Visceral Leishmaniasis Outbreak in Mursi

Shauna LaTosky is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hi, my name is Shauna LaTosky. I am a Canadian citizen and have worked as an anthropologist with the Mursi community intermittently for the last two decades. I am trying to raise emergency funds that will allow Mursi elders (accompanied by Olisarali Olibui) to travel to communities in southern Mursi that have been hit by the deadliest outbreak of visceral leishmaniasis in recent Mursi history.

Two weeks ago, thanks to Olisarali Olibui (a Mursi pastoralist, filmmaker, linguist, educator and advocate for his people), he was able to mobilize the support of a group of zonal government officials and district health workers to travel with him to Southern Mursi. There they found scores of sick and dying Mursi. Some patients were carried out and transported to the Jinka hospital (see photos below), where visceral leishmaniasis, also known as kala-azar, was determined to be the cause and verified in a recent email from Doctors without Borders (note: if left untreated, there is a 95% mortality rate). This first field trip was challenging for both the Mursi, who were reluctant to send their family members far away to the Jinka hospital, and for the local medical workers who struggled to gain access to patients.

While, fortunately, Doctors Without Borders is developing an emergency plan, and UNICEF is now in Jinka ready to help (note: food shortages & malnourishment go hand-in-hand with kala-azar), it is imperative that the Mursi are informed by respected members and elders in their communities in the South about the situation in order to better prepare them for the emergency medical and food aid to come. This trip is also important for determining what the needs of the Mursi community and for sharing this with the NGOs involved, but also for easing Mursi fears and their sense of mistrust towards local authorities. Similarly, reassuring the local authorities that there is no security threat from the side of the Mursi will also help to avoid delays in devlivering humanitarian aid.

To summarise, this urgent funding is needed for two reasons:

First, for car/boat transport from Jinka Nyangatom-Southern Mursi to mobilize the support of elders and to speak with the community in order to understand where patients are and to help improve the efficacy of emergency plans that are taking shape in Jinka, which is far from the site of the outbreak. The goal of this trip is to also ease mistrust between the Mursi and local authorities.

Second, to mobilise a Mursi work party to clear the bush to the Omo crossing so medical staff have easier access to patients.

A breakdown of the funds that will be delivered to Olisarali Olibui who first initiated this campaign are found below:

1. Transportation to meet with elders and community

(100 USD/day for 4 days = 1000 CAD)

2. Mursi work party, grain and machete for difficult-to-access communities

(200 CAD for machetes, 800 CAD for grain relief = 1000 CAD)

We will keep you updated as to the outcome of this trip and the emergency plans to support this crisis. In the meantime, we wish to thank everyone who is already involved in supporting the people of Southern Mursi, especially Olisarali Olibui, local health workers & local government authorities in Jinka, Salamago and Nyangatom woredas, but also Doctors without Borders, UNICEF and local NGOs).

We are grateful for any donation that you can make to support this urgent request for funds that will go directly to the Mursi people who have mobilised this campaign and who want their voices heard by those ready to support them.

THANK YOU for supporting the Mursi community!

Shauna LaTosky (together with Jillian LaTosky and Keija LaTosky)