Dying child ignored by ebola village

MONROVIA:

The only sounds in the abandoned Liberian village were the cries of a little girl, shut up with her mother’s body inside the family home, starving and thirsty as she waited for death.

Eventually 12-year-old Fatu Sherrif fell silent as she too succumbed to the deadly ebola virus that is ravaging her country and other parts of west Africa.

Tragically, Fatu was locked away with her mother’s body for a week after most residents fled the village of Ballajah to the forest to escape an outbreak of the virus.

Her brother Barnie, 15, the family’s sole survivor, has been shunned by villagers despite testing negative for ebola.

Ebola was first detected in Fatu’s family on July 20 when her father Abdulah fell sick.

The diagnosis sparked panic among the 500 who lived in the village. They called health authorities but by the time a team arrived, Abdulah, 51, had been dead for five days.

His wife, Seidia Passawee Sherrif, 43, and Fatu were already sick. Only their son, Barnie, tested negative for ebola.

The health workers took Abdulah’s body, and, according to the local chief, told the villagers “not to go near the lady and her daughter”.

“They were crying all day and all night, begging their neighbours to give them food but everyone was afraid.”

Fatu’s mother died on August 10 but the girl’s cries could still be heard around the abandoned village. The doors and windows to the house were sealed shut and there was no way to see inside.

On Tuesday, the local chief said Fatu had died overnight, still alone, and still without water or food.

Despite Barnie testing negative for the virus he is still shunned by his fellow villagers.

“Nobody wants to come near me and they know – people told them that I don’t have ebola,” he said.

“When I am hungry, I go in the bush to look for greens,” he said. “That’s what God says so I accept.”