Jadnah Harding

Jadnah D. Harding

Q: This is Sam Robson. It is the 28th of March, 2017, and I have the privilege of sitting here with Mrs. Jadnah Harding at the Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel in Freetown, Sierra Leone. I'm talking with Mrs. Harding today as part of our CDC [United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] Ebola Response Oral History Project, and I'm so happy that you're sitting here and can talk about you experiences with me, Mrs. Harding. Thank you.

HARDING: You're welcome.

Q: Can I ask first off, would you mind just saying "my name is," and then pronouncing your full name?

HARDING: My name is Mrs. Jadnah Dalinda Harding.

Q: Perfect. Can you tell me your current occupation?

HARDING: Currently, I'm a data manager. I'm working with eHealth [Africa] CDC on the SLED Project.

Q: What is that project?

HARDING: SLED Project, Sierra Leone Ebola Database. The goal of the project is set on burial, to identify the corpses.

Q: Thank you. If you were to tell someone very briefly, maybe just two to three sentences, what your role was in the Ebola response, what would you say?

HARDING: I was a data manager. To enter data, to analyze the data that was taken from the provinces.

Q: Thank you. Backing up a bit, can you tell me where and when you were born?

HARDING: I was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Freetown, the Western [Area] Urban [District], at a PCMH cottage.

Q: That's the Princess Christian Maternity Hospital?

HARDING: Yes.

Q: Did you grow up here?

HARDING: I grew up with my mother and my grandmother.

Q: Still around Freetown?

HARDING: Yes, still around Freetown. I grew up in Western Urban still, around Freetown.

Q: Can you tell me just a little bit about growing up?

HARDING: When I was a little girl around two years, I lost my father, but unknowingly to me. My mother kept telling me that my father had traveled out because it was sad, because I was attached to him so much. Later, when I got to know that my father was late, it was really, really pathetic for me.

Growing up was really good because I grew up--my mother was working at the European Union, and at that time, she was based in Kenema. She was a coordinator at the European Union in Kenema. I grew up virtually with my grandmother, Mrs. Mabel Stevens. She played a very good part in my life. Yeah, she made me who I 00:03:00am today, although my mother was filling a great role also, providing all my financial support. She saw me through to what I am today. I went to one of the best schools--a private school, young preparatory. I did my primary education there. I did my secondary education at a Methodist girls' high school, and I followed my tertiary education, [getting a BSc in] accounting and finance.

Q: Can you just tell me a little bit about your grandmother?

HARDING: Yeah. She's all I can say in a woman and a housewife, a mother, because it takes a whole lot to be a housewife and also a mother. You can be a woman, but you cannot be a housewife and a mother. She is everything I can say. I really love her so much, because she imparted so many things into me that when 00:04:00I'm sitting here right now, I'm sitting with joy talking about her. She's ninety years today. She is still alive. She has been a great woman to me, up to date. She took care of me and also my kid. She took care of my kid also. She is a mother of four, two boys and two girls. My uncle, the last, is in the [United] States. My mom is here and the other boy is in Germany, is out. So, she is a good woman.

Q: What was it like having your mother working for the European Union?

HARDING: It was great then because she was like the pillar of the family. She 00:05:00was supporting everyone. My mother was like the pillar to everyone. Not even in the family, but the neighborhoods and homeless and orphanage. My mother even created an orphanage home because I'm the only child to my mom. She has a passion for children. If she goes out in the province where she works, if she sees a homeless child, or whatever, she takes them home. What I can say, I have so many brothers and sisters out there. Yeah. And they're still out there. She is still keeping it going. She supports them. And I also have contributed in supporting them now because now, I can hand for myself. I can do things for myself, and I support kids that she takes care of and bring them to my home 00:06:00also. That's one of my passions that I want to build up also for myself.

Q: Can you tell me about any random one of those kids who your mom brought home, and getting to know that person?

HARDING: His name?

Q: Sure. Well, yeah, or just describe them a bit.

HARDING: I can just tell you about one because when she brings them home, she would tell me that, "I have another kid. I have added this kid--lost." He's [unclear]. Brima now is working. My mother supported him up to the university level. He's now a teacher in the province there in Kenema. Brima's mother, she had nothing. His father is late. The mother was doing everything for him and his 00:07:00mother could not support him financially because he wants to go to school, he wants to be educated, and she has to feed other children, so my mother had to take Brima out of there, supported Brima. She pays the school fees, takes care of everything, and she helps to support the welfare of the mother and the other kids. She just took Brima out of the lot because she had to take some other kids from the other villages. Brima now is a grown-up person. He is a teacher now, a well-renowned teacher, and we talk frequently. I'm proud of him because he is one of my mom's products. [laughter]

Q: Did you always get along with these kids?

HARDING: Yeah, they respect me a lot. They always see me as the boss, but my mom always tells them that I'm not the boss, I'm just like them. Why does she always 00:08:00say that? She doesn't want me to be like I'm tough. She always says that to me, "Jadnah, I have to take these kids as the younger ones. You have to embrace them. This is my own passion for kids, " because I'm the only [child]. Yeah, I have two half-brothers there in London. My father got back with another woman. So she always tells me that you have to be strong with these kids, and maybe tomorrow that will be your passion. That was also my grandmother's passion. My mom took a first step; that was what my grandmother was doing. My grandmother took care of so many kids that were not her biological kids. She wasn't even related to them. So my mother took after her. And I thought, and I think, and I would do it. That's also my passion.

