Page 41 - Phonebox Magazine October 2014

It makes you think!!
safe. Chlorinated water in buckets is present at the front of nearly every business, shop, and many homes. There are pictures and posters up to tell people to wash hands, and we all do. Shaking hands was the most common form of greeting, and friends would often hold hands whilst talking – all of that has now stopped. Schools, colleges, exams, matches all are on hold and offices close early to ease congestion on the transport system.
Taxis are only allowed to carry two people
This photo shows a typical bucket with tap arrangement to contain chlorinated water for hand-washing
in the back and 1 front passenger and the minibuses (poda-podas) are also restricted to three people per bench.
The medical services are going under. Nurses this week had to strike just so that the hospital authorities gave them the protective garb they need just to have a fighting chance of staying safe. There is a toll-free phone number to call for advice or the reporting of a possible ebola case. This service is so overstretched the phone switches off instead of ringing out. Bodies
are therefore left because people daren’t touch the corpse in CASE it is infected. Just round where we live, two men were left for four days until people came to collect them. Luckily neither were Ebola cases, but as the sun is out for hours........
The specialist teams who are trained in the disposal of Ebola bodies frequently lack body bags, and wash their hands under the main taps servicing the rest of the community. You can’t blame them as there is no other option for them. There are reports of them being drunk as well. This is hard to condemn when you think of the risks they face every single time they pick up a body. Those of us who are just waiting for life to restart again can only kick our heels, and pray that all loved ones stay safe.
So we continue to keep grinning in the face of adversity. Claire Lintern.
Olney–Newton Link has contributed £1500 to the committee in Newton to help with prevention measures. We are also continuing to send money to enable them to build better toilet facilities. Please continue to support us. Thankyou.
Phonebox Magazine 41