Few things in recent memory have been more publicized and discussed than the recent Ebola crisis. As challenging as this has been for us in the western world, it is a full blown disaster for those who live in West Africa. It will be a long time before life returns to pre-crisis levels in places like Liberia and Sierra Leone. At New Hope Initiative we have been placed in the forefront of this battle as we maintain an ongoing critical presence in rural Sierra Leone at our Moribatown orphanage. Although the Ebola crisis has not been reported in Moribatown it has been confirmed in areas less than 10 miles away.
The Ebola crisis is placing difficulty and hardship in the path of everyone in that region and our facility is no exception. Unforeseen and unimagined challenges must now be faced. If the entire region is quarantined it will be incredibly difficult to find the food to feed our 72 children everyday. Our NHI leadership recently approved 6 months emergency food funding so that supplies can be stockpiled however many bank employes in that country are staying home so it took us weeks and weeks to even get the wire to Pastor Rogers and his staff. Listen to these other dire predictions for Sierra Leone.
The World Health Organization is warning that Sierra Leone may not be able to contain the spread of the virus with the potential existing for tens of thousands of new cases in the coming months. World hunger entities are warning that over 50% of the nations food crop is rotting in the fields or remains unplanted due to fears among farmers of contracting the virus. Most experts are predicting dire food shortages and famine in the coming months. The World Bank released a study last week predicting that the GDP for Sierra Leone, already one of the poorest countries in the world, will be cut in half for 2014 and 2015 causing an economic meltdown in that country. And most challenging, as the number of Ebola deaths continue to grow, will be the pressing need to care for those huge numbers of children who have been recently orphaned.
Would you help us by praying not only for Sierra Leone in general but specifically for Pastor Rogers and the children of our orphanage as well as our NHI I leadership team as we attempt to meet this crisis head on. Also will you be ready to help us in the days ahead as we try to financially meet the needs of our children in the midst of the coming economic crisis in that region.