Q: You mentioned that when you went to university you were studying accounting?

HARDING: Yeah, accounting and finance.

Q: How did you decide to go in that direction?

HARDING: When I was in school, I've always wanted to be a doctor. I was on the science stream. When I sat through the WASSCE [West African Senior School Certificate], when I was in SSS2 before I took the WASSCE to enter the university, I called--I made it more than when I sat at my own time. I took the exam before my time. At the time I took the exam, I performed more than when my actual time came for me to take my own exam. It was frustrating for me at the time I took it that I did not score a better grade, and I was discouraged then. My mother said I should go for engineering. I said no, I want to be a doctor. I 00:10:00just want to continue with what I wanted to do. I became discouraged. She talked to me. She said, "You have to go through the struggle. Don't give up. You just have to do it. Whatever you want to do, you have to persevere to do it." But all of my friends, they were in the accounting department. Like, I took the tedious thing, and I was not able to pull it out. What's happening? I was just like that. But I love science. I love cracking. That's my area. I just love cracking. I just took over. I started cracking, like doing it on my own--just revising. I just took an accounting book and then started reading. Started doing things on my own. I told my mom, "Mom, I just want to switch." She said "No, go for your passion." I said "Okay, Mom, I just want to do this now. I want to prove it to 00:11:00you that I can do this." So I took to accounting like that, and when I stuck to it, wow, it was amazing. I got to the university straight away with all my credentials, my credit intact. That's how I took to accounting, because I love math. I just love cracking. I just love figures. I love it. I love formulas. That's why I'm even in data right now. I love formulas too much. I don't love reading.

Q: And reading, as well?

HARDING: I don't love too much reading.

Q: Oh, you don't love reading. [laughter]

HARDING: Yeah, I just love cracking. I just want to know things, how to go about it. I don't want [to strain] my eyes reading. I just want to experiment things to be done--actual things.

Q: How long were you in university for accounting, then?

HARDING: Four years.

Q: Four years. What years were those?

HARDING: I graduated in 2016.

Q: So you were in school when Ebola broke out?

HARDING: Yes, I was in school when Ebola broke out.

Q: Oh, wow, okay. Can you tell me a bit about--as we were talking before--when Ebola started circulating in the region, when it was in the east of the country, what you were hearing about it?

HARDING: When I was in Freetown, I was hearing about Ebola. First of all, when we were hearing about Ebola, our thinking was like, Ebola was just like something else. Like it was not something serious. That was my own perception. I 00:13:00wouldn't grasp what Ebola was. They were saying it was from monkeys, from baboons. That was what people were saying. It was so unfortunate that we had to know it later that when you come in contact with a person like you, you get it. But first of all, we were just getting those kinds of things, like when you eat some meat, you have it, or when you see some baboons, so you go out there, you have it too. We were getting a wrong perception about it. I think that's how it destroyed so many lives.

Q: Because of that early idea that it was all related to animals and not to person-to-person contact?

HARDING: Yeah.

Q: Then it continues to spread. Tell me what happens next with you.

HARDING: Yeah, it continued to spread. When I was in Freetown, it started in 00:14:00Kailahun [District]. Obviously, it started there, because it was all over the news about our neighboring country. Some of the links to a funeral there, and came out with it. Like I said, we were in a town far from Kailahun, so like, it was going on and on. So many people got involved.

Q: People who were around you?

HARDING: No, not people around me, like in the province. Some people that my mother helped, they got involved. Yeah. They got involved. They called us and told us to tell my mom that these people have got involved. Some died in some village. Because my mom was like a mentor to some, anything that's happened to 00:15:00the family, they will call her and tell her what has happened because she was good and nice to them. So something like that.

Q: She got involved just by virtue of knowing these people?

HARDING: Yeah.

Q: In what ways did she get involved, then? How did she react when she got these phone calls? What did she do?

HARDING: She nearly collapsed because she was too emotional. That's my mom. She nearly collapsed. I can vividly remember during the call, how she took the phone, "Jadnah." I can remember the name when she said "Memuna, Memuna's son is positive with Ebola." It was really sad then. I can vividly remember. She nearly 00:16:00collapsed. It was really sad on her part.

Q: What happens then?

HARDING: She returned call to them, and the boy lost his life. He lost his life. He was bleeding from the nose. Yeah. He was bleeding, oh, my God. It's really hard to say. It's really difficult. It was a real difficult time then.

Q: So you see your mom getting involved, getting these phone calls. What happens 00:17:00then with your life in relation to Ebola?

HARDING: It was really, really, really difficult for me because some of those people, I'm not connected to them, but I became connected to them through my mom. Like when someone lost his own life, it's pathetic. Then, I was a data manager for Statistics Sierra Leone.

Q: Is this something that you were doing even before Ebola?

HARDING: No--yes. I'm sorry. Yes. Yes.

Q: What did that job entail you doing? Before Ebola, what were you working on?

