The Ambassador of the United States to Sierra Leone, John Hoover, accompanied by the Public Affairs Officer, Hollyn Greene, on Wednesday, addressed journalists at a round table at the Africel American Corner.
At the round-table the Ambassador, spoke about his time in Sierra Leone as he winds down. He arrived in Sierra Leone at the height of the Ebola crisis in 2014. And, he’ll be leaving for his next post in Pakistan in July 2017.
Hoover stated, “I may be leaving Sierra Leone soon, but as long as I live, I will never forget the warmth, the dignity, the harmony and the resilience of Sierra Leone and her people”.
Ambassador Hoover illuminated, “the U.S. relationship with Sierra Leone has never been stronger”. He maintained that when he arrived in the country the Ebola outbreak was out of control. But with support from the U.S. Government and other partners “together we turned the tide and broke the back of the epidemic”.
The U.S., he went on, contributed about $300 million USD to the Ebola emergency response and played a vital role in defeating the virus. They started working on healthcare and rebuilding the healthcare system, which was weak to begin with and then devastated by Ebola.
Through the U.S. Embassy, 300 maternal and child health facilities have been or are being renovated. All 1,200 peripheral health units received life saving drugs after the Ebola crisis and 7,000 health care workers have been trained in infection prevention.
With $44 million USD, over four years, the Millennium Challenge Cooperation is strengthening institutional capacity in the water and power sectors.
Ambassador Hoover disclosed, “The U.S. has no ulterior motives or agendas in Sierra Leone. Everything we do is done transparently and in close collaboration with the government and other Sierra Leonean partners in order to support their work and their priorities”.
One of the hot topics discussed between Hoover and journalists was the upcoming elections in 2018. The Ambassador said, “We will continue to work with whoever is elected President. We have committed $4.4m USD of indirect support to encourage free, fair and credible elections.” Interestingly, the issue democratic processes and election cycles drew comments. Hoover noted, “Sierra Leone has held three successful elections and each election cycle seems to get better. We hope the elections in 2018 will build on the momentum of democracy and credibility.”
At the end of his statement, journalists had an opportunity to ask questions. Hoover was asked what he would miss most. “I will miss the countryside and most importantly the friendly people.” His hardest day is remembering the story of Dr. Salia, whose wife is an American and was living in Maryland at the time of Dr. Salia’s infection with Ebola. “Dr. Salia became sick and we tried everything to get him out to the U.S. for treatment. Eventually, we got him on a plane and he arrived in the U.S. But, later that day, I was told he’d died. That was the hardest day for me.”
By Betty Milton
Thursday May 25, 2017.