Liberia :Salesians led by their Rector Major, Don Angel Fernandez Artime, are at the fore front of the fight against the Ebola virus outbreak in the four African countries Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. They face difficult times due to this outbreak but their resolve is strong, says a press release from Fr Jorge M. Crisafulli SDB
Provincial Salesians of Don Bosco, West Africa.
The Salesians of Don Bosco, formally known as the Society of St Francis of Sales, are a Religious Congregation of men devoted to apostolic and missionary activity and to the many different works inspired by Christian charity, but especially the service of young people, in particular those who are poorer and disadvantaged. They are open to the cultural values of the lands in which they work, and try to understand them and become part of them.
The order was founded by St. John Bosco, an Italian saint-educator of the nineteenth century, we are today in 132 different nations.
The press release states that all Salesians are in good health and highly motivated, with a deep desire to remain close to the people and putting their creativity, energy and resources together to offer relief to those who are suffering and to prevent as much as they can, the spread of the infection through education.
The Ebloa pandemic:
The number of reported fatalities up today is 1,229 people out of 2,240 reported cases. In the last three days there have been 84 deaths. The general feeling is that numbers are higher. But it is also important to highlight the fact that there are several people who survived the infection and are fully recovering. It is a sign of hope: Ebola is not an inexorable death sentence.
According to the Salesians in Africa, the Ebola pandemic is not only a “health issue”. It is much more than that.
They say that something that is spreading as fast, or even faster, than the Ebola virus is fear and anxiety. Doctors and nurses feel afraid to report to their places of work due to the dread of contagion. The same happens with sick people. People are afraid to report to health facilities even for other sicknesses out of fear of being quarantined.
Unfortunately hospitals in many cases became places where the infection spread faster and affected more people, since at the beginning there was no consciousness of the danger and no proper equipment for a correct approach to this viral attack. Most clinics and hospital are now closed. Sick people are kept at home which increases the risk of contamination, or brought to Ebola centers where the main purpose is to isolate and the hope of recovery is minimal.
The consequences of the pandemic are emotional, social, economic and moral and affect deeply the daily life of everybody.
Sierra Leone and Liberia are the countries which were caught completely unprepared to face the Ebola crisis. Unfortunately, these countries are now called “Ebola countries”. Airlines have cancelled their flights to and from Liberia and Sierra Leone. This move was strongly criticized by the head of the World Health Organization, as it can be seen in the twitter that immediately followed such decision: ‘WHO was disappointed when airlines stop flying to West Africa. Hard to save lives if we & other health workers cannot get in. #’.
People, even Salesians have become “prisoners” in their own countries. No chance to go to their new placements, or back to their formation houses to continue with their studies. Another sector deeply affected is food. Food prices are on the rise and certain items are becoming scarce. The same story with disinfectants, chlorine, sanitizers and medicines. Delinquency is also on the rise. There are more cases of stealing, robberies. Monrovia, the capital of Liberia is sealed. It is difficult to go out or come in.
The Salesian Role:
In Sierra Leone the government is asking whether the Salesians are ready to take care of orphaned children of parents who died of Ebola. Salesians have accepted the challenge. They are now studying possibilities, resources and risks attached to such intervention. Obviously it has to be the result of a concerted effort done in collaboration with health organizations and government agencies. 
Fr. Jorge says that the Salesians feel more united than ever and they speak of an experience of a true “kairos” amidst the pain and the chaos.
A provincial meeting with the provincial council the PDO and the DBYN (NGO) has already been held in this regard. The meeting decided to create Provincial and National task force groups to study the situation, to discern, to plan and coordinate the projects and programmes which for the time being will be short term as the variants are too many and the situation is changing from morning to evening. This will be a day to day plan and action till when the overall situation gets more stabilized.
The press release states that “The concern and care of the RM and the interest of our Mission Procures and NGOs in offering help has been great from the first moment of the crises and continue to be so. However, we do not want to rush in getting help. We think that it is not only a matter of receiving funds in cash and kind. “
Movements and gatherings of people are restricted in Sierra Leone and Liberia (summer camps, classes, gathering –even one priestly ordination- have been all suspended). The Salesians believe that now that they have to be close to the people, accompanying youth and families in their anxiety and grief. They are of the firm opinion that their mission is to continue announcing the Gospel of joy and hope; to do as much as they can in the field of education and prevention. In Ghana they have already prepared videos, audios, posters, fliers, stickers, banners, bill boards to instruct the people. They have presented all these materials for approval to the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service. They are contacting all mobile networks to start a massive campaign through text messages on mobile phones.
Heroism:
There are so many signs of hope and heroism amidst the flood of bad news: young people going to remote villages to do prevention; doctors and nurses who risk their lives attending Ebola patients; poor people sharing the little they have with those who are poorer and feel hungry; religious ready to leave everything and to serve without counting the cost.
Fr. Jorge states “Yes, it is true, we are living a ‘Kairos’ in AFW. The Lord is offering us a new opportunity to “go out” to the peripheries of suffering and to offer not only material and spiritual help to those in need but to offer our entire lives like Don Bosco. We are not heroes. We do not want to become martyrs! We also feel fear but we have the deep conviction that we have come here to become one with our people, to remain with them and to serve them. “
The Salesians deeply believe that is the most beautiful way to start the bicentenary celebrations of the birth of Don Bosco; not only by printing materials, or organizing seminar and congresses about his history, pedagogy and spirituality but by offering their time, thier talents, all what they have to God’s people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria.
They are inspired by their founder Don Bosco’s work especially during the year 1854:
-26th January 1854: the first four young men – among them Cagliero and Rua – joined in a society ‘to make a practical work of charity towards our neighbours’, and from that day onward they will be known as ‘Salesians’.
-5th of August (feast of Virgin Mary): Don Bosco takes a personal active involvement in answer to the cholera epidemic that struck Turin (2500 cases, 1400 death) “If any of the older ones feel like coming with me to the hospitals and home, we shall do together a work of charity and a thing very pleasing to God”.
-2nd October: first meeting with Dominic Savio.
Fr. Jorge prays “God’s Providence led Don Bosco at that time. We ask him to accompany us 160 years later in the same path of pastoral charity that is at the heart of Salesian sanctity. “For you I’m study, for you I’m working, for you I’m ready even to give my life”.
