Community Organized Checkpoints

A banner hangs above the entrance to a Freetown community.  There is a small covered area with a few benches, a bucket with water and soap to wash your hands, and a young man with a laser pointer thermometer.  He asks me to wash my hands, and I do so (for probably the fifth time today.)  He says my temperature is 31 degrees (or 87.8 degrees Fahrenheit), clearly not correct, but part of the standard theater. 

I ask if I can talk to them about the checkpoint, and I am directed to a woman sitting on the nearest bench.  After the informed consent process, we begin.  During the interview, people are passing through the checkpoint, washing their hands and having their temperatures taken.

Susan:  So, you said you all organized this place?

Woman:  We have one brother who, you can see his name up here (written on the banner), [name redacted].  So, he thought it was a good idea to help the community.  

Susan:  He lives here?

Woman:  He lives here.  So, he said let’s organize this Ebola center, where people can wash their hands, because we don’t have anyone in this community who has been infected by Ebola.  So we’ll make the thing continue, and let it not infect anyone inside the community.  So we took the bold step to do this kind of thing.  They don’t pay us, but we just give our voluntary labor.  So, we can be with people, do things well, no problem.  Around 10 to half past 10 at night then we’re off. 

Susan:  So, do you stop people? Say they can’t come inside if you don’t know them?

Woman:  Yes, if there are people who want to come in here, if you’re a stranger, if we don’t know you, we send you away.  We say not to come inside here to bring the sickness, because we don’t know you.  But if we know you, we don’t have any problem.  We accept you to come inside.  But if we don’t know you, we will tell you to turn around and go back.  Until you have someone to come and say, “this is my person.”  So then we can give you space to come inside, but we’ll still be watching.  If anything happens concerning Ebola, we won’t go along with it.

Susan:  Have you all reported to any authority in the city to say that you’re here?  To say, “we’re blocking here” or “we’re doing this”?  Do you understand?  Is there any coordination with any other….  Police, or, I don’t know, Ebola response effort?  Or you just did it?

Woman:   Yeah, we just did it.  Because we didn’t see anyone take the initiative to come do something like this.  We didn’t see the councilor, we didn’t see the Minister, we didn’t see anybody.  So this man here (gesturing towards the name on the banner) he thought it was a good idea for him to do this thing.  Because we were looking for the councilor or the Minister to come to the community, but we looked and didn’t see anyone, so we decided to do it for ourselves. 

Susan:  Well, that’s fine.  Is there ever any tension here at the checkpoint?  Like, someone says they don’t want to stop?

Woman:  (laughing) Yes, exactly what you’re saying.  Actually, we have one case right now.  Look at the car’s license plate number (points to writing on the brick wall behind us).  This is the number Ma’am. When we said to wash his hands, the driver refused and said he wouldn’t get out of the car.  We said, “why?”  He refused to explain, and caused a scene.  He said, “When Ebola has come and you’ve got money out of it, you want to eat the Ebola money.  You think we want to join you?” 

Susan:  Did you ask him, “Which money are we eating?” (laughing)

Woman: yeah, we asked him, “Which money?  Where’s the money that Ebola brought for us to eat? So if you know that Ebola brought money for us, come join us!”  That’s what we often tell them.  It’s not really easy for us here.  Some people curse us, and say, “leave me alone, I’m tired of washing my hands.  All the time!  I’m tired of washing my hands!  I’m cold.”  You know?  They have some words they can bring, so we are just patient.  After all, it’s voluntary work, we don’t want a problem, so we say, “OK, continue.  If you were the only one to get sick, fine.  But if you get sick, it will affect everyone in your house.  So we feel you should wash your hands.  Because if you have the sickness, and you make people inside your house get it, then it’ll affect all of us.” So that’s why we say pa-o-pa (no matter what), you should wash your hands.  If you don’t wash your hands then turn around and go back where you came from.  If you’re coming inside this community, you should wash your hands. 

  Susan:  So, you all don’t have any more doubts that Ebola is real?

Woman:  (enthusiastically) No, Ebola is real.  Ebola is real because of the way they show us, it’s a sickness that doesn’t have a cure.  If it affects one person inside this house, then it will affect everyone inside the house.  So we know Ebola is real and it’s here. 

Susan:  And you’ve received all the messages about how to prevent it?

