Health

“All Man Wellbodi”

Project 1808 is working to foster an understanding of personal and public health through a variety of community programs. Through these initiatives we are working to promote health and wellness, enhance access to health care, and build health capacity system through training, research and outreach. All in hopes of fostering a healthier and more resilient community.

 #EbolaAnchor

Ebola Response and Recovery

Youth Response

During the recent Ebola outbreak, Project 1808 students organized themselves into community sensitization teams. Working with the support of Project 1808, the Koinadugu District Council, and the District Medical Officer.

Though Koinadugu is considered to be the most isolated and underdeveloped region of the country, it was the only region that was able to fend off the virus for the first 6 months of the outbreak. We believe this was due in part to the effort our students put into educating the community about the virus.

Radio Response

During the outbreak, Project 1808 Founder Alhaji N’jai utilized his prior experience working in radio to produce a bi-weekly broadcast to educate Sierra Leoneans about the disease and how to prevent its spread. Read more about this initiative on the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Global Health Institute’s “GHI in Action” Blog.

Research and Recovery

Ebola is no longer being closely followed by the western media, but that does not mean our work is over. The virus had a great impact on communities throughout Sierra Leone and West Africa. Survivors of the disease have become stigmatized, family members were lost, and communities lost crucial health care workers during the outbreak.

Project 1808 is now dedicating a large amount of our time and resources working to help communities heal and rebuild. Currently, our program director is spending 6 months in Freetown and Koinadugu, working closely with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Sierra Leone, and the University of Tokyo to conduct research on the psychosocial impact of the outbreak and recovery process. We also continue to educate our communities about the virus and other infectious diseases affecting the region in hopes of preventing future outbreaks.

We have partnered with Strides for Africa — also based in Madison, WI — to fund the completion of a well in a community neighboring Kabala where our students first identified the need for a community well. Our students, seeing a need for a well in the community began construction by hand. With the help of Strides for Africa we were able to complete the well and begin raising funds to provide more sources of clean water throughout Koinadugu District.