HARDING: Before Ebola, I was a data entry clerk, and then I became a data 00:18:00manager before Ebola. Before Ebola, I worked at a bank. I was a marketer. Then I grew up to a branch manager, but I left for some reasons. I wanted to travel out, but it was not accomplished, so I took leave and also, I was pregnant. I asked for maternal leave. It was not granted to me for three months. It was a delicate part on my side. I had to get some home rest according to the doctor, so I had to quit the job. When I quit, I worked with Canadians as a liaison 00:19:00officer. It's an NGO. But the NGO had to close because of funding.

Q: And then what happened?

HARDING: Then I started working at Statistics. I went there on a contract basis. I knew nothing about computers. It was like something--it was strange, totally, because my perception, my life was like doing my formulas, how to do my things, how to calculate my taxes, how to audit, how to check my balances. It was 00:20:00really, really strange, like all in computer, but it was nicer then because I grew to love it and I'm there today. [laughter] I grew so fast. I love it more than any other thing right now.

Q: So before, your work was like, pen and paper, or--

HARDING: Yeah, my work was like pen and paper. I was working with a computer, but it was not at that level. It was strange to me. When I was at the LAPO [Microfinance] Bank, it was like, just enter what the customer wants, just do this and that was it, all. [laughs] I balanced. That was all. I just calculated on the computer. Data entry, you have to just watch the questionnaire and enter 00:21:00[data] rapidly, fast. It was strange to me. But I just had to learn it, and now I'm a professional in my career right now.

Q: So this Canadian NGO that you worked for briefly, were they doing Ebola stuff or no?

HARDING: No, no, they were not doing Ebola stuff. They were based in education, but there was not enough funding for the project. What was my role there, we were going to schools, talking to kids, especially girl children, to pay attention, and creating something for them for their attention not to go out of the syllabus, but to focus on their education. Like, we could [create a] drama group for them. Put them together, enlighten them, make some concepts for them. 00:22:00At the end of the month, they'll give them something that they have participated. Give them certificates, like they have participated in this thing or that thing. That was my role there. I was just a liaison, and going and talking to kids. "You have to keep a full course, you have to achieve your goals." Especially girl children, you have a lot to do. That was what it was all about.

Q: But then after that, you left and then you started working on statistics?

HARDING: Yeah.

Q: Where and how did you start doing that?

HARDING: It's really, really pathetic again for me because the person that took me to Statistics died last year, December. His name is Mr. E. B. G. Morgan. When 00:23:00I left, he's my husband's friend. When I left, my husband told him that I am home now doing nothing. He said wow, he said, "Okay, we have some data stuff. I don't know if Jadnah will be interested." Then he called me, "Jadnah, would you be interested?" I said, "I have no option, I would be interested, although I've never done it before. But I will come."

When I came, they gave me--that was how I entered into Statistics. It was on a contract basis. I came, they interviewed me. They asked me where I'm from, what have I done before, places that I've worked before. They said, do you know this program? Do you know CSPro? I said no. Do you know that I said no? How do you want to work here? I said wow, okay, just train me. If you train me at least, I'll prove myself to you. They said no, you should have some experience. I said 00:24:00okay, just give me--they said, we will not give you enough training, we just have two days of training. I said, two days to cover everything? They said yes. I said okay, I'll do my best. Then, I went in for the training and I did my best. I was one of the staff they took for the work. Yeah, just two days' training. It was a written test actually, and some part of it was practical. Because actually, at that time, if it was all practical, I would just say to myself, I wouldn't have made it. That was just a simple thing. But it was written, the majority, and less practical. So I got a job. That was how I entered into Statistics. And it was pretty good for me there. It was really, really interesting for me there because that's how I got to eHealth CDC. Because 00:25:00they recommended me. That's really amazing. But [he] is gone now. They paved my way. May his soul rest in peace.

Q: Mr. Morgan?

HARDING: Mr. Morgan.

Q: What kind of data were you working with when you started, after taking the test and they selected you and everything?

HARDING: The software that I was working on was CSPro [Census and Survey Processing System].

Q: CSPro?

HARDING: CSPro. That's the software I was working on. I worked with UNICEF [United Nations Children's Fund] data then. UNICEF data. It was a survey. The survey was cash for work, what I did, cash for work, and the software that I 00:26:00worked with was CSPro. And it was my first time working with software. Like I said, I only know how to balance, put in dates and numbers, what the customer wants, market. That was my first time. I was holding a questionnaire and you have to match it to what is built in the software. It was crazy for me. We had to put one, we had to put two, we had to put the names. I started asking myself how I could do this. What's going on? Yeah, I need money, but I'm straining my eyes and straining everything. How am I connected to this? Then I told myself again, I can do it. And I must do it.

Q: Can you tell me more about what these surveys said, what they were about?

