(ANS – New Rochelle) – Fortified rice-meals and emergency protective equipment have been donated to Salesian programs in Sierra Leone and Liberia thanks to an ongoing partnership between Salesian Missions and Stop Hunger Now, an international relief organization that provides food and life‐saving aid to the world’s most vulnerable.

Salesian missionaries already living and working in affected West African regions are working with local communities providing food aid and education about Ebola while disseminating protective clothing including long-sleeve shirts and cleaning and disinfecting agents such as chlorine. Starvation is a concern in the affected countries.

According to reports from Salesian aid workers in the field, local markets have been shuttered and many farmers have died. Many school children who could previously count on at least one meal a day at Salesian schools are left hungry because schools have been ordered closed by the government in an attempt to contain the outbreak.

“Because of the Ebola health crisis, the price of food has risen and many people are at risk of starvation,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “The partnership with Stop Hunger Now allows us to feed those most in need and provides us other necessary supplies to help prevent the further spread of Ebola.”

In Lungi, a small coastal town in the northern part of Sierra Leone, Salesian missionaries were able to feed 150 poor children three times a week and gave them also medicated soap as prevention from Ebola.

In Liberia, a recent Stop Hunger Now shipment got to Matadi on Thursday evening 13th November 2014, and was downloaded on Friday morning, as the 40 feet long container couldn’t enter through the main gate; now they’re trying to sell the container, in order to use the money to make a zinc-house for homeless or to balance money used for the clearance and transport.

The shipment contained rice meals as well as medical protective gear including gloves, masks and gowns, and the contents are being shared among organizations that make up the National Catholic Task Force, including Salesian missionaries, which have come together to address the Ebola crisis.

“The Stop Hunger Now donation provides another avenue for us to reach people to educate them about Ebola, the risk factors and preventative measures, to help stop the spread of the disease,” added Fr. Hyde.

“Stop Hunger Now is one of our favorite partners to work with because they are very flexible. They actively seek out opportunities to enhance shipments with additional donated items that the beneficiaries need, and they go the extra mile to help Salesian Missions meet any additional emergency requests that we receive,” says Jessica O’Connor, property and logistics officer at the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs.

Published 18/11/2014