The unsung heroes of the Ebola response

Freetown’s Archbishop Edward Thamba Charles led a meeting in Parliament this week, and he explained to MPs and peers about the way faith leaders had engaged with the Ebola crisis. In the early stages of the Ebola outbreak, once the international community got going with their response, faith leaders were not consulted. The first government “lock downs” – health workers going house to house in search of the dead and dying – took place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, affecting the Mosques and Friday prayers, the Adventists on Saturday and Christians on Sunday.  Most public gatherings were banned, and places of worship were some of the few locations where people could receive vital information about the Ebola outbreak. Priests would use the pulpit and the