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The Ebola epidemic is over.

But has left a generation of children without parents.

This is my Dad.

This is the story of the children who have overcome despair.

We both don't have a Mother.

I regretted surviving.

They're taking charge of their lives.

I want to score the highest grade.

I am going to pack my things.

And they have conquered fear.

I'm happy to see her playing.

I'm not scared of Ebola.

ORPHANS OF EBOLA

January 2015

I have to go and study.

What's your favourite subjects at school ?

It's English and Science.

- And who's your favourite teacher ? - It's Mr Samura.

12 year old Abu is an ambitious student

but it's been 8 months since he last went to class.

The outbreak has forced all schools to shut.

He's my brother. He's the oldest, the eldest.

Yesterday Abu and his adopted brother Abdul

were both given the all clear and released

from an Ebola isolation unit.

Parts of their village remain under quarantine.

- They are security. - They have to watch us.

- Who are they watching ? - All of us.

Why are they watching you ?

Because they do not want us to spread the sick to anyone.

- And did you have the sickness ? - No. I don't have.

- And your mum and dad ? - They are dead.

I'm sorry.

So far Abu and Abdul have watched 7 people in their family die.

First time I heard "Ebola" we were at home.

My father's sister was sick and that child died

and they quarantined house. Our grandmother died.

Then my brother sick and died.

And my mother and father and my uncle. They are dead.

So we are three left.

The two boys turned to their elder cousin Adama as Ebola took hold.

Adama looked after the boys until she too fell ill.

I feel sad. Unhappy.

Yeah I feel unhappy.

When they come and take Adama.

I liked her more than everyone in the house.

I'm thinking that Adama will be back.

Adama has all the symptoms of full blown Ebola.

Bouts of vomiting and diarrhea have left her chronically weak.

She has been separated from her baby daughter.

Her baby has been sent to a different facility for testing.

- My stomach. - Yeah it's hurting again ?

Did the medicine I gave you help ?

My stomach aches deep inside. I can't sleep.

When it aches rub your hand like this.

Across West Africa MSF have treated over 5000 Ebola cases.

It's not getting better.

We told you to pray for the power of God, did you pray yesterday ?

- I prayed. - Try to sit up and eat something.

Fewer than half of all those who seek treatment survive.

For Adama the odds are not good.

In the interior of Sierra Leone the market town of Moyamba Junction

is a community on the mend.

People are returning to daily life

after an earlier spate of Ebola deaths.

12 year old Michael wants to follow in his father's footsteps

and he's ambitious about his future.

I learned some to my sisters that I'm going to see the baker.

These are our school books. My favourite subject is Mathematics.

I like Mathematics. More than all subjects I do.

I want to score the highest grade in our school,

I want to pull the highest grade.

When I was at primary school I usually came first

but when I went to another school I met other people. I came third.

But I was hoping that because I was hoping

that school would be reopened September

so I was studying for then.

But school did not open again and so I lose hope.

Michael's father was the town pharmacist.

It's heavy.

He was the first to die of suspected Ebola in his community.

It has been a long time since we locked it.

For the first time Michael is opening up his dad's clinic.

Inside here, this is the place where the medicine is.

You can come in and see. They spray in here

because they said my dad died of Ebola. They spray in here.

You can see the chlorine on it. It makes it rusty.

This is the place where the sick people used to lie down.

And this is the other place here, if there is a sick person here

and if another one comes they will lie down here.

This is my dad. This is him.

This is a photo he took when he won the knight of St John.

Look at the badge here you can see it, the badge.

This is the photo that he took.

And then here is the place he sat and prescribed medicines.

Until the time he died I was with him.

That's our picture.

When he got old he used to wear glasses.

And then he was a fat man, he jokes, he do many things.

I miss him a lot because in the evening

we'd go to the park and then he used to buy me things

that I need even though I didn't ask him he'd buy it for me.

He used to take me most places.

He used to take me wherever he's going. He used to take me there.

He must have loved you very much.

