Red Cross volunteer uses lessons learned during Ebola to shape his future

He is the soft spoken one of the group. A gentle soul. A young man who learns a lot through the simple act of observation. Once committed to a cause, he sees it through, even when faced with much adversity. “I almost quit,” Kandeah Kamara admits, reflecting back on his work as a member of the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society safe and dignified burial team during the Ebola outbreak. “But I sat back and thought, if I leave this work, who will do it? It is our community and our people are dying, so I decided to continue.”

A first aid volunteer with the Red Cross before Ebola, Kandeah was used to being welcomed in communities. He was confident that the emblem of the Red Cross would protect him. It was very different with Ebola. “We were given t-shirts but we wouldn’t wear them because they had the word Ebola on them and we would be stoned,” he says. “When we reached one village, we were almost beaten. We were not welcome at all. As soon as they saw us, they said we were taking Ebola to the communities.”

see more at: http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/africa/sierra-leone/using-lessons-learned-during-ebola-to-shape-the-future-72116/