Texarkana Wilbur Smith Rotary
 
 
Monrovia Rotary Club Helps Fight Ebola
 
After months of crisis-level response, the Rotary club of Monrovia's fight against Ebola isn't finished. With the number of new cases declining, club members are looking to the long term, planning three projects that will have a sustained impact in the Ebola fight in their community.
 
After the first cases of Ebola reached Liberia's capital, Monrovia, last June, local Rotary members feared that the city's limited health care system wouldn't be able to contain the highly infectious, often-deadly disease.

Those fears were realized when infections quickly multiplied, underscoring the speed with which Ebola can spread in an urban center. It was the first time the hemorrhagic fever had threatened a major city since it erupted in West Africa last March.

Now, after months of crisis-level response, and with the number of new cases declining, club members are looking to the long term, planning three projects that will have a sustained impact in the Ebola fight in their community.

The Monrovia club quickly stepped up efforts to control the spread of the disease in the city. By October, members had donated 220 noncontact infrared thermometers, 10,000 examination gloves, 100 plastic buckets with spouts for handwashing, 120 pairs of rubber boots for health care workers, 80 mattresses, fuel coupons for Ebola response vehicles, and books for students who had to stay at home after the government ordered the closing of all its schools in June.

The 53-member club is also working directly with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to enhance local support for Ebola patients, health workers, and support staff.

"When this crisis hit, we weren't going to stand by and wait for help to arrive; we created our own emergency action plan," says Frankfort. "We felt a responsibility, as a Rotary club, to show our community that responding to disasters like this is what we are all about."

The Rotaract Club of Monrovia also pitched in, conducting a door-to-door outreach campaign aimed at raising awareness about Ebola prevention and home management. The effort was co-sponsored by the Liberian Nurses Association.

In addition, Frankfort says that dozens of clubs worldwide have assisted Rotary members in Monrovia, including the Rotary Club of Marlow, in Buckinghamshire, England, which raised more than $113,000 for the effort.

 

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