WVSTU Press Release August 27, 2014 1 | P a g e

Media Contact: Solo Otto Gaye Director Department of Public & Media Relations Email: sgaye@tubmanu.edu.lr Cell: +231886709726/+231886333194 Skype:solo.otto.gaye Website: www.tubmanu.edu.lr

TUBMAN UNIVERSITY JOINS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST EBOLA

In the wake of the rapid spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia, William V.S. Tubman University (TU) has joined the campaign to educate and create awareness about health safety, and prevention against contracting the disease. Ebola plagued West Africa and claimed the lives of over 800 in Liberia. As a leading education institution in Southeastern Liberia, a region now affected by the outbreak, TU chairs the awareness and public relations committees of the Maryland Ebola Response Task Force. The Maryland County Ebola Response Task Force serves as the coordinating body of all partners in the fight against the Ebola virus. Besides TU, several organizations including the Rotary Club of Harper City and Catholic Justice and Peace Commission are working fervently in the awareness campaigns. The national government has allotted funds to fight Ebola, but these have not yet filtered to Maryland County. The Task Force thus recommends that local and national authorities approve the use of $120,000 USD from the county development fund to implement its drawn plans, including: (1) purchase of protective gears for health workers, (2) training of health workers and community health volunteers, (3) purchase of an ambulance, (4) preparation of the proposed isolation center, and (5) the cleaning and disinfection of the Harper Central Market. Hon. Nathaniel Toe Jr., Acting Superintendent of Maryland County, revealed that the county has already identified 12 acres of land on the outskirts of Harper for cremation and burial of Ebola-stricken victims.

TU Ebola Task Force Responding to the declaration of the national state of emergency, the President of TU Dr. Elizabeth Davis-Russell, in a memorandum established the TU Ebola Task Force on July 31, 2014 with Prof. Iona Thomas-Connor as chair. The task force has designed and developed a coherent plan to effectively support the national goal to prevent, contain, and treat the Ebola virus. According to Thomas-Connor, the task force has held several lectures on Ebola and screened Ebola awareness videos among staff, faculty, and students.

“We also send SMS and email blasts, print posters, and conduct weekly briefings on the situation of Ebola in the county and country in general and at the same time, monitor the use of washing stations that were

William V. S. Tubman University Tubman Town, Maryland County

MAILING: P. O. Box 3570 Harper, Maryland County, Republic Of Liberia, West Africa Monrovia Office: 15th & Tubman Boulevard, Sinkor, Monrovia, Liberia

EMAIL: info@tubmanu.edu.lr WEBSITE: www.tubmanu.edu.lr

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established at strategic areas around the University to ensure employees and students disinfect their hands as they get in and out of the buildings and the campus,” Thomas-Connor noted.

TU Task Force has targeted twelve communities in Harper and Pleebo Districts for awareness, including Philadelphia, Tubman Town, Big Town, Fergusson, and Grand Cavalla. Collaborating with the Ministry of Health through the County Health Team (CHT), TU has trained health workers to respond in case of an Ebola outbreak. Recently, TU Task Force allocated the amount of $500.00 USD to support the needs of the CHT to train 162 Community Health Volunteers who will go back to their own communities to create awareness. In a letter to students, faculty and staff, and stakeholders, Dr. Elizabeth Q. Enanoria-Carbajosa, Vice-President for Academic Affairs said Ebola is dreadful and changing the attitudes and behaviors of the people towards hygiene and sanitation. She further wrote:

"In the streets of Harper, I see containers of water with chlorine for hand washing and people are getting conscious to wash their hands but I also see the pains that this virus is causing to the culture of the people. I see how the Churches removed the ‘sign of peace’ where people shake hands or hug; how the people stopped greeting people flicking their fingers as they shake hands, how the Maryland Sports Association banned for the mean time, soccer games-- a game that brings joy, a game that strengthens friendship, and communities. Ebola Virus is dreadful indeed but I hope it will bring a lasting change in the attitude of the people toward a cleaner and safer environment,"

Enanoria-Carbajosa concluded by calling on everyone to strictly adhere to all preventive measures against the deadly disease. Seeing the need for the students, faculty and staff to be aware of the deadly disease, TU’s College of

Health Sciences (CHS) held a one-day awareness workshop for faculty, staff and students on April 9,

2014 in the wake of the outbreak of the Ebola virus e in North Western Liberia. The workshop was

facilitated by Prof. Dr. Tabeh L. Freeman and Associate Prof. Philip D. Davis of the College of Health

Sciences

Situation Overview

According to the CHT, there are no suspected, probable or confirmed cases of Ebola in Maryland

County. Nonetheless, the CHT advises citizens to be diligent in observing measures put in place to curtail

the spread of the virus in the county. The CHT also said that wash buckets, chlorine and other sanitary

materials were distributed to institutions, mosques, churches, and border entry points.

Curtailing and preventing the spread of this deadly Ebola virus is everyone’s business. It has become a

global concern. Your help is needed in the fight against the Ebola virus. Your contribution can help save

a life in the fight to defeat this deadly virus. The funds will be used to strengthen the Maryland County

Ebola Response Task Force and partners’ efforts to fight the disease and protect Maryland County.

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We have several ways to give in the fight against Ebola: Please send your contributions to:

William V.S. Tubman Foundation (www.wvstufoundation.org), or

Marylanders For Progress, a tax-exempt organization in the USA,

(www.marylandersforprogress.org).

You may also drop off your contribution at Tubman University’s Monrovia Office on 15th Street

and Tubman Blvd., across from the Royal Hotel in Monrovia,

Or feel free to stop by Tubman University’s Security Command Center at the campus in Harper,

Maryland County.

If in the USA, send your check or money order to

o College Community Congregational Church

5550 North Fresno St., Fresno, CA 93710.

(Be sure to write WVSTU Ebola Task Force on the memo line of your check or money

order)