FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Bauyuku Mansaray used to believe in the healing powers of herbs, but not after the Ebola crisis .
He said the victims included one of the herbalists and his wife, a secret society chief.
The shift is a one example of how the Ebola has changed Sierra Leone, which continues to record new cases — five in the week through Sept. 13, according to theWorld Health Organization . About 13,800 people in the country have been afflicted with the virus since the crisis began in March 2014, and nearly 4,000 have died, according to WHO’s latest figures.
People don't shake hands, they avoid large gatherings, refrain from sex if a partner might have come in contact with the virus and obsessively wash their hands at public sanitation stations as part of a national campaign to fight Ebola.
Abandoning traditional African beliefs about healing methods could be the most radical social shift wrought by the virus.
Herbalist Pa Musa Magba, 60, has converted his plot of herbs into a vegetable garden in the northern village of Diang . “I have destroyed all my herbalist instruments because I don’t want to be tempted to treat any sick patient,” said Magba, who added that the herbalists' union, the Association of Traditional Healers, has urged an end to traditional practices until Ebola is vanquished.
After the Ebola crisis exploded, religious practices in Sierra Leone helped spread the disease. Evangelical Christians would lay hands on the infected to heal them, exposing themselves to the virus. In mosques, the faithful washed contaminated corpses by hand. Secret societies brought healthy and contagious people together.
Christian and Islamic leaders also resisted measures prescribed by doctors to stem Ebola's spread. Now, after a lobbying campaign by public health workers, many priests and imams are dispensing medical advice.
“I believe in the Lord as all of you believe. That’s why we always come here to pray to him,” said Reverend Bai Bangura in a recent Sunday sermon at the Wesleyan Church in Freetown . “But he gave us senses and wisdom to do things that will make us healthy. In that light, I have instructed the church members to stop any one from entering here if he or she does not wash his or her hands.”
Sidie Tunis, communications director for Sierra Leone's National Ebola Response Center, said the shift in the religious leaders' views has been instrumental in combating the scourge.
“We are happy that religious leaders who were very reluctant have now joined us in the fight,” said Tunis. “They now realize that the disease has nothing to do with religion or tradition, that it’s a virus which can only be controlled by accepted health practices. This is making a big impact because people listen to them a lot.”
A survey conducted by Catholic Relief Services , UNICEF and a Sierra Leone aid group, Focus 1000, found that 85% of respondents knew they could keep from getting Ebola by avoiding burials, for example. Churches and mosques conducted the public education campaigns that led to those levels of awareness, said Michael Stulman, a spokesman for Catholic Relief Services.
Those efforts have paid off, reducing the number of new cases to 10 since August, according to the WHO figures.
While the virus has yet to be eradicated, Sheik Mohamed Bundu Kamara, chief imam in Sierra Leone’s Northern Province , said he and his followers were fighting it alongside doctors.
Kamara said he advocated washing contaminated corpses in the past. But after health workers talked with him, he changed his mind and ordered his followers to take precautions that didn’t flout their beliefs, like wearing protective clothing and washing with chlorine.
“The Holy Koran says if you are observing prayers and a snake is coming your way, you should stop and kill the snake before it hurts you,” said Kamara. “But if you do nothing and allow it to kill you because you say ‘I am serving God,’ you will have yourself to blame.”
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