Michael is not alone with his grief,

he lives with his mother and two sisters.

8 year old Michaela and 15 year old Mariama.

All of them have successfully beaten Ebola.

When the children fell ill, they were taken

to an isolation unit where they made a full recovery

but their experience of coming so close to death

has left permanent emotional scars.

When they took us to the holding centre

I was not feeling too bright. I vomit, I was just lying down.

I was scared for my own life.

Of all of us that went I was the worse one.

I couldn't walk for two weeks.

At first I felt I'm going to die. That's what I was thinking.

- And did you see people die ? - I saw many people dying.

Everyday people died, three or four every day.

Even my brother was afraid to touch me.

Everyday people died.

Whilst her elder brother and sister are able to discuss their trauma,

8 year old Michaela finds it harder to open up.

Her mother was held in a different isolation unit.

- Did you dream ? - Where ?

- At the treatment centre. - No.

- Really ? - No.

Were you scared ?

Did you know I was sick too ?

You never knew I was in the centre ?

Did you think I would survive ? Really ?

Did you cry a lot ?

I was sad. It was my friends that looked after me.

We played together, we were running around.

Did you think you would live ? Why not ?

Because I knew Papayo and others had died.

Fa died, Maada died, everyone died.

So that made you very scared ?

You saw people that were killed by Ebola right ?

Grandpa, when did he die ?

He died around 2 o'clock.

When he was about to die I went and checked on him.

He was just opening and closing his mouth.

After a while he died. Then we took a cloth and covered his body.

We left him and sat down. I felt sad and thought you would also die.

No one would take care of us.

We are thankful to God. We give thanks for surviving.

In the hillside community of Wellington,

Abu and his brother Abdul have learnt

their elder cousin Adama has died.

Against the odds,

her baby daughter Fatmata has survived.

This has given the family a heart wrenching dilemma.

Their uncle has called the boys to a family conference.

- Abu how are you feeling ? - I am happy to see her playing.

When she first came back she wasn't playing. Now she's happy to play.

Good, wash your face.

With Adama's death, Abu's aunt and uncle feel unable

to support both the baby and the elder boys.

Abu's uncle must now deliver the news,

the brothers can no longer stay with them.

You understand we are just managing here.

We don't have the means to provide food and education.

You know that right ? These are the constraints we have.

I'm not even sure how we'll feed this one.

Abu will have to leave the place he calls home.

In the capital of Sierra Leone,

the main cemetery is being rapidly extended.

Burying someone who has died of Ebola is extremely dangerous

as the virus is at its most contagious immediately after death.

The team here have not lost a single burial worker.

And 6 year old Naomi often comes to visit her dad,

the head grave digger.

Look how we bury people. See how the graves are white inside.

- We do safe dignified burials. - So people don't get dirty.

Yes they don't get dirty.

When the soul goes up. If you died serving God you'll go to God.

If you didn't you'll go to hell fire.

I want to go down there.

No not there. It's not nice for you to see.

- Daddy is that chlorine ? - Yes they spray it.

- That man's crying. - It's very painful.

The first person they put in. Maybe that's the man's wife ?

- How do you know his wife died ? - Because he's crying.

- I don't know. - Maybe it's his mama ?

- She's so heavy. - They're being gentle.

The authorities have struggled to enforce these clinical burials

nationwide and traditional ceremonies have been linked

to 80% of all Ebola cases.

In Michael's town, a funeral has split the community.

Early on in the outbreak amid confusion

about the severity of Ebola, Michael's relatives decided

to give his dad the traditional burial

they felt a man of his status deserved.

He died here and they dressed him here.

The family filmed the ceremony

and the moment they prepared his body.

They're dressing him now.

I was there when everything was happening

but when they were dressing him I didn't enter.

When they sprayed this room I wouldn't be able to bear it.

They sprayed chlorine here. The hard one.

This video...

I don't feel happy when I watch it. Especially this part.

They're putting him in the coffin.

The tragedy of this disease is that it can turn an act of love

into a death sentence.