HARDING: Cash for work. More or less, we were just entering the data. You go to 00:27:00the field--I was not in the field. You fill the questionnaire out there. You go to the interview and you ask them, how do they spend their money, what is their daily income, how they go about--that was what it was all about, to capture their expenses and their income. How they manage each other. That was what the survey was about. After which, I did so many surveys that--yeah, that was just the first survey--I became an expert. Everything, they just wanted Jadnah to be included. [laughter] Everything. I remember the biggest survey I did in statistics was DHS, Demographic and Health Survey. I was part of it and I am so happy that I was part of it because my name was published. Yeah, my name was 00:28:00published. I was an interviewer and I was an editor, I was editing the questionnaires. But later, the females, we had too much, so they decide for the men to be the editors. But I was one of the editors. I am just proud of that--to be part of the Demographic and Health Survey. It took three months, and they really paid us well.

Q: Is this all pre-Ebola still, or is this during--

HARDING: No, it was not Ebola. It was before Ebola.

Q: So it's still before Ebola. Tell me more about--so you at some point were like the only woman doing this type of work, is that right? They had kind of said the women do this kind of work and the men do this kind of work, but you had broken in and had, through your talent, made it work for you?

HARDING: Yeah.

Q: How did that feel? What was it like? What was the working environment like?

HARDING: Women were there but there were not many. Ladies were there but we were not many. The working environment was good. Like in Statistics Sierra Leone, it was really nice. We had computers all over, we had a canteen. You work by shifts. When you are working with--especially data, you concentrate. You don't [unclear] a lot because you get distracted because you are entering somebody else's information. Then, after you enter it, you do something we call in data, you "double enter" it. Another person will cross-check your work, after which 00:30:00you do analysis. That's where I learned all about data before the Ebola. With my knowledge, I can say with my hard work and effort, I put in all that they asked me to do, and that's why when Ebola came, I was a data manager of the Lungi [International] Airport working with CDC through Statistics. I first worked with Katrin [F.] Kohl. I [didn't] want to go there the first time.

Q: No? You don't? [laughter] To talk about Katrin Kohl?

HARDING: Yeah, she was with CDC. She was in charge of border health.

Q: Why don't you want to--maybe we should go there. [laughter] Okay, just start wherever it starts. You know, wherever it starts.

HARDING: I did so many surveys, I did so much work, like everything, they want 00:31:00Jadnah to be included. It was really coming out good. The results were good. The results were sound. Whatever they want to do to scrutinize you by giving you exams. Any exam, they want Jadnah to be there, and I give them my best. I really did it for SSL [Statistics Sierra Leone]. They can also say they are proud of me, getting me here today.

After which, they sent me to Ebola. Ebola time came in. I was still in SSL. They needed data managers. They needed data people. UNFPA [United Nations Population Fund] needed them to work because at the time, there was limited support, so UNFPA had to support Statistics and have data clerks to assist CDC in achieving their goals. I was sent to the Lungi Airport. I worked with Katrin Kohl. She was 00:32:00the first CDC staff I ever met. And if I can tell you about her, she's all I can say--she really imparted so much in me. She was in charge of border. She really pushed me hard to know things. Oh my God. I can vividly remember, Katrin would call me, "Jadnah, I'm leaving the hotel--the Radisson." She'll stop at my junction. "Jadnah, where are you?" I said, "Katrin, I'm coming." They said "Oh, Jadnah, you'll make us late for the ferry." I say, "Katrin, just give me a minute." [laughter] She will just smile at me and then say "Okay, you'll not have any time for [being] late." Now this is what I say, "Katrin, let me have a rest." She's--all I can say, she really motivated me to do the job. Before she 00:33:00left, she told me, "Jadnah, you never can tell what may happen. Today, I'm here; tomorrow, I won't be here. Like you worked with me, work with any other CDC staff that comes your way." That was what she told me when she was leaving. She said, "Don't pick anyone that you're working with. Work as you. Work the way you've worked with me--even put more effort in your job." She was with Jennifer then. Jennifer--I can't remember her surname. [note: Brooks]

Q: We'll put it in the transcript eventually.

HARDING: Okay. I can't remember her surname. She left me with Edith [N.] Nyangoma.

Q: Edith Nyangoma?

HARDING: Edith Nyangoma. She handed me over to Edith Nyangoma. Then, we were not 00:34:00in the Cave [at the Radisson] because CDC just came in. I was the first person to be trained in Epi Info for that, they used in the Ebola in the whole Sierra Leone. I just feel like crying. Yeah. It was really--I don't know--yeah, maybe just go just pick me out of the lot. I was the first to be trained. I was trained through a conference call--one of the rooms at the Radisson here. They sent two computers for me from Atlanta and told me, "Jadnah, we're sending computers for you." They sent a desktop also for me. They set up an office for 00:35:00me. Yeah. I was Edith--then now, Katrin was gone. But I was communicating with Katrin. Yeah, we are talking.

Q: Who trained you?

HARDING: Vividly, I can remember now who trained me. I can remember the first name was John.

Q: John?

HARDING: Yeah, he trained me. He trained me how to use Epi Info software. He trained me how to create a database. He trained me how to fill out the forms. I had vast experience before then, yeah. He trained me on surveillance. He told me about Epi Info, but I was not using Epi Info then, because I was at the Lungi Airport so we were using a different database to capture the data. So I was 00:36:00going like every morning, like when Katrin was gone, Edith Nyangoma was talk at my house--junction. They say "Okay Jadnah, I'm there." I say, "Okay." We create some fun. "I will not do you like Katrin, okay? Just wait for me, I'm coming." Like that. [laughs] I was just fond of them. They were also fond of me. But when it's work, we work.

