This article was originally published by Ebola Deeply.
By Cinnatus Dumbaya
Ebola Deeply: How does it feel to have finally graduated, after your studies were put on hold during the outbreak?
Sillah: I am so happy. I felt delighted. This has been my dream all my life, to put on my academic gown and graduate. I am happy that I have finally got my certificate after waiting all this while.
I was planning to put on a party and get all my buddies and family together. But we can’t do this because of the public health emergency. The police will arrest you and your guests if you attempt that. Besides, even without the threat of the police, it’s really difficult to celebrate in the midst of sadness. There are still tears in the eyes of so many people.
Ebola Deeply: You have graduated in a time of Ebola; did Ebola affect your graduation expectations?
Sillah: Of course, Ebola has affected virtually everything in this country. I felt sad when the announcement was made that we were not going to do the traditional handshakes with the chancellor of the university, President Koroma. This is something I missed so much. I would have loved to do this like previous graduates. But we were not so lucky.
All we did is sit there and listen to long speeches. It is so exhausting and it’s not fun at all as it used to be. In fact, we should have graduated some time after December but it was delayed as a result of Ebola. We were given very short notice – only two weeks. There was not enough time to prepare. So for me I am happy only that God has protected me to this day.
Ebola Deeply: How were you and your family and friends affected by Ebola?
Sillah: I have lost a cousin and friend, who was a medical doctor, to Ebola.
I was so devastated after I lost him. He looked very healthy to me when I last saw him, only to be informed within three days that he had succumbed to Ebola. This is someone with whom I would have loved to celebrate my joy upon graduating. He had been supportive during my studies.
Chernoh Maju Sesay
B.Sc. Commerce
Ebola Deeply: Congratulations, Chernoh. How are you feeling?
Sesay: I have mixed feelings today. On one hand I feel so happy that I have finally graduated. I have been waiting for this time and it has finally arrived. On the other hand I feel sad that I have lost people who would have shared this joy with me. I have lost people who not only shared my vision and goals but supported them morally and financially. I am talking about aunties and uncles, cousins that I have lost. I got support from different people before I reached this stage. Most of them were not here today. Ebola has taken them.
So I am happy but I am also a sad man speaking to you. You have something to celebrate but you cannot celebrate because of the circumstances that surround you. It is really hard. No one knows how I feel inside. I was expecting that my family would have been here to celebrate this success, but where are they?
Ebola Deeply: Please accept our condolences. As you graduate today, do you have any lingering worries about Ebola?
Sesay: My worries will not go away if Ebola is still hanging around. I am happy that we are now recording single-digit cases but that doesn’t translate to me that it is gone. Only some of us who have been hit hard truly know the impact of Ebola.
Besides worrying for my life, I am also worried about my prospect of finding a job with this certificate. Many employers don’t take on new people. Most of the jobs that are available now are Ebola-related. Realistically, those jobs cannot absorb everyone.
Mohamed A. Kanu
B.A. (Hons) Mass Communications
## Ebola Deeply: Did Ebola affect your studies, Mohamed?
Kanu: To me it’s like I have arrived from a very long journey. It was a journey that was cluttered with a lot of hurdles and challenges along the way.
Ebola has affected my desire to progress with my studies. After I completed my final-year exams in 2014, I was expecting that I would have graduated in December 2014 but it didn’t happen because of the Ebola surge. So I lost a scholarship that should have taken me to study abroad. And this is so frustrating, you know, because it is a missed opportunity.
Ebola Deeply: What did you do instead?
Kanu: I got a job as a social mobilizer to work with communities to fight against Ebola. And I am happy I have had this opportunity to play my part in this fight as a mass communicator.
This has given me the opportunity to have first-hand experience of how to engage communities in order to tackle emergencies like Ebola. This is a very good opportunity to communicate with different sectors of people, giving out information in its simplest form to save lives.
Ebola Deeply: How do you think the Ebola fight is going?
Kanu: My worry is the state of complacency that continues to manifest itself in this country. People are thinking that Ebola is over, when we are actually in the very crucial stage. Now cases are coming up in the wharf or slum areas, which means other areas are at risk, because it is very easy for these cases to be transmitted across these slum communities. We should continue to listen and adhere to all the health messages being given by officials. This battle is not over till it's over.
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Cinnatus Dumbaya is a contributor to Ebola Deeply.
[Photo courtesy of Ebola Deeply]