A Sierra Leone woman wants to make a difference in the lives of Ebola-ravaged countries in West Africa. She thought that bringing food to the victims and patients might help them surpass the disease.
"Perhaps I can do food," Memuna Janneh said after revealing her plans to help Ebola-stricken people in West Africa. In the report, seeing the heart breaking footages of people suffering from the deadly virus prompted her to come up with an idea to help her fellowmen.
Since the government has banned public Christmas and New Year's celebration gatherings. Aside from that there is a vast shortage for food in the worst Ebola-stricken countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
In order to keep the Christmas spirit alive, she decided to use food to help sustain communities wherein the virus has killed more than 7,000 people and infected more than 17,000 individuals.
Janneh said, "I don't have the cure for Ebola. I am not a medic. I am not a superpower. But I thought to myself ... perhaps I can do food."
In September, her home state had a three-day lockdown so she decided to start LunchBoxGift in her own home. Her campaign has delivered nutritious and freshly prepared meals for patients and health care workers who are the frontliners in the Ebola outbreak.
She transformed her home in Freetown to a catering facility wherein volunteers would cook, package and dispatch a total of 2,600 meals to communities. Her campaign became an instant hit in social media.
Subsequently, Janneh launched #GiveAMeal for Thanksgiving. It is a fundraising activity in the site Tilt.com. Her campaign aims to raise about $80,000 that will be able to serve a total of 50,000 meals in Sierra Leone for the next three months.
"This Christmas, patients and frontline workers won't even get to see their loved ones because of the isolation required with Ebola," Janneh said. "Over Christmas we will be serving special festive treats and surprise gifts to all the Ebola hospitals in Freetown. We can't give a hug, we can't even share a smile but we can still give love and show that we care by giving food."
Food is a basic need to survive and because of the complications brought about by the deadly virus. This campaign would benefit a lot of people particularly patients and health care volunteers.