We were using a different database at the Lungi Airport, and then we were capturing the passengers leaving. We were screening. It was a screening process. It was a screening process; those who are coming in and those that are leaving. I can remember one scenario that a passenger--we have pre-screening that we have going on. They will screen you at the entrance before coming in and then we have 00:37:00another screening. We train the doctors how to do it--the nurses--everyone was part of the training because we were not there, but trained them. CDC staff trained them. We are just supervising what was going on. There was a case that the passenger was--I can remember he was bleeding. He was bleeding from the nose, but when he was isolated, he missed his flight. There was a room that was created for them. He missed his flight. He was saying it's the sinuses, but actually it was the sinuses because they did all the tests. But it was just precautions and prevention because at that time. Everybody was like, these are the signs, these are the symptoms, and then we don't want to let go of those 00:38:00things, and it got affected there. Because that place, it's an international airport, and you have to take control of it. So he was isolated and he missed his flight for that. So that was one scenario. That was one person I can capture in my mind. Then some others were feeling dizzy, they were feeling weak, and weakness is one of the symptoms also. Yeah, it's one of the symptoms. We just put you somewhere for some hours, and then we'll see what's going on. If are not fit, we can't allow you to leave. Because at that time, Ebola was really spreading. It was really spreading. I remember also, a nurse captured Ebola there. We had to isolate all the other nurses. She died in the government hospital there at Lungi, and she was positive. But what was lucky was she was 00:39:00absent from work for over six days, I can remember. Our colleagues were not infected because there was no contact with them. All of them were quarantined. I can remember the doctors that were there also were quarantined, that took care of her.

It was pretty nice at the Lungi Airport because I met so many people there. Like I worked with Edith. After Edith was gone, I worked with MSF. I worked with MSF, I worked with another Jennifer--I've forgotten her last name also, but I have a pick. Yeah, I have a pick. But most people that I worked with then in the Lungi 00:40:00Airport, they really imparted something in me, like CDC staff--just two. Katrin and Edith. They were really something else.

Q: Can you tell me more about Edith?

HARDING: Edith Nyangoma. Edith is that kind of person that also tells you--Edith was here when I had my training because Katrin was gone then. Edith ordered my computer. If I want to sleep--sometimes, I felt sleepy, because it was bought and then--sometimes, I worked from the Radisson here in the room, but it was not ideal to work in the room. But then there was no office space provided at the Lungi Airport. They were just trying to set it up. So I was working, sometimes 00:41:00Edith would come and say "Jadnah, are you sleeping?" I said "[No], I was just feeling sleepy." Edith was nice. I remember when she came, her luggage was lost. She was a really, really tormented. She was by herself then because her luggage was lost at--I think it was Brussels. Yeah, it was Brussels. She was really, really, really--I don't really know what to say. Like, Katrin had to come in, help her with some--she didn't even have any clothes to put on her then. So Katrin had to come in. Katrin gave her some clothes to put on. Edith was really, really suffering from that. Katrin had to help her in that area until I think a week before Edith left. That was when she recovered her suitcase back. It was 00:42:00really, really crazy. Like, all her foodstuff was in--she asked, "Jadnah, what am I going to do with this?" I said, "Just give [it to] the cleaners, the housekeepers." They say "Oh, so that's what you're going to say?" I said, "What do you want me to say?" [laughs] She talks like that. She was happy at last. She stopped putting her foodstuff--"Jadnah, just look." You know, these things. I wanted to do something, I wanted her to eat, I wanted her to feel good. Although I'm working my head out, but I wanted to--I say oh, it's like that, just give it to them. It was really nice. Yeah.

Q: So in your day-to-day, it sounds like sometimes you were working here at the Radisson and sometimes you were over at Lungi? Is that right?

HARDING: Yeah, yeah.

Q: Okay, gotcha. And is it mostly just you and some forms and a computer? Or what is your work station like?

HARDING: At first, like I said, we were not using the Epi because the Epi Info was created, and there were so many forms--over one thousand forms for only Jadnah to enter. It was crazy. So we started finding strategies, how to reduce this load. Like in reducing it, like everything will be in the computer but another way to put them in there. It was really, really crazy. Jadnah and the forms, Jadnah and the computer--the pile of forms. I'm looking at them, entering. Then I said, let's count. How many passenger forms is this, coming in, how many going out--because it was crazy. There were not enough data managers then. Like I said, I was the first to be trained in Sierra Leone. Not even there were data managers, but there were not knowledgeable people that knew the stuff.

Q: Is that something that changed over the course of your time? Were there more people added eventually?

HARDING: Yeah, there were more people added eventually because Edith asked, she requested for more data people to be added. And by then, I won't forget K. B. Dansomano. He also played a great part in my life.

Q: K. B.?