Woman:  Yes Ma’am.  They say you should wash your hands, don’t touch, avoid body contact – ABC.  So we have all those things. 

Susan: Do you think everyone in your community is following the rules?

Woman:  Yeah, no problem.  We’re doing it.  We’re not perfect, but we’re doing our best.  Because some people when you tell them to wash their hands they refuse, but later on when we talk to him and encourage him, he turns around and does it. 

Susan:  Do you think everyone in Sierra Leone has got the message?

Woman:  Yeah, because the radio, the television, you sleep and wake up and that’s all that’s on right now.  Ebola, Ebola.  Ebola, Ebola.  So that’s the song we have now:  Ebola, Ebola.  Even a small child, if you ask him what’s here right now, he’ll say “Ebola.”  So they know it, they say, “Don’t touch me.  Ebola.  Don’t shake my hand.  Ebola.”  So, we know, Ma’am.

Susan:  So why do you think people are still getting Ebola, if everyone knows how to protect themselves?

Woman:  Because people are stubborn (tranga yes).  Like how the Minister and the President say, it’s the educated people who are the most stubborn.  The ones who have learned the most book are the most stubborn.  The reason I say they’re stubborn, because if you say, this thing here, don’t do it, they’ll say pa-o-pa (no matter what) I want to do it.  So the educated are stubborn.  Because if you tell them, this thing here, if you do it, it will affect you.  He’ll say, well, I want to take the risk.  If this thing will be hard for me or won’t be hard for me.  So the educated are stubborn. 

Susan:  So are they the ones who catch it more often?

Woman:  The Ebola gets them, the educated ones. 

Susan:  Interesting.

Another woman sitting nearby: This community effort, we thank God for it.  We really guard it, and that’s why we make it strict here.  We don’t have any problem.  So, we thank God for that.  Let God continue to do it for us more and more.  That’s why we don’t joke with anybody who passes here.  What we say they should do, they do it. 

Susan: So is it mainly the women who organized this thing?

Woman:  The men too.  It was the man who volunteered, [name redacted]. 

Susan:  Yeah, I see his name there.  So, he paid to make the sign, and ….

Woman:  He did everything for us.  He made T-shirts for us.  What we eat here, he provided it for us. 

  Susan:  So, what do you think about the government’s response to the Ebola crisis?

Woman:  Well, they’ve responded.  No problem, because he is trying.  All the best, he is trying.  He’s going all out to see that this illness is finished.  He’s going all out, he’s praying to make the sickness finish.  Because everything we wanted to do inside 2014, we weren’t able to complete it.  So he is praying, and we really see that he’s stressing this illness.  Because it’s not his own will that this sickness should be here at this time. 

Susan:  You mean, Pa Ernest? (the president)

Woman:  Yeah, Pa Ernest (laughing). 

Susan:  What about the international community?  (“the whites”)

Woman:  They are also helping us.  They are also trying to make the illness be done.  We’re happy for them.  We’re happy for the ones who’ve come to help us.  We appreciate them.  They didn’t just leave us here, they came to help us.  So, we’re happy for them, the white people who’ve come, to come help us and see that this sickness is done. 

Susan:  So, if you see a person here with some of the symptoms, maybe he has fever, maybe he’s begun to vomit, what would you do?

Woman:  Well, we would call 117, for them to come collect him and take him away.  But thank God, we haven’t seen anybody like that.  We haven’t seen anybody who is shivering, and then vomiting, then you see some symptoms around.  Thank God for that.  We haven’t observed it yet.  Because if we observe it, we won’t wait until it’s worse.  As it begins, we’ll call 117. 

Susan:  You wouldn’t be afraid the person would say, “oh man, why are you reporting me?”

Woman: No, I wouldn’t be afraid.  Because I know it’s a family issue (it affects us all).  If I say I’ll wait to report until it’s worse, then I will be a victim. 

Susan:  Well, that’s all my questions.  I don’t know if you have any questions you want to ask me, or anything else you’d like to say that I didn’t ask you about. 

Woman: No, I don’t have any questions.  I just appreciate you, that you came and interviewed me.  I’m happy about that, because we were hoping we’d have someone come interview us and ask about the community, how we were able to get this help in our community.  I’m really happy that you came to interview me. 

Susan:  Do you mind if I take your picture? 

Woman:  I don’t mind at all!