Raffaella Gabassi looking for support in the fight against Ebola

Chiswick dentist Raffaella Gabassi is asking for help to get 6 ambulances shipped over to Sierra Leone as part of the effort to combat the Ebola virus.

West Africa is currently in the grip of the worst ever outbreak of the disease and this has prompted Raffaella to switch the focust of her charity The Smiling World Foundation from the prevention and treatment of oral disease to helping control and manage Ebola.

Unlike in previous years, she has been unable to get out to Sierra Leone herself but she has been travelling across the globe to co-ordinate efforts. She recently flew to Texas to meet with sister charity, Teethsavers, to discuss and implement the charity’s new aims.

Raffaella Gabassi

She has also been working together with the King’s College of London and the Public Health of England and the High Commissioner for the Embassy of Sierra Leone Dr Edward Turay .

The charity's team of 6 people in Freetown have been trained to provide the communities and the people in various provinces with the knowledge and understanding on how to prevent the spread of this deadly disease. They have all been provided with Personal Protective Equipment, as their role is also to identify affected individuals and trace their movements and contacts with other people, members of their family or any other person. It is a life threatening role and Raffaella is in constant touch with the team who she describes as dear friends..

The Embassy of Sierra Leone has recently, thanks to many combined efforts, been gifted with six ambulances. The cost to ship them is £18,000 and the embassy has no funds to do so. Raffaella is aiming to help raise the funds and has already made a financial contribution herself.

She told us, "The end result would be that many lives would be saved as there is a terrible shortage of ambulances and people are dying in their homes and in the streets for this very reason. Also, once the crisis is finally over, one of the ambulances would be gifted to the Oral Health Department, and Smiling World Foundation."

She added, "Smiling World Foundation is pleading for monetary donations to aid in our struggle against Ebola. You can make donations online and feel proud about being involved in the saving of many lives."

November 20, 2014