HARDING: K. B. Dansomano. He is the consultant for Statistics Sierra Leone. I remember when we did the last survey. It was labor, and they were setting for data managers for this epidemic to go in. The people were afraid. People were 00:45:00scared. And I won't forget, people left the job. They dropped the job because they said they're going to send them to Kailahun, they're going to send them to Port Loko, and then the epidemic was really, really spreading there. Considering the token they would be giving you and your life, people rejected the job. For me, I took it because I saw--it's my passion, like I said before. I just love saving life. At the beginning, I wanted to be a doctor but it was not actualized, so I saw it as a way of making my dream come true. So I took it. But 00:46:00despite I was based in Freetown, but then I was sent to Lungi. So I just said to myself, this is how I'm going to make it for the lost time that I've spent. What I wanted to be before was not actualizing my life. But I admit it, I did succeed, but this is what I'm going to do now. So Edith indeed requested for more data clerks to come, and there were more. There were plenty enough for the epidemic from different organizations coming in. WHO [World Health Organization] sent, eHealth sent, yeah. I can remember because I was working with WHO staff, staff from WHO, staff from eHealth, but then when I came to the DERC [District 00:47:00Ebola Response Center]--so all this was before the DERC.

Q: Right. Do you remember what months those were?

HARDING: Yeah, it was like from August in--I think it was in 2014. 2014, yeah. It was like from August to--from July to December. July to December. July ending in August, that's the range in time.

Q: So from July to August, it was Lungi?

HARDING: Yeah, to December. It was in Lungi. And I was transferred to the DERC to come and manage the data at the DERC.

Q: Which DERC?

HARDING: Western Urban.

Q: Western Urban?

HARDING: Western Urban. British [Consulate] was the DERC. Western Urban--Western 00:48:00response. I was transferred there in December before the 25th, because I spent my Christmas here.

Q: So what happened then? What was that like?

HARDING: When I was transferred, I remember then I was not with eHealth. eHealth wanted to take me. Yeah, I can remember then because they were paying me fat. Let me just say they were paying their employees something good. Also, my employer paid me something but it was not compared to eHealth. It's like I was watching, I was looking, and then I can vividly remember my boss when eHealth told my boss that we want to take Jadnah in. Then my boss told her that oh, 00:49:00Jadnah is paid by us and we want to retain Jadnah. You know, like he called me in. "Jadnah, do you want to go to eHealth or do you want to stay?" I was like, I want to go, I want to go inside [unclear]. I told her okay, I want to stay, I want to stay. [laughs] But I was with SSL at the DERC. I was representing Statistics, working with CDC. I was the data manager from Statistics.

Q: Can you tell me more about that work?

HARDING: At the DERC?

Q: [Yes].

HARDING: The DERC was very interesting. At the DERC, it was very challenging. It was really, really challenging because I had to work with different organizations. We were only two at the data team from Statistics Sierra Leone. Although there were others. At the DERC, we were three there, but my own 00:50:00department, we were two. So working with other organizations was very challenging for me. When I get there--my God, I can't remember her name. She requested for me. She was a CDC staff but she spent just a week with me and went back. We never communicated again, yeah, when I was transferred there. She was also nice. Maybe I will remember her name later. She introduced me that, "Jadnah is from Statistics Sierra Leone, she is working with CDC and she is the data manager." Wow, like everybody was looking wow, we are here, where is Jadnah coming from to come and supersede us? Well, just smile to myself. And then my co-staff that was sitting by me, she was very happy because she was the only one at the DERC. Now I'm here to talk for her, to tell them rights and what is not 00:51:00right. Like they were making her work on Saturdays. I said no, she is supposed--if you want her to work on Saturdays, you have to talk to her. This is very important at this time because she is not paid on Saturday, so she should not work on Saturday. It was really challenging to say, I want to enforce my own power. I want to do things on my own. I said, no, I do things strictly by what I signed or what my organization tells me to do. It was challenging really because I have to work with WHO. It was really fighting because it was time to fight. Yeah. Fight in the sense we argue what should be done and what should not be done. We disagree, and I tell them, this is how I want things to be. You want things to be this way; I want it to be this way. I was the youngest. I was 00:52:00arguing with people that--we normally say it in Krio that "they able born me." Like, it should be my mother or my father. I didn't want to take control. They don't want to listen to me. And when I want to speak, when I want to talk, I stand up and address you. So it was really, really challenging for me, but I went through it actually. We got it and we got to one point at the end of the day we achieve our goals. The DERC was really crazy because every day was different thing, different thing, DSOs running up and down. It was a really busy place. The coordinator, she played a great role. The regional coordinators, like Zuliatu Cooper. She sees that everything was done in the right way. She does not take sentiment, no political influence was there. When you want to come with your political things, she tells you that this is an epidemic. You have to work 00:53:00towards it. We have to achieve this goal. It was really crazy. Like photocopying, we have to use so much paper. At times, there is no ink. We have to call the British commander that was in charge to come and give us--it was really challenging. But it was good because we were served food, drinks, they provided it for us. So I can tell you more about that. [laughs]

Q: Yeah, do so, please.

HARDING: We normally enter our data through the server. Once the server is off, you won't get access to it. And we have several trainings.

Q: Trainings in what?

HARDING: Trainings in work. I met so many people at the DERC. That was when I 00:54:00met with Dr. John. I met with Jennifer Lehman, I met with Lena [Yelena] Gorina. Yeah. Dr. John was one kind of thing--what should I say, inspirational person. Yeah. He was--I always say, he's like my mom. That's what I always say. Once you tell him something, he would put aside his own and want to grab your own to take over it. That was all what I say is that Dr. John is just like my mom. He's so emotional.