Michael's father was well respected.

Because of his high status

almost the whole town attended the funeral.

To this day the family don't believe

Michael's father died of Ebola.

But the rest of the community pinpoints this as the moment

the virus spread through their town.

This one is dead. This one is dead and also this one.

This one is my older brother. He's dead.

This one is dead.

These are my friends. This one is dead.

This one got the virus.

As a result of what happened

the family have lost their status and feel shunned.

Abu and his brother Abdul are now preparing to leave their village.

For the first time since their parents' death

the boys return to the family home.

This is the place we lived with Mum and Daddy.

When we lived here it was all clean. Now it's dirty.

Look how dirty it is.

Look at the bed where we slept.

It was here Mummy and Daddy got sick. Mummy and Daddy lay here.

Daddy went to the hospital. He died there.

Mummy stayed at home when she was sick.

She died here. We had to call the burial team to take her away.

When I see Daddy's photo,

I remember when he used to come home and we'd play.

We'd run to meet him.

We'd play with his phone.

This is my father.

What's in here ?

Let's open it.

Wait. Turn it over.

Look at all this money.

Effe, go call Auntie.

I think Mummy saved for a long time.

She didn't tell anyone.

We're the first to see it.

Look what the children have found. Did you find a cash box ?

Yes it was completely full.

I say let's count how much it is. And let them keep it.

Isn't that right ? Everything is in your hands right now.

Do you understand ?

She kept this money secret.

She knew if she told us we'd take from it.

Whatever you want to do with the money. It's yours now.

You can use it to pay for school.

The brothers' inheritance is 150 pounds.

It is enough to cover both boys' school fees but the mood is sombre.

- I'm feeling bad. - Why are you feeling bad ?

The money we've found. Makes my heart break.

For both boys their find isn't a source of joy,

it's a painful reminder of all they've lost.

Things make me miss Mummy. Like when I came home from school.

She would lift me up. She would hug me.

When you think about it, you feel like you want to cry.

You feel sad when you sit quietly.

The one that loves you most is gone.

The one that loves you more than anyone is gone.

You're right.

When your mummy dies, even if your daddy marries again,

that woman won't love you like your mummy loved you.

We both don't have a mummy.

I know you don't have anyone to comfort you.

If you cry, I'll cry too.

It makes me feel bad.

What are we going to do now ? I'm going to pack my things.

I'll dress. I'll say goodbye to you. Then go to town.

That's what I'm going to do.

I'll stay with you a bit longer.

When Michael and his sisters Mariama and Michaela returned home

fully recovered, they felt their town had turned against them.

15 year old Mariama has been hit the hardest.

People would not come close to us. We were alone with our family.

All my school friends would not come close to me.

At first when I was discharged, when I came here,

I regretted surviving.

My father was the chairman of the church.

When my father died, the church people stopped coming.

They would not visit us. And they also stigmatized us.

And how did they do that ?

They said my father is the one that brings Ebola to this town.

I decided not to go to church anymore.

I've lost my faith.

Michael has refused to give up on his father's church.

The church people stigmatized us.

My father said if anything happened

I shouldn't go anywhere but just continue to go to church.

Michael's persistence has paid off and he's been fully welcomed back.

My older brother came here. I was an altar boy.

I was part of the choir. I don't want to leave them.

That is why I said I'm coming to church.

Two months after becoming an orphan,

Abu must leave his village to start a new life.

He has an aunt and uncle in the capital who will take him in.

Time to go.

You're going ? Be careful. Go and live well.

Don't forget to call me.

Don't forget about us when you've left here.

Don't worry I will visit. Bye bye.

Out of necessity the boys are being split up.

After everything they have been through

they are now losing each other.

Abu is being sent to Freetown,

Abdul to relatives in a different village.

- Do you have Lucy's number ? - No.

- Don't you have Auntie's number ? - I should have her number.

Time to go.

Let me know when you can visit.

In Sierra Leone, it's been almost a year

since the first Ebola death

and across the country all schools remain closed.

