From dispelling rumours about how Ebola came to Sierra Leone to sharing the success stories of survivors, aid agencies are helping people come to terms with the reality of the disease in their midst

The first case of Ebola in Sierra Leone was reported in Kailahun district in May. It has since spread to Kenema district, which is now the worst-hit area in the country. There are more than 45 patients inside the Kenema treatment centre, which is stretched to capacity. Like many communities in Sierra Leone, the people of Kenema are trying to understand the disease and decipher the rumours, myths and misconceptions surrounding it.

A health worker wearing protective gear offers water to a woman with Ebola in Kenema. Workers in the treatment centre are stretched to capacity. The UN children’s agency, Unicef, is supporting the hospital by providing intravenous fluids, protective gear and body bags. As of 4 August, 1,711 cases, including 932 deaths, had been attributed to Ebola in the four west African countries of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone has had 691 of these cases (576 confirmed, 49 probable and 66 suspected), including 286 deaths.

Sister Nancy Yoko, 36, in the office of the Ebola treatment ward with her colleagues. The staff are devastated by the death of six nurses and one doctor who worked within the ward and became infected. The few nurses who remain are exhausted, overworked and demoralised. “We are known as the ‘Ebola nurses’,” says Nancy. “No one wants to come close to us, the nurses in the general ward won’t talk to us, even our families are scared they will catch the virus from us.”

Photograph: Jo Dunlop/Unicef

Sister Rebecca Lansana, who also works on the Ebola ward, says she is nervous about the high number of staff deaths and so is her family. “My family do not want me to come here anymore. They think I will die, they don’t want to be around me in case I give them Ebola.” Health workers are being stigmatised and threatened. Rumours surface daily around the Ebola outbreak. “I heard that some people wanted to burn the hospital down, they are angry with us, they don’t believe we are trying to help,” she adds. Ebola is a new disease in Sierra Leone and when the first cases emerged, many people thought it was a government conspiracy to undermine certain tribal groups, steal organs or get money from international donors.

Two weeks ago, a group of mostly young boys gathered outside Kenema hospital and hurled stones at the gates, attracting a crowd of about 1,000 people. Many say the mini riot was sparked when a woman, claiming to be a nurse, spoke on the radio and said Ebola was not real and that health workers were using it as a way to harvest organs and steal blood. The streets were closed off that evening and a 10pm curfew was called. One witness said the men responded positively to a woman who walked up to them and addressed them directly, who explained that she had lost her daughter to the virus.

Ibrahim Sidibe throws salt throughout the grounds of Kenema hospital. “God told [our] pastor that if we sprinkle salt through the hospital and pray, Ebola will disappear within 21 days. We want to fight this Ebola by divine means.”

Sheku Aruna, 23, is a volunteer with the Sierra Leone Red Cross. He lives in Kenema and is acutely aware of the impact Ebola is having on his community. As part of efforts to make people aware of the disease, he has visited villages to spread the word. “I have visited many villages; some people listen, other people are scared and don’t want to know. When I spoke to one man about Ebola, he took some cut glass and chased me – he did not want to know. Other people here are slowly believing it is real. They know it is serious.”

Unicef teams in vehicles and motorbikes mounted with loud speakers have been going around many communities educating people on the prevention of Ebola.

Information, education and communication materials such as posters, factsheets and banners are distributed to people, who are starting to understand that the disease is real as the misconceptions gradually fade away.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Photograph: Yolanda Romero Torrecilla/Unicef

Sidibe says his family do not want him to work in the laboratory. “At first they didn’t believe in Ebola, but now they know it is real and they don’t want me to go to work. They hear my stories every day and they know the disease is serious.”

Joseph Kamara, a pharmacist at Kenema hospital, with some of the information posters, which are being displayed around the hospital and town. “Not everybody thinks this disease is real. When they don’t see it, they don’t believe it, but I see it every day when I come here. I know 20 people in Kenema who have died. We are fighting a war. I have a strong heart but I have cried a lot.”

Yoko holds up a photo of Ebola survivors who walked out of the hospital the previous week. Sierra Leone is now recording the highest number of new cases each week of all the west African countries affected. What makes this outbreak unique though, is the increasing number of survivors , growing gradually to a current total of 143 in Sierra Leone alone.

Ebola survivors can play a valuable role in dispelling myths and gaining community support. While many survivors fear stigma, some are now coming forward and telling their stories. Fatmata Sesay contracted Ebola while working as a nurse at the Kenema treatment centre. Her 11-year-old daughter Tata then became infected. Fatmata spent three weeks in the ward while Tata was there for two. “I am the happiest person in the world right now,” she said when she was discharged.

Vandy Jawad, seven, was given a second chance at life after he recovered from Ebola. “Little Vandy provided laughter at the most unlikely moments inside that ward. I’m so happy for his recovery,” said a volunteer nurse who treated him.

When survivors leave the treatment centre, they are given about $10 for transport to get home, a clean set of clothes and a certificate of good health. Children are also given toys. They are often met outside the centre by local media eager to hear their story.