By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Traditional practices of washing the dead, attending funerals and marriage ceremonies, caring for the sick at home, among others, have become fertile soil for nurturing the Ebola virus, in spite of messages telling people not to do so.
Prior to the outbreak of the virus, Sierra Leoneans were well known for holding these cherished and long standing traditional practices in high esteem since they constitute the nucleus of the Sierra Leonean culture. Because of it many lives have been lost while others stand at high risk of being infected. Experts say the Ebola virus is mostly transmitted through human-to-human contact.
Head of Health Alert, a local civil society organisation that specialises mainly in health issues in the country, Victor Lansana Koroma, referred to the observance of such traditional practices as the fertile grounds for breeding the Ebola virus. He cited instances in which many people had contracted the virus through such cultural practices.
In Lunsar Town in the Portloko district, north of Sierra Leone, for instance, a whole household was wiped off for washing a corpse even though messages condemning such practices had been put out by the relevant stakeholders. In a particular community in the Bo district, when an Imam (the head of a mosque) died, the water that was used to wash the corpse was given to his pupils to wash so that his blessing is shared. Scores of youth contracted the virus that way and died.
Apart from the aforementioned instances, the practices are still on-going in the communities and these constitute a major setback in the Ebola fight. Mr Koroma said despite threat of prosecution and the risk of getting infected people still covertly embark on such practices.
‘’Until the people discontinue such practices, it would be difficult to end the Ebola fight in the country,’’ he said.
A recent study titled ‘Social Pathways for Ebola Virus Disease in rural Sierra Leone...’ of 17th April, 2015, conducted by the Njala University, which is located in the south of Sierra Leone, confirmed that social practices are one of the key factors that strongly militate against the effective containment of the spread of the Ebola virus. The study, which was conducted in collaboration with other universities, was focused on Fogbo Village, a small settlement of the Kpa-Mende people, located on the Taia River 12 Km north of Taiama, the headquarter town of Korri Chiefdom in the Moyamba district. The village has a population of about 500 people.
Reports of Ebola outbreak in Fogbo filtered into Taiama in early August last year. The community Health officer visited the village and took a blood sample from a man suspected of having the virus. During the visit, the health worker also ascertained that the case was connected to an Ebola outbreak in Daru in Kailahun district when the wife of the Paramount Chief of Kissi Teng visited her sick sister and contracted the virus. A boy infected in Daru came to Kenema to visit his father who suspected that his son had contracted the Ebola virus. The boy was taken to the hospital, tested positive and later died. The boy’s father also became infected, and apparently not wanting to be hospitalised, he left Kenema at night, evading the curfew and travelled to his hometown, Fogbo where he was cared for by his sister, a ‘sowei’ (an elder of the women’s secret society). The town’s people and the ‘sowei’ did not know that the man had Ebola.
A few days later, the ‘sowei’ also became sick, and the CHO was again informed about the suspected Ebola case. He came to the village and took a blood sample, but the ‘Sowei’ died before the result was available. The villagers concluded, without waiting for the result, that it was Ebola. The town chief called the health officials to come and take charge of the body, but they were unable to attend, and later instructed his subjects to bury the dead ‘sowei’ but not to wash the corpse.
The women in the village insisted that a ‘sowei’ respected by her society should be given a befitting burial, so they assumed charged of washing the corpse and buried it.
Corpse washing is an important part of local rituals for the dead. Afterwards, the wife of the town chief became infected with the virus and later passed away. Since the washing of the ‘sowei’ corpse, 16 women and one man died, all apparently of the Ebola Virus Disease.
By early September last year, it was reported that one person died in the village every day, and there was nobody to bury the corpses. Local government officials sent a message that if the villagers buried the dead without the consent of the government, the people would be fined or imprisoned. The Fogbo people waited for the burial team to come, but the team had still to reach the village three weeks later.
By this time many people had left the village for their rice farms where they sought refuge. These farms, often several kilometres from the village, are equipped with simple shelters against the rain. Retreating to the farm for days at a time in August-September is normal since this protects the ripening crop from bird and rodent damage, and also deters thieves.
Meanwhile, attendance at the women’s funeral had spread the virus to neighboring villages - Kowama and Bauya where four people died and six were evacuated to an Ebola treatment facility in Kenema. Some of those infected in Kowama sought help from a retired pharmacist in the busy main road trading centre at Moyamba Junction.
The Fogbo case is a typical example of how traditional or cultural practices contribute to the rapid spread of the Ebola virus in the country. In Fogbo, the Ebola virus has moved, at times in large jumps along the main road system passing from town to town, but at other times diverts into the interior to infect isolated villages where it is little noticed, reported or acted upon.
The social factors in the Ebola transmission are still at play notably at family meetings, marriages, funerals, internal migration and markets. These practices are observed by many people across the country regardless of the presence of the security agents. Since the Ebola virus is too complex a disease, one cannot tell where it could be contracted.
The District Medical Officer in the Western Area, Dr Thomas Takpawu Samba, during a meeting held at the Cathedral hall in Freetown for the setting up of the Western Area Special Emergency Operations Centre for combating the Ebola virus, commented on the complex nature of the virus, saying that no one should underestimate it.
‘’I am a trained public health specialist; but the Ebola virus is too complex to study’’, he said.
As the disease continues to take a huge death toll through the observance of these cultural practices, the government promulgated the Public Emergency Regulations of 2014 to curtail these gatherings so that transmission routes of the virus could be cut off. Despite the existence of these laws, people still continue to gather and interact in the name of culture and family ties. This means the total eradication of the virus has been very difficult up to this moment.
Therefore, the government and its partner institutions should develop effective communication strategy paying close attention to the social and cultural factors that allow or encourage the virus to spread especially in isolated villages.
This article was published in collaboration with Ouestafnews with the support of Osiwa
(C) Politico 23/07/15
