Cancelling Christmas

It’s funny, not funny ha-ha but funny strange, how quickly we lose interest.  This summer when the victims numbered in the hundreds, news about the Ebola crisis was everywhere.  There were fund raising efforts happening and you couldn’t open a newspaper or turn on the television without reading or hearing dire predictions.  But now, not so much.  You have to hunt to discover that while those who were predicting an apocalypse weren’t anywhere close to being right that Ebola still continues to ravage the countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.  Perhaps we lost interest because they are so far away or maybe we only have a finite ability for empathy on that scale. 

In an attempt to prevent further spreading of the disease Sierra Leonean President Ernest Bai Koroma has announced that Christmas has been cancelled.  Not Christmas itself, just the public celebration of Christmas.

I would suspect that Christmas will be celebrated in Sierra Leone even without the public gatherings, and the President understands that.  Because even though Sierra Leone is predominantly a Muslim country President Komoma is a member of the Kissy Dockyard Wesleyan Church and understands that Christmas is something that happens privately in the heart and not necessarily publicly on the streets.
    
Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.