Q: Do you remember an example of one of those times?

HARDING: Yeah, I can remember because then, eHealth staff contracts were ending. Dr. John, Dr. John, Dr. John, Dr. John. Working in Sierra Leone is very, very 00:55:00difficult. So when you lose a job, it's crazy. So they don't want to lose their job, and we are all fighting for them to take up their job. Dr. John, it was like he was attached to them. You understand? It happens also with me. Like he is a Sierra Leonean. He just put himself like he's not an American. Like he was not American. He was like, born of Sierra Leone, like he was attached to you. That anything that affects you, affects him. Oh, wow. It's really, really good.

Q: Why were these people needing--why were they getting fired?

HARDING: Their contract was--it was on a contract basis. Yeah. It was not like they were getting fired, but like there was no funding. So they have to look helter-skelter to get funding for them because we need data clerks to do the 00:56:00job, because if they have gone, we should have had a heck of a time. So he had to talk, he had to plea. You have to tell them this, you have to tell them that. He will set out his own personal thing, his own doings, and you know, just take yours and put it on his head going forth. He would just juggle everything. Dr. John is one kind of person--yeah, exactly. [laughter] I can tell you about Dr. John. Honestly, he is so--I remember the day for his daughter's birthday at the DERC. We sang for--what's his daughter's name? We sang like she was in the presence of us. The whole of DERC sang for his daughter. It was so good. She 00:57:00really, really appreciated it. It was so nice. He was not with his daughter at the time. He was fighting somebody else's fight. Yeah, because he sacrificed that he came here to fight somebody else's fight and he did well. So we have to show love to his daughter, that her father is one of our heroes. Yeah. So there I met with Dr. John.

Q: Just out of curiosity, did any of those people whose contracts ran out, was Dr. John or anyone able to find something for them to do or did they have to be released because their contracts were up?

HARDING: Dr. John found something for them to do. CDC sponsors eHealth, so eHealth was reducing staff. That was what they were doing. But the thing was, 00:58:00what I was saying before, data clerks are important. If you are reducing, you're going to check the number of forms that are piled. Sometimes we have one thousand forms, we have three thousand forms. Three people can't do that. And everybody has his or her own job description. So Dr. John has to talk for them. That was where I came in, and they were not fired. They were not released of their contract. It was ongoing until the epidemic ended.

Q: I had another question if that's okay. You mentioned some of the arguments that you would have at the DERC. Can you give me an example of one of those?

HARDING: [laughs] Like I said, if I want to do something, like for Saturdays' 00:59:00work; that's just one example, one major example. In SSL, you don't work on Saturday. You are not paid on Saturday. We were not told to work on Saturdays. But if they want you to work, they will pay you, or you will do it because of the love you have for your country and the state of the county. So like on Saturdays when I was transferred at the DERC, first of all, when I was transferred there, CDC had to provide a computer for me, and the lady in question that I said I only met her for a week, she was nice. She provided me with a laptop. But the laptop was supposed to be handed over to me by somebody 01:00:00else, and this person does not want to go because they are changing him. He's supposed to go and hand the laptop to me. So he came up with his own laptop, his own personal laptop, and gave it to me, and I told him no. You're supposed to give me the official laptop. So that was some of the arguments. You should give me the official laptop. So that was where it started from. They said I just want to impose. I said no. I remember them telling their employee that I just want to tell them what to do and what not to do. I remember the coordinator calling me and then their own employee calling me. He called me. He was not talking to me, he was shouting at me. And then I stood up and told him that I'm not any kind of 01:01:00person. You are a [unclear] and I am also, so you have to know how to talk to me. I'm sorry, I'm pointing my finger at you. [laughter]

Q: Let the record show.

HARDING: So like, he was--huh? He thought maybe to just take off from the [unclear]. He respected me from then, and then told them if you want any staff from SSL to work on Saturday, talk with Jadnah. Just try to talk with them. Because that was the whole confrontation on Saturdays because WHOers, they are paid for Saturdays to work. eHealthers are paid on Saturday to work. SSL staff, they are government staff, they are just given help. They should not work on Saturdays. So because their work on Saturdays, they only have Sundays. Not even Sundays--sometimes they work on Sundays because they are paid. If you don't want to get paid on that day, if you don't want to work on that day, don't take the money. Just simple. But they wouldn't take the money and then work for the day, so that's the problem. So I always tell them, if you don't want to work on Saturdays, drop the money. Let them pay you from Monday to Friday. It's very simple. But you cannot take another organization, another person from another 01:02:00organization to come and work for you. It won't work. So that was our confrontation. But it's resolved because I told them, I always go for what is right and I don't back down from what is right. That's me.

Q: It sounds like some people were being asked to work even though they were getting paid, and some people were getting paid but they weren't working.

HARDING: Yes.

Q: So both were happening.

