Feature: Ebola survivors establish football team to heal wound

The Ebola disease hit the shores of Sierra Leone almost two years ago when a man contracted the virus in Kailahun, northeast of the country, in May 2014.

From there the disease spread like wild fire in the harmattan season, killing more than 3,000 Sierra Leoneans. It also devastated the economy, and brought the country almost to a stand still.

Even though a number of victims survived the virus, they had to cope with mental wounds caused by it, and seek ways of healing.

Ericsson Turay, one of the survivors, conceived the idea to establish an Ebola Football team to serve as a meeting point for Ebola survivors in the community.

Eric told Xinhua in a recent interview that he himself contracted the disease when he was called to take care of some relatives who were suffering from the virus in Kenema, a city about 300 kilometres from the capital Freetown.

"With the help of the almighty together with medication, I was lucky to survive, but not so for 38 of my relatives who succumbed to the virus," said Eric.

Left and abandoned to himself, Eric, with one of his friends, Nadia Wauguier, established the Kenema football team with other survivors with the aim of creating awareness of their plight in the county.

For now, he said, about 150 have registered for the club.

Eric said that the Ebola survivors live in loneliness abandoned by their community and despised by the government.

He said that if successful, the football team will help ease the physical and psychological pain most Ebola patients are going through.

They also intend to use the football team to reintegrate the survivors in the community through football, a popular past-time for most Sierra Leoneans.

With the proceeds, the football team also intends to provide school and tertiary fees for the Ebola survivors in the country.

But funding is a problem. According to Eric, the team has no source of income except the initial sum received from Nadia Wauguier and the Liverpool football club in England.

Since Nadia left, there was no support from the government or any NGO. "We have written a number of projects for sponsorship from the government or interested individuals but this has fallen on deaf ears," said Eric.

"When the football team was first established, then Social Welfare Minister Moijueh Kaikai commended the initiative and promised to provide us with football jerseys," he said.

But such a promise was not delivered because the minister was relieved of his duties soon after he made such a pledge, said Eric.

A female member, on condition of anonymity, said that the 5,000 U.S. dollars promised them by the government was not forth coming.

Eric said that the survivors have been disappointed by the government who had promised to take care of all the survivors.

He said that the Ebola football team is now only concentrated in Kenema. "I wanted to travel and promote it nationwide but couldn't because of the financial constraints," he said. Endit