Another personal story

Heleen and I are together for a wonderful 9 day time of R and R in Freetown.  The stresses of a hectic work week have given way to a delightful time together and a time to visit some of her friends here in Freetown.  So, Sunday, we made our way down to the house of Abi, one of her friends whose husband died during the Ebola epidemic of last fall.  Her house was in a small waterfront area of Freetown.  Outside the breezes blew freely, but inside the heat of the closed in house and the intensity of her story made us sweat, as we sat, and listened, and listened..and she had much to say.... Her husband, Pastor Tholley, was a man of only 54 years, a pastor, and they had been married almost 34 years.  He got sick back in August of 2014, at the same time as the whole country of Sierra Leone was under a lock down ordered by the President.  So at that time, there was no facility to treat any sick people, plus people were not allowed on the streets anyway.  So his illness, which included symptoms of fever, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting, which are some of the cardinal signs of the Ebola virus.  She wanted to get some medicine for him but no pharmacists in town were treating any patient who wasn't there in person.  So she told them the medication was for her, and by giving his symptoms as her own, the pharmacist gave some medications that he thought might be helpful.  And then unfolded the saga that just literally makes you sick, as you realize that this scenario unfolded many times in Sierra Leone.

   No medical help was available, so she remained there at the house and tried to be his nurse.  Some pastor friends came over and spent the whole night in prayer for his life, but he continued getting sicker and sicker..as day 1 passed, then day 2, and finally day 3....until finally he lost his valiant struggle for life.  He died as she lay on the floor of their house outside his room.  This happened on Saturday...Since it was not clear what had killed him, they called the burial team as directed by the government.  But the burial teams were either busy or not responsive, so Saturday came and went, with the same response on Sunday.  By Monday, the smell was getting unbearable.  She tried to spray air freshener, but it did little good in the face of a dead body there in the small house. 
    Mercifully, and finally, the burial team arrived on Monday, and picked him up.  They did the test for Ebola, and took his body away..They grabbed the mattress, the blankets, and the body, and pulled everything out of the house, and then burned all the personal effects, mattress and all.  She was left to clean up the house by herself...as she grieved.

   In the meantime, the friends that they had were very reluctant to visit or even call, as everyone was scared of getting whatever it was, whether Ebola or not.  . One of the disappointments for her was the lack of response from her own church, but I believe everyone was just too scared to do anything. And, I don't blame them, as no one knew what to do.  It was pretty much every man for himself at that time.   Plus, travel was prohibited, so no one came to help..

   In the meantime, she wanted to get the result of the Ebola test.  But the person at the government office said she would need to pay 500,000 leones (100 dollars) to get the result...which she did not have.  (The report should have been free!) So the family did not have the result they needed to make decisions about anything...Eventually, at the graveside the next Saturday, they were to find out that his test was negative, but that did not take away the suspicion in the neighborhood.

  So now, 6 months later, she is slowly recovering..back to work, and slowly making headway on some of the bills.  Her main livelihood is not possible right now, as she is a distributor of palm oil in Freetown.  Travel is still restricted, so she is not able to do that business right now...The nightmare of the last months is slowly fading, but the scars still remain.  She no longer attends the same church, as the scars of desertion were too great for her.  But she still expresses a deep faith in God, the God who will continue to carry her through.  As I asked her permission to share this story, I sensed that she wanted to allow it to go forward to encourage, not to discourage. 

Here is a photo of Pastor Tholley and Abi, along with Heleen, when she lived with them back in 2005.  Heleen doesn't want this photo shared, but it is the best one of the two of them...so here it is.