In September, 2014, some of the Koinadugu Descendants living in the United States of America came together in Maryland to discuss how they could help support the Ebola prevention efforts of the Ebola Taskforce in Koinadugu District. After two meetings, the participants agreed that more planned fundraising activities were needed to strengthen the work that was being done to prevent Ebola from reaching and spreading in the district.

The group at the meeting established a Koinadugu Descendants Ebola Donation Drive (KDEDD) with the mission to encourage the collective participation of all Koinadugans living in the diaspora to provide funds, medical supplies and other materials to support the Ebola prevention efforts in Koinadugu District. The participants established a Health Committee to research the specific needs of the district with specific consultation with the leaders of the Koinadugu Ebola Prevention Taskforce in Kabala. The aim of this outreach was to collect information about the Taskforce’s current needs as they continue to work to prevent the spread of Ebola in the district, and how the Koinadugu descendants in the diaspora could be of assistance in meeting these needs. Results from this research indicated that the Koinadugu Ebola Taskforce needed more funding to expand their work in the district. Specifically, we learned that they needed funds to send individuals to respective border areas and sites where individuals with the Ebola virus may secretly enter the district without receiving proper medical assessment for the disease.

From the two meetings held, leaders of KDEDD collected funds from the meeting participants and organizations representing Koinadugu District. From these funds, a $5,000 or approximately Le 21 million donation was made to support the remarkable job that had already been done in the district by the taskforce-making Koinadugu the only district thus far, that is free of the Ebola virus (Koinadugu recorded its first two cases recently-Editor).

With the help of supportive descendants of Koinadugu District living in the diaspora, the leaders of KDEDD are confident that they will continue to help the Ebola Prevention Taskforce achieve its goal. Many participants at the two meetings believe there needs to be a continued effort to outreach and encourage all Koinadugu Descendants throughout North America to make donations for the support of the district’s exemplary work on Ebola prevention. They all believe that this initial donation is only the beginning, as more activities must be planned to collect funds in order to assist the taskforce improve their funding stream, and execute the much needed actions and procedures to make sure the borders are manned and the district is safe and free of Ebola today and in the future.

Sam Kargbo