The world of Tzu Chi March 2020(Vol.120)

Bringing Hope for the Future Sierra Leone has been cast under the global spotlight for its nationwide Ebola virus outbreak in 2014 that lasted for 18 months until theWorld Health Organization (WHO) declared an end to the epidemic in March 2016. By then, more than 14,000 in the West African country had been infected by the virus, with nearly 4,000 fatalities. The outbreak resulted in widespread damage, destroying homes, crippling the national healthcare system and social institutions, as well as stunting economic growth. Led by Tzu Chi USA volunteers, Tzu Chi extended relief to Sierra Leone in collaboration with local charitable organizations Caritas Freetown Foundation, Healey International Relief Foundation and Lanyi Foundation, providing long-term care to survivors of the Ebola outbreak and other relief organizations through the distribution of relief supplies – a humanitarian initiative now in its fourth year. The children return home with blankets delivered by Tzu Chi volunteers to the Kiera Chaplin Desert Flower School, located in a stone-quarrying community where most families struggle financially. [Photograph by Hsiao Yiu-hwa]