Sobbing, Lydia, 16, and her younger siblings, Blessing, 11, Pauline, nine, and Paul, five, can only watch as the body of their mother is taken away
With 2,909 deaths and 6,185 cases of the disease reported in Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea and Sierra Leone so far, Ebola orphans are, sadly, not unusual.
But with neighbours and extended families reluctant to take the children in for fear of succumbing to the disease themselves, Plan International says the future is bleak for the youngsters affected.
'The large number of single-parent families in Liberia means that as mothers are dying from Ebola, children lose their sole care-giver, and have no-one to look after them,' explains Koala Oumarou, Country Director for Plan Liberia.
'Once their mother dies, the orphaned children have to leave school, if they were in school in the first place.
'They are ostracised by the community, and they have to work to try to make a living and support themselves.'
Ebola has so far claimed 1,137 lives in Liberia, according to the World Health Organisation, among them scores of single mothers who have left young families behind.
Now, according to government sources, up to 300 children are struggling to cope after losing their mothers to the epidemic.
It's a situation that is all too familiar for Lydia, herself a single mother of one, and her siblings, who live in the isolated village of Voijama in northern Liberia.
Their grandmother, Sonnie, 68, is doing her best to care for the children but, well into old age, is unable to work and struggles to keep up with her boisterous grandson.
Worst of all though, is the social stigma that they now face following their mother's death. 'These children are really stigmatised by Ebola,' adds Oumarou.
'Many families just do not want to help them after their parents die because they are scared of contracting the disease. But these children are in dire need of assistance.'
CREDIT: Mail Online
