{{After seven years of hard work and conscientious saving, Issouf Balde was about to realise his life-long dream of fulfilling one of the five pillars of Islam by travelling to the holy land of Mecca for the Islamic pilgrimage, but the Ebola virus dashed his hopes.}}
“My travel agent returned my money for the trip, saying that the embassy of Saudi Arabia has refused to grant visas to all pilgrims from Guinea for fear we could transfer the virus there,” the 62-year-old locksmith told reporters.
“Until a solution for the disease emerges, Muslims from Guinea will not be able to see Mecca. I’m completely shattered. It would have been my first time in [my] life and perhaps my last because, at my age, I don’t know when [I will] raise money for another trip,” he said breaking down in tears.
Guinea is becoming an undesirable destination to the world while its inhabitants are seen as automatic carriers of the Ebola virus and are vigorously pushed back from entering other territories.
Senegal was the first country to seal its borders with Guinea when the haemorrhagic fever first broke out in March. Many NGOs in the West African sub region had slammed Senegalese authorities for the “inhumane” decision.
But today, independent health experts in Sierra Leone and Liberia are chiding their respective governments for not emulating Senegal, which, according to them, could have choked off the spread of the virus to both countries where it has killed 638 and infected a further 1,329 people, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
{{Guineans shunned}}
“People from other countries, especially Sierra Leone and Liberia, feel we Guineans are prostitutes of the Ebola virus, and that we are responsible for their growing woes,” Brahima Bah, a 42-year-old lawyer in Conakry, said.
“Nobody is happy to contract the virus and we Guineans are (at the time of publishing) not proud of the fact that it started here in West Africa, so why the blame and stigmatisation from everywhere? I was invited to a forum in South Africa but later told my place was cancelled because of the health situation in my country. We’re just victims of the Ebola circumstances.”
Guinea has borne the brunt of Ebola in the West African region as it struggles to contain the virus. A recent update released by Dr Sakoba Keita, director of prevention and fight against Ebola, a special department within the country’s health ministry, showed the death toll (at the time of publishing) had reached 373 from 506 cases of infection registered nationwide.
The southern city of Guéckédou is (at the time of publishing) the worst hit with 285 cases and 247 deaths, followed by the capital Conakry with 95 infections and 42 killed, while Macenta, close to Guéckédou, comes third on the tragedy chart with 29 deaths from 39 cases. The virus has spread to 11 of the 33 prefectures in the country of 12 million people.
aljazeera
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