Henrico organization awarded for Ebola crisis response

Andrew Crider

Contributing Writer

A humanitarian organization based in Henrico County was awarded for their leadership in humanitarian response to the 2014 Ebola Crisis on Sept. 27 at the Clinton Global Citizen awards in New York City.

The organization, ChildFund International, specializes in providing for children living in poverty. The award was in recognition of the group’s work in collaboration with another organization, Airlink, during during the Ebola Crisis.

Together, the two organizations filled three Boeing 737’s to deliver medical supplies to West Africa. Childfund and Airlink’s Aid was among the first to be delivered to the region during the epidemic.

With other members of the Clinton Global Initiative, ChildFund sent 10 ocean containers of personal protective equipment (PPE) to countries affected by the spread of Ebola. In total, 500 tons of aid was delivered in addition to volunteer work during the international health crisis.

“The use of PPEs created room for the nurses and caregivers to interact and play with affected children admitted in these centers without fear,” Cham said. “We now feel safe and very confident that there is proper protection for us from contacting the disease as long as we follow the right procedures in the wearing and removing of these gears.”

According to a study by the World Health Organization, children aged one to four who were infected with Ebola were more likely to die than adults, with a mortality rate of 80 percent. The same study indicated that a fifth of all Ebola cases were children under the age of 16.

A nurse at a ChildFund center in Sierra Leone, Isatu Cham, said that the PPE allowed the doctors to interact safely with the infected children and patients.

ChildFund focused on the unique needs of children during the crisis.

“ChildFund’s nine interim care centers in Sierra Leone and Liberia provided children with safe quarantine facilities as well as food, health care and trauma counseling while also working with those countries’ governments to return the children to family care,” said Senior Manager Corporate Strategic Alliances Christina Becherer.

These centers were able to help children like Sweetie Sweetie, an orphan whose father and mother died from Ebola. They provided Sweetie Sweetie and other children affected by the outbreak a safe place to stay.

Sweetie Sweetie lived at a center in Sierra Leone for 90 days until she was adopted by a community health officer.  

“She is now five, in pre-school and thriving,” Becherer said.

According to Becherer, the organization hopes that the award will help raise awareness.

“We hope it will bring attention to the power of partnerships and working collaboratively across sectors to achieve the best outcomes. We also hope to raise awareness of ChildFund’s signature role in emergency response,” Becherer said.

Although the award ceremony has passed, Becherer said she believes that there is still work to do.

It’s important to realize that the work in West Africa is not done. There is still much to do,” Becherer said. “ChildFund is currently positioning to go after funds to support programming in education and child protection. The impacts of the Ebola crisis are extending into the recovery, and now reach beyond children and families directly affected by the outbreak.”

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