Ebola crisis halts Hungerford fitness instructor's school build
A WEST Berkshire fitness instructor’s campaign to fund a Sierra Leone school has been put on hold because of the Ebola crisis.
Bee Jacks has also spoken of his concern for his extended family.
The instructor, who lives in Hungerford and teaches at Hungerford and Herongate Leisure centres, Greenacre Leisure, the Donnington Valley Hotel, Newbury, and Parkwood Leisure, Lambourn, spoke as the Ebola crisis mounted in the West African countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
He said: “I think Ebola is a serious threat to everyone at home. I have family in Guinea too where the disease is also rife. “I can’t go home myself because of that. Of course I am worried about my family too.
“I can only thank all the medical staff from all over the world and the governments that are providing money for the treatment centres. The countries affected are very poor, and the medical staff are trying to cope in trying circumstances.
“There are not enough treatment centres and the people are largely ignorant of this disease, and maybe don’t trust the authorities.
“I will pray that the crisis can be overcome soon, and things will get back to normal.”
His dream of building a Sierra Leone school has been affected by the crisis, and work on the project has halted.
In 2013, Bee Jacks formed a registered charity, the Bee Jacks Tombo Foundation, to raise funds for a new school building for 300 pupils at the Honor Services Community Primary School, situated in a coastal fishing village, 30 miles from the capital of Freetown, where he was born.
Earlier this year, work started on the building’s foundations and walls and he vowed his charity work would continue, despite the setback.
He said: “The school will be built. Obviously the disease is affecting a lot of people, and because everyone is trying to stay safe, the building work on the school is being put on hold for the present time.
“I have spoken to the coordinator, Augustine Sesay, who tells me that everything is unstable and things are escalating, like the price of goods and building materials. Ships and flights are not operating normally.
People are immobile and there are curfews in operation. Some areas are in quarantine.”
The World Health Organisation this week confirmed 4,447 people had died from Ebola, mainly in West Africa.
US president Barack Obama said on Tuesday that the world as a whole was not doing enough to contain the disease.
Donations for the registered charity, the Bee Jacks Tombo Foundation can be made at www.beejacks.co.uk and click MYDONATE.