Whilst the fight against the virus is slowly being won,

the capital remains an Ebola hotspot.

Poverty, dense housing and slum conditions

make the disease hard to defeat.

Military checkpoints, curfews and quarantines

have become part of daily life.

I said go over there.

All of you come here. I want you all to go inside.

Go to your houses.

This is Abu's new home.

- Which way to Bombay Street ? - It's back that way.

The stigma of Ebola is so powerful many Ebola orphans

have been rejected by their extended families.

But Abu is one of the lucky ones.

Abu ! Mr Jenna come. Go greet Uncle Jenna.

- Good afternoon. - How are you ?

Fine.

This is your auntie. She's your mother's younger sister.

Listen to what she tells you. This is your mother now.

Your father is dead, your mother is dead.

This is now your mother, stay close to her.

Don't forget this.

Don't hang around with those boys in the street.

Get your education, do you understand ?

- Yes. - That's what I've got to tell you.

- How's things in Wellington ? - Fine.

Let me carry the visitor on my back. You've lost so much weight.

Have courage. God will see you through.

- Have you eaten ? - No.

You've not eaten ?

April 2015

As the number of new Ebola cases continues to fall nationwide,

the authorities announce schools will re-open.

For Michael and his sisters, going back to school

offers them the chance to put their isolation behind them.

For me I want school to re-open tomorrow if it's for me.

Announcement ! This announcement is from the teachers

at the Government Secondary School.

This is a call for volunteers to clean the school on Thursday.

Michael and his friends volunteer to clean up their classroom.

But fear still remains.

People say that Ebola is in this school.

They've sprayed here but people are still afraid of Ebola.

And we are sitting here.

This is the first time the boys have been reunited

in their classroom since the outbreak began.

How did you feel when school shut ?

We were unhappy.

We've been stuck at home for months.

But at school we could play.

In school we'd check out the girls' butts.

Now we don't get to see them.

Everyday people are crying in our homes.

We are suffering because relatives have died.

And left us alone in the world.

So it was so sad for me when school closed. I've missed it a lot.

In the capital, 6 new Ebola cases are confirmed

in the week leading up to school opening.

But for Abu these streets are starting to feel like home.

He spends his days helping out on his aunt's shoe stall.

This is tight.

I feel like I am with my mother.

My auntie is a good person, she treats me like my mother.

So that's why I like it here.

Tomorrow, Abu will start his new school

and he and his aunt are getting things ready.

The tailor is making you two uniforms.

Tell him to do the badge for free. This one goes here.

I am starting school tomorrow. When should we collect the uniforms ?

- Tomorrow at 1 o'clock. - We are going at 12 o'clock.

12 o'clock ?

At 1 o'clock I'll be standing in line.

- You know it's two uniforms ? - Yes.

That's why I said tomorrow. When I finish these ones I'll start yours.

Just do one for now.

I will come tomorrow at 11 o'clock for one uniform.

I'll try tonight to make you one.

And the other one you will collect later.

The day school has reopened finally arrives.

Ebola has interrupted so many lives but now comes a moment of hope.

But at Michaela's primary school,

fewer than 50 children out of a school of 500 turn up.

- Good morning to you all. - Good morning teachers.

Good morning friends.

The vast majority have stayed away

because of persistent fears Ebola will be spread at school.

To start with, I am a little bit disturbed.

It's really a heavy heart.

The deputy head struggles to tell the children

there has been another death.

The headmaster Mr Gnamo.

He has died.

School's across the country are having to balance

accepting the realities of Ebola

with encouraging optimism for the future.

- 35 ? - 36.6.

For Michael and Mariama today is a chance to pick up their old lives

and move on from the stigma they've felt.

This is my first time going to this school.

And for Abu today is a chance to be a child again.

This school is good and the teachers are good.

They play football here.

A man came and told us that they have a football team.

I made new friends. We are playing. I don't know all their names.

But I know one. His name is Hassan.

I'm not scared here. I'm not scared of Ebola.