Meet: Alimamy Kargbo, our Office Manager

Alimamy is the Welbodi Partnership Office & Supplies manager. Born in Bombali District, Sierra Leone, he came to Freetown to study at Njala University College, before going on to teach English Literature and Language at secondary school level. Since then he gained experience and qualifications in human resources management, customer service, team management and finance, in positions in banking, at the Exclusive School of Cosmetology, and as a team field editor for the Demographic and Health Survey in 2013. He started working with Welbodi Partnership in January 2015, and is an ever-cheerful and hardworking asset to the team. Alimamy plays a big role in the flight against Ebola. He is responsible for ensuring that the patients in the holding centre receive their discharge packages which includes clothing, since their personal clothing needs to be burned before they exit the red zone. He also manages the supplies for the surveillance office and is currently busy purchasing supplies for the upcoming Infection Prevention and  Control training for hospital staff. 

“I enjoy working with Welbodi Partnership because it restores hope to mothers and helps to improve the lives of children”

A big thank you to Josie Prynn...

Welbodi Partnership is privileged to have had Josie on our team for two months. The time was too short, but Josie was able to accomplish a lot during her time with us. Her focus was on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) training, which included facilitating a pilot training at the Children's Hospital as well as engaging with hospital staff from Rokupa and PCMH (Maternity Hospital) to start setting up the IPC project there. New staff will carry on where Josie left off to ensure that infection prevention and control becomes a reality in the hospitals that Welbodi Partnership supports so that staff and patients are safe. 

Josie is a doctor who qualified from the University of Manchester, and has a degree in International Health from Leeds University. Following completion of the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Josie worked in Kambia, Sierra Leone for several months in 2014. Keen to come back to Sierra Leone she was happy to be offered a position as IPC Trainer, supporting the national IPC project implementation. On leaving, Josie said: “I really enjoy working with Welbodi as they have a sustainable approach that looks towards long-term goals rather than quick fixes”

Thank you Josie for joining the Welbodi Partnership team in Sierra Leone. 

Click here to read one of Josie's post on sustainability: https://josieinmoyamba.wordpress.com/2015/02/21/a-little-reflection-about-sustainability/

March News from Welbodi Partnership: Ebola Update, New Projects and more!

Entrance to our newest partner facility, Rokupa Government Hospital

We've been busy working during the Ebola outbreak. Our work has been addressing four key areas.

First, we have been supporting the Children’s hospital to ensure that the patients and staff are safe and routine services continue. We have achieved this by holding focus group discussions, providing focused training to hospital staff, both clinical and non-clinical, and procuring a back up supply of personal protective equipment that can be used by hospital staff to ensure their safety.

Additionally, we have been supporting the 20-bed holding (isolation) unit at the Children’s hospital through a DFID funded project since November 2014. This includes connecting the holding unit to the generator to assure uninterrupted power 24 hours a day, setting up an office for the surveillance team and providing the team with ongoing support, helping with coordination of laboratory results, purchasing essential items and providing discharge clothing and transportation money to the children and their caregivers, who've been admitted in the holding unit. This is because they need to leave behind all of their personal belongings when they leave the unit, anything taken into the unit cannot come out and must be burned.

Thirdly, we have been working closely with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other organisations to develop a national hospital Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Programme. This will include training of all hospital staff in infection prevention and control, facilitating water and sanitation improvements in facilities as well as providing ongoing mentorship to national staff to ensure that IPC is implemented in the hospitals. We will support this project in three hospitals in Sierra Leone – at the Ola During Children’s Hospital, the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital and Rokupa Government Hospital.

Finally, we've been working beyond the hospital by addressing urgent needs in the local community. For example, a lack of clean water and taps have hampered efforts to control the virus. New taps are currently being constructed in several communities to improve the water supply in those areas.

As we look to the future, we're making plans to expand our work in the local community, to increase support, give advice and educate about certain practices that continue to hamper the efforts to control the virus. We're also welcoming new people to the team to help meet the current needs and to support our new projects!

During the outbreak we've managed to remain flexible and responsive to the needs in Sierra Leone, thanks to our team on the ground and the speed and generosity of our supporters. We appreciate everyone's efforts. 

With cases of Ebola declining, the government's current ‘Getting to Zero’ campaign and exciting projects on the horizon, we are optimistic about the future in Sierra Leone and restoring health care there. We hope you'll continue to be a part of our work. 

For an opportunity to help us expand our support through a special matched giving opportunity this month please read the post about the Global Giving campaign. Global Giving will be hosting a matching campaign to support our Ebola-project efforts. Starting April 1st at 00:01 EST, donations to our Global Giving project will be matched 100% until funds last. This campaign is occurring on both the USA site, and the UK site depending on where you are. 

Welbodi on Global Giving -- give now and double your donation!

We were excited to join the GlobalGiving community this year with our project to support communities fighting Ebola in Sierra Leone. The outbreak is not over, and with this project, we are helping primary health facilities and community groups in the impoverished eastern part of Freetown take action to help get Sierra Leone to zero infections -- and then keep it there, by making sure that health workers, patients, and members of the public stay safe from infection.

This month, as long as funds last, GlobalGiving is matching donations to Ebola-related projects like ours. Donations are matched 100% up to $1000 per donor, and $20,000 per project.

This is a great time to support Welbodi and have double the impact! To do so, please visit our project page at GlobalGiving or GlobalGivingUK.

Below is a report on this project previously posted on our GlobalGiving project site. 

I saw a blur of yellow gloves and dancing bodies, while the instructors – two nurses employed by the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Freetown – called out instructions in Krio, a local creole language. Waves of laughter filled the room as cleaners, laundry staff, and other non-clinical health workers shimmied and shook to test the fit of their personal protective equipment (PPE) in a training session on how to prevent infections and keep themselves and other safe from Ebola.

Having just arrived in Freetown a few days before, I was pleasantly surprised to see the grim image of workers clad in PPE—an image that had become, in many ways, the ultimate symbol of the Ebola outbreak—transformed into a scene of  fun and empowerment. “The PPE shake,” I later tweeted.

What I was watching, in February 2015, was a pilot of a training class that will be rolled out in hospitals nationwide in Sierra Leone. The Welbodi Partnership is playing an important role in providing this training, as well as ongoing mentorship and other support for infection control, to staff in three Freetown hospitals.  

We know, however, that it’s not only hospital workers who need to stay safe. With your support through Global Giving, we will provide opportunities for smaller, primary health facilities in the poorest neighborhoods in Freetown to request this kind of training, or to propose other initiatives they believe will help stop the spread of Ebola. We know that health workers and other local partners are well-placed to identify obstacles and opportunities in the fight against Ebola, and we are committed to providing them with both financial and non-financial support to exploit those opportunities.

You can help. Just $50 can sponsor a training session, and just $100 can buy an infrared thermometer to screen patients before they enter a primary health clinic, identifying those with fever or other possible signs of Ebola in order to protect staff and other patients from infection

Communities, too, are essential to fighting this deadly disease. Next time, we’ll report on some of what our community partners are doing, with your support, to help Sierra Leone reach zero infections!