"I'm a survivor"

Amadou's Story

By ALIMA

March 25^th, 2017

Amadou Camara is one of more than 1,100 Ebola survivors in Guinea. The 55-year-old father of six lives in the village of Koropara, some 90 kilometers from N’Zerekore, in Guinea’s southeastern forest region, where the first Ebola case was recorded in December 2013. Between March 23, 2014, when Guinea’s Ministry of Health declared the outbreak, and April 21, 2016, when the last survivor was discharged from the Ebola Treatment Center (ETC) in N'Zerekore, more than 3,811 people in Guinea were affected and 2,543 died.

Amadou, who is now vice-president of the Ebola Survivors Network in N’Zerekore, says that even though many survivors consider themselves lucky to have beaten the deadly virus, their troubles are far from over.

Here is his story:

Amadou sits in his home in Koropara, Guinea, more than two years after being cured of Ebola. Photo by Ricci Shryock / ALIMA

"My wife was the first to get sick. She was vomiting and then got very weak. We tried to help her, but there was nothing we could do to save her. She died on October 20, 2014. A few days after she died, I started to feel sick as well. Health agents told me I must come get tested for Ebola so they could save me.

Before leaving, I wrote my last will and testament, because everyone was telling me: 'Once you go to the ETC, you don’t come back.'

I was scared, but I went because I didn't want my children to become orphans. The test came back positive for Ebola and I was transferred to the ETC in Gueckedou on November 2. I spent two weeks there.

There were many moments when I thought I would die. I felt so sick. I had no hope. Every day, everyone around me was dying. I didn’t think I’d ever return home.

In the end, I started to get better and finally the doctors said I was cured. I was able to go home. That day, when they discharged me, I was so happy to leave there – I still have pictures from my homecoming.

Amadou smiles at the memory of returning home from the Ebola Treatment Center. Photo by Jennifer Lazuta / ALIMA

Amadou shows the photo of the day he and his grandson CeCe returned home after being cured of Ebola. Photo by Jennifer Lazuta / ALIMA

But my joy quickly was replaced with sorrow when I arrived home, as I found the community had destroyed my house and all my belongings. They didn't want me to ever return because they thought I would give them Ebola.

Amadou shows the photo of his home, which was destroyed by villagers who feared contamination. Photo by Ricci Shryock / ALIMA

The biggest loss was learning they had burned my mattress. My wife and I had hidden nearly 9.5 million Guinean Francs (US$1,000) in the mattress. It was money we had been saving for more than three years to build a bigger, better house for our family.

Everything we had worked for was gone. She was gone. My family was gone. My home was gone. I had nothing left.

In total, Ebola killed 21 people in my family, including my wife, during that first outbreak. Only myself and two of my grandchildren, who also got the virus, survived. Ebola, really, it ravaged the whole village.

Amadou stands outside the small house he currently shares with his grandchildren. Photo by Ricci Shryock / ALIMA

Since recovering from Ebola, I often get sick. I need to see a doctor more often than ever before. I also have general aches and pains in my body. It makes working difficult. Before I used to make cement bricks to build houses. It takes much more time now, because I get tired easily and am in pain.

Amadou says he has started to build his new home, brick by brick. Photo by Jennifer Lazuta / ALIMA

Amadou takes out a bag of cement to make bricks for the new home he is building. Photo by Ricci Shryock / ALIMA

Amadou mixes cement and sand to make bricks for his new home. Photo by Ricci Shryock / ALIMA

Luckily, ALIMA has been helping me with my medical issues. Not just me, but all the survivors in the area. They give us access to doctors and don’t charge us for care or medication. They even pay for our transport to the hospital, because many of us can’t afford it. So really it is a great help. If ALIMA left, it would be very difficult for us survivors. Besides medical care, the staff often come to check in on us. They talk to us and give us advice on how to manage the bad dreams and reduce sadness. We hope other NGOs will come back, as there are many needs, many more survivors and orphans who need help.

ALIMA staff check in with Amadou, as part of ALIMA's Ebola Survivor Care program in N'Zerekore. Photo by Jennifer Lazuta / ALIMA

Today, my life is almost back to normal, except I still feel the loss of my wife and family. I have started to build the new house, but it isn’t the same without her. I had to send some of our children away to live with family so they could have better lives. If she was still here, we could all be together as a family.

I can't complain though, because I am lucky to be able to say 'I'm a survivor.'"

Footnotes

Amadou is one of 114 survivors living in the N'Zerekore region that is supported by ALIMA's Ebola Survivor Care program, thanks to funding by EU Humanitarian Aid (ECHO).

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FootNotes

Amadou is one of 114 survivors living in the N'Zerekore region that is supported by ALIMA's Ebola Survivor Care program, thanks to funding by EU Humanitarian Aid (ECHO).