The Standard 22 June 2014

16 The Standard June 22 to 28 2014
Features
Ebola: A survivor’s account
The number of people
who have contracted
the Ebola virus in
Guinea, according to
the World Health Organisation,
has risen to 208 —
and 136 of them have died. About
half of these cases have been confirmed
in a laboratory while earlier
cases were not tested.
There is no cure for Ebola but
with early medical support some
people’s bodies are able to develop
antibodies to fight it off.
One survivor, who asked not to
be named, told his story:
“The symptoms started with
headaches, diarrhoea, pains in
my back and vomiting.
None of us could sleep, we
thought we would never make it
to the morning.
The first doctor I saw at a village
health centre said it was malaria
— it was only when I was brought
to a special unit at the hospital in
[the capital] Conakry that I was
told I had the Ebola virus.
I felt really depressed — I had
heard about Ebola so when the
doctors told me, I was very scared.
I tried to be positive — I was
thinking about death, but deep
inside I thought my time had not
come yet and I would get over it.
That’s how I overcame the pain
and the fear.
Doctors from the charity Medecins
Sans Frontiers (MSF) were
here to comfort me and give their
moral support. I tried to stay positive
although I was scared when
I saw my relatives dying in front
of me.
There was a moment when I
thought I might die when I lost
two of my uncles and their bodies
were taken away.
On that night none of us could
sleep, we thought we would never
make it to the morning.
Some doctors from MSF came
to collect and wrap the bodies and
sterilise the area. It all happened
Healthcare workers dressed up to deal with Ebola patients
in front of us.
A short while after I was admitted
to the hospital for treatment I
started feeling better, step by step.
At first I was scared to eat as I
thought I would be sick but after
a while I took a few drops of water
and realised it was Okay and
the diarrhoea gradually stopped
as well.
The doctors would come to see
me and ask questions and one day
nearly all my answers were “no”
— the doctors were pleased and I
realised that I would make it.
That was a very powerful feeling
for me.
It was a great feeling when I
walked out of the hospital.
We had a little celebration with
the doctors, all the nurses and the
people who had been waiting for me.
They took pictures of me, they
shook my hands. I saw that they
felt safe touching me and I realised
I was better. I was really happy
on that day. Now I feel good although
I sometimes get some pain
in my joints.
I prefer not be identified in the
media — many people are aware
that I had the disease but many
others are not.
We have been through difficult
times as people were afraid of us.
You know about African solidarity
— usually when someone
dies people visit you but when we
lost one and then two, three, four
members of our family, nobody
came to visit us and we realised
we were being kept at bay because
of fear.
It gets even worse if everybody
hears about your condition on the
radio and television.
Even people close to us, neighbours
and relatives, are met with
suspicion when they mention
they know us.
Immediately the other person
takes two or three steps back
for fear of contracting the virus.
People are very poorly informed
about the disease.
Nine people in my family had
the virus in total. My wife and my
cousin survived too, so it is the
three of us out of nine.
We were very affected by the
deaths of our relatives but we
were also relieved that not all of
us had died.
It would have been such a catastrophe
if we had all passed away.
This was a lesson on a spiritual
level and it has changed the way I
look at life.
The short time we spent in hospital
has really transformed us. I
feel lucky. I feel very happy to be
alive.” —BBC
Nigeria to get
US$227m from
Abacha loot
Liechtenstein will
return US$227 million
(167m euros; £133m) to
Nigeria that was looted
by the former military
ruler Sani Abacha in the 1990s,
the African nation’s finance ministry
says.
It was the culmination of a 16-
year effort to retrieve the money,
it added.
To secure it, Nigeria agreed to
drop a legal case tied to Abacha’s
family.
Abacha ruled Nigeria from
1993 until his death in 1998 and is
thought to have siphoned billions
of dollars into bank accounts
across Europe.
Transparency International says
the dictator stole as much as US$5
billion during his five-year rule.
“We can confirm that Nigeria
will on June 25 2014 receive the
sum of euros 167 million (US$227
million) from the government
of the principality of Liechtenstein,
part of looted funds recovered
from the Abacha family,” Nigeria’s
finance ministry said in a
statement.
The recovery of the money
had been blocked by legal action
brought by companies linked to
members of Abacha’s family.
The companies’ complaints
were withdrawn following negotiations
between the governments
of Nigeria and Liechtenstein last
month.
Nigeria says it plans to invest
the money in a sovereign wealth
fund for the benefit of future generations.
Separately, Nigeria agreed
on Wednesday to drop charges
The late Sani Abacha
against Abacha’s son, Mohammed
Abacha, who was accused of
unlawfully receiving US$2,7 million
of government money from
his father.
Liechtenstein is not the only
European country to recover Nigerian
state funds, with Switzerland
so far returning some US$700
million.
Earlier this year, the US froze
some US$458 million hidden by
Abacha in bank accounts in Jersey
and France.
Abacha seized power shortly
after the 1993 elections were annulled
and went on to become one
of Nigeria’s most notorious military
rulers, accused of stealing
billions of dollars from the oilrich
nation. — BBC