The Concerned Citizens of New Jersey Fighting the Ebola Virus last Wednesday travelled to Washington DC to demonstrate solidarity with citizens of neighbouring Liberia on whose behalf Congressman Donald Payne jr had organized a rally to expedite the plan by the U.S. Government to grant Temporary Protected Status ( TPS ) to visiting Liberians stranded in the U.S. by the Ebola outbreak in their country.
THE LEAD ORGANIZER, MRS. INEZ KONJOH, TOLD COCORIOKO :
On Wednesday, September 10th, 2014,We attended a conference at the Capitol, in Washington, DC, hosted by Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. The focus of the conference was the Ebola virus and what is being done to contain it, and assist those affected, and also how it affects the immigration status of people who immigrated from the affected areas. The congressman himself was present; US House of Representative member Sheila Jackson, representatives from USCIS, USAID, Liberian Ambassador to the US and members in the Liberian and Sierra Leonean community as well as other speakers, were present. I was a bit disappointed at being there and seeing how the focus was mainly on Liberia and what is being done to help them through this Ebola Crisis, and eventually help restructure their economy when this is all over with, but halfway through the presentations, I thought to myself, this was not for me to be disappointed; rather, this was to serve as an eye opener, to me and the rest of the Sierra Leonean community to rise up, and start taking initiatives to move our country forward. This is the time when we need to stop asking " What has our country or government done for us ? " but instead ask, " what have we done for our beloved country?" This is a wake up call; we need to start advocating for Sierra Leone, and get our people the much deserved help they need. Together we can put our differences of tribalism, religion and politics aside, and help Sierra Leone go through Ebola, and continue to help strengthen our very fragile health system. Blessing, Inez.
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