Ebola and the lost children of Sierra Leone

A child under quarantine sits outside a care centre in Lokomasama. The biggest chiefdome in Port Loko province has been severely hit by Ebola.

Shutting schools does not assure safety from Ebola. It damages chances for a nation’s recovery.

ARRIVING at Port Loko, one of the largest towns in the north of Sierra Leone, is like reaching a country under siege. In the face of Ebola, the 500,000 inhabitants of this district have been sealed off from the world, stigmatised like a cellblock of criminals, and left largely to fend for themselves. Even to bring them food and schoolbooks, you need a government pass. And they are not alone. Counting other districts under quarantine, more than a third of the nation cannot move freely.