Guinea's Grand Imam Pulls No Punches In His Ebola Message

NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO by Ofeiba Quist-Arcton                                                      Jan. 26, 2015

"Ebola — you have to do more," roars the barrel-bellied cleric El Hadj Mamadou Saliou Camara, with his white beard and mustache, in a snow-white boubou, the traditional flowing gown of West Africa.

That's the message he delivered over the weekend to hundreds of his fellow clerics, who gathered in Kindia, the third largest city in Guinea and a major crossroads. Many of the residents still blame Westerners for bringing the virus to their country.

His words are vital. Liberia and Sierra Leone look set to turn the corner in the battle against Ebola, but Guinea still faces challenges. Some people still hide Ebola sufferers at home. And 60 percent of Ebola cases in Guinea are related to unsafe, traditional burial rituals, the World Health Organization says.

So in Kindia, the country's leading Muslim cleric called on people to adopt safer funeral practices. Speaking in the local language, Soussou, he read them the riot act.

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http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2015/01/26/381529285/guineas-grand-imam-pulls-no-punches-in-his-ebola-message