africa’s oldest YMCAs)

• In 1926, the YMCA was extended to Monrovia, the capital city

• Full member of the World Alliance of YMCAs since 1953

• Has 10,000 members and participants

• 8,750 members are under 30

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YMCA of Liberia

Key focus of work:

• Livelihoods (Skills training, business support)

• Governance (peace building, advocacy, leadership development)

• Education (formal schools, computer training)

• Health (awareness raising on: SRH (Sexual Reproductive Health, Sanitation Hygiene & Ebola)

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Where is Liberia?

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Where is Liberia?

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Liberia

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• Borders with Sierra Leone, Guinea and Ivory Coast.

• Population: 4,092,310 (65% are young people)

• Life expectancy: 58.2

• Religions: Christian 85.6%, Muslim 12.2%, Traditional 0.6%, other 0.2%, none 1.4%

• Listed as 4th poorest countries in the world (by measurement of GDP)

Context: Conflict in Liberia

• Young people in Liberia have grown up in a country scarred by a long civil war.

• The conflict lasted between 1989-96 and 1999-2003 .

• Claimed lives of 250,000 people & destroyed economy, education system and most country’s infrastructure.

• Many young people were forced to work with armed groups – violence against young girls and women destroyed many young lives.

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• The repercussions of war still affect young people in every aspect of their lives.

Context: Conflict in Liberia

• Since the war ended communities have been gradually rebuilding lives and economies…

• ….but Liberia has also hosted an influx of refugees fleeing the post-Ivorian election violence in 2011 - this has put extra enormous pressure on resources and basic services.

• Today, despite several years of economic growth, levels of poverty and unemployment are still very high…

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…more than four fifths of the population live below the poverty line of $1.25 a day.

Our work with Liberia YMCA

• Working in partnership with the National Council of YMCAs of Liberia since early 1990s

• During conflict provided emergency assistance

• Working on livelihoods project since 2008

• Ran ten week placements for UK volunteers through ICS programme in 2014

• Providing livelihoods for most vulnerable young people affected by the conflict

Ebola

• Turn to your neighbour and have a short discussion on what you know about Ebola

• We will feedback in two minutes

• (This isn’t a test, just your own experience!)

Feedback

• What’s our understanding of Ebola?

• Where does our knowledge on this come from?

Media attention

• Often media focussed on the ‘threat’ Ebola posed to our own shores.

• Likewise in the USA coverage had domestic focus on security.

• UK/USA Doctors flying out to West Africa made headlines. Were rightly hailed as heroes. But weren’t the communities who fought Ebola also heroes?

What is Ebola?

• Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) was first identified by doctors in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1976.

• Carried by the fruit bat, who have it in their bodies but aren’t affected

• The disease spreads to humans when a person is bitten or scratched by an infected animal or eats an infected animal’s meat.

• In the last outbreak, 70% of people who caught the disease died

How did Ebola spread between humans?

• Direct contact with the blood and body fluids of an infected person (Fluids have to enter broken skin - a cut or scratch -or via the mouth, nose or eyes)

• Contact with items (clothes, sheets, cooking utensils, food) contaminated with the bodily fluids

• It can also be caught through sexual contact and breastfeeding.

• Symptoms of Ebola include vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding. These make an infected person contagious

EBOLA’S PRESENCE IN WEST AFRICA IN 2014

Source: World Health Organisation (WHO)

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What made the outbreak into a crisis?

• This was the first time the disease had spread across entire countries and entered big cities.

• The impact of the war caused severe damage to countries’ economies and public services

• Fragile governments that rebuild after a major conflict usually have fewer resources to cope with emergencies.

• People may also not fully trust their governments or other officials

YMCA in Liberia responds

• Peer educators in communities played a vital role in spreading awareness of how to stop the spread

• Community members used to promote messages.

• People in the community trusted the YMCA for information

• Outreach activities and setting up emergency communication centres to provide relevant information required to promote awareness on the prevention of Ebola.

Long term effects

• Media has concentrated on the number of Ebola deaths. This is right to do. Each death is a tragedy for the family and loved ones of the deceased.

• However, the outbreak is having a much wider impact on communities and this is often hidden from the headlines. Here are some key points to think about…

Long term effects

• People who have lost their jobs and incomes because of Ebola also face paying higher prices for food. Many are struggling to survive.

• Without proper nutrition, people become weaker and unable to attend school or work

• The economy during the West African Ebola outbreak has taken a significant hit.

• 75% of Liberian families have seen a 39% decline in their income.

Ebola is gone now we must rebuild

• Whilst there have been no new reported cases of Ebola the long term effects have been devastating.

• Over 4,000 deaths, nearly 10,000 orphans, and in some places the price of a bag of rice has increased by 150%.

• Young people are often worst affected in crisis and Ebola was no different.

Now Y Care International is supporting YMCA of Liberia to give young people the tools for recovery from Ebola.

The tools for recovery

Cleaning up rundown parts of the neighbourhood and build clean water facilities.

Training peer educators to prevent further spread of disease

Training and business support for young people to find a job and work themselves and their community out of poverty.

Young people at the forefront

• We believe that young people are not victims of Ebola but the partners in creating long term, sustainable change.

• We believe that young people are key to driving that change in communities.

The tools for recovery

Aims 1. Communities of West Point have increased access to health and hygiene information and services 2. Young slum dwellers gain the knowledge and skills to rebuild their income levels 3. Young slum dwellers gain skills and knowledge to better prepare themselves for future disasters 4. Young slum dwellers are better able to advocate for their rights

Now we can double the difference…

Thanks to the British

Government every penny we

raise for this appeal will be

doubled!

Activity: YMCAs taking action

In groups:

• Write on flipchart/post-its the different ways in which your YMCA could support the Tools for Recovery appeal

Things to consider:

• How could young people play a role in this?

• Could you link up with other YMCAs to support the appeal?

Feedback

Join Hands on 11th July!

• On Saturday 11th, we want you to join hands in solidarity with YMCA of Liberia and young people across the world.

• One big challenge to get as many people involved as possible!

Question time…

Contact / ways to give

Web: www.ycareinternational.org/recovery

Email: fundraising@ycareinternational.org

Text : YGIV30 then your amount (e.g. YGIV30 £5) to 70070