HARDING: Yes. Some people are getting paid but they don't want to work on the days they're getting paid for because it's the weekend, and you have to work for it because you are already paid. We call it free money, free copper in Krio. You should work. If you are sick, that's okay. But if you are not sick and you just want to have some leave off, no. I don't take it, I don't allow it.

was a data manager there, I was assigned there, and we have the pillar lead, the 01:03:00team lead. I met them having a team lead, his name was Patrick Macarthy. He was a team lead for the data team. We lost one of the data clerk staff working with us last week at the Ebola. Most of the CDC staff knew her. Zainab. She was a WHO worker. She did so well. When the epidemic ended, I gave her a contract at Statistics Sierra Leone, she also worked there. We lost her last month. So that was it, at the DERC.

Q: So at the airport, I'm guessing much of the data had to do with like people's temperatures and you were talking about if they were weak or not; kind of like the symptoms they're coming in with.

HARDING: Yeah.

Q: What was the data that you were mostly dealing with at the DERC?

HARDING: Like I said, we are screening them.

Q: It was still border screening at the DERC?

HARDING: No, there was no border screening at the DERC. You were talking about Lungi.

Q: Oh no, I made a transition, sorry. So Lungi you were screening them.

HARDING: Yeah.

Q: But when you got to the DERC--

HARDING: We were entering the data. Lungi you are screening the passengers that are leaving, that are exiting and coming in. And then, like for example, like Brussels comes in, we check how many passengers Brussels comes in with; we screen you and then went to the form and took the total. We normally take the totals. We don't enter the form. At the DERC, you enter each form, but at Lungi 01:05:00Airport, there was no form to be entered because it was really, really piled up and I was the only data manager there. I was the only data manager there. I trained so many there, yeah. I trained and I left them because I was already transferred to the DERC to come and manage the data.

Q: I have a couple questions then. So when you went to the DERC, it was more data management.

HARDING: Yeah.

Q: Does that mean you were entering data less, like on your day-to-day--

HARDING: Okay, my day-to-day work.

Q: Yeah.

HARDING: In my day-to-day work was--my work that I was assigned to the DERC was to analyze data. So I enter data on a daily basis. After, I check the contact, 01:06:00because you have contact tracing. That was my work on a daily basis. Like for the day, I can enter--if I'm really working, I can enter a hundred forms a day. If there are no obstacles because people are moving and people are going out. The DERC was really, really crazy. People are shouting, DSOs coming in, surveillance going this way, contact tracers, burial teams. It was really, really crazy. It was distracting. If you don't concentrate on your job, you will end up doing nothing for the day because that was the major place. Because at a point in time, the Ebola was centered at the Western Area. So like, the DERC was 01:07:00really crazy. Everybody was there. My day-to-day work, I was entering the data through the server. Every form I enter. Every form I edit. Every form that I enter, that was my day-to-day work.

Q: So these are forms that the contact tracers had turned in, that kind of thing?

HARDING: Yes. The DSOs. They go to the field, how it was happening, they go to the field. Like the contacts. There's a sick person here, you go there, you take the information of the sick person. Some forms were given to us through the lab, different labs, Chinese lab, CDC lab, local lab, different labs. Some forms were given to us by the burial teams, some forms were given to us by DSOs, some forms were given to us by contact tracers. If you watch the data, the VHF, we have so 01:08:00many duplicates because like--yes.

Q: Because what? Go ahead.

HARDING: Because maybe, a DSO comes with "Jackie Afia," and the lab also has Jackie Afia, and the contact tracer also has Jackie Afia. So you enter all Jackie Afia so you have so many, the same name. I can't say "duplicate," but it's the same. That's what actually SLED is about. That's one of the goals. SLED, the project Sierra Leone Ebola Database that I'm currently working on. It's really touching because to have such a thing that was not--I was not even thinking that such will happen because people died not knowing their graves. And one of the major things that we are about, one of the major goals is for you to 01:09:00know where you're passing, where your husband, where your mother, where your kid was buried. At the time, it was hurtful. It was sorrowful because you would just see--they would just take your siblings, go with them, you will not know where they took them to. They just go and bury them. Some, they take from the street, so you don't know where they are buried. SLED is trying to put all those things in place. That is what Lena is working on. She is really working to achieve that goal, and I think we're going to achieve it together because I'm part of it.

Q: When we're talking about the different kinds of data, like the data from the 01:10:00labs--let's just take the labs for example. What were you finding with your analysis?

HARDING: The labs?

Q: Yeah.

HARDING: Like the lab data?

Q: [Yes.]

HARDING: We have what we call the VHF ID [identification], we have our epi [epidemiology] ID, we have the [unclear, sounds like "more"] ID. We have different IDs. We have a VHF ID. That ID is given with a sticker to every form. You have the ID on top. It's a unique ID to the patient so two of you won't have it together. If it's in [Western Area] Urban, we have W-U. If it's boy, you have B-O. If it's Kambia, you have the initial of the district. So like in age in the lab, if Adama is nine years, when the data comes to us, the lab data, Adama will 01:11:00maybe be zero years.

Q: [laughs] How did you deal with that?

HARDING: The lab has something they put on the form. Normally, when they put it on the form, the numbers get changed.

Q: So you just have to sort all that out.

HARDING: Yeah, I have to sort them out because you have to compare.

Q: So that's what it is, just kind of a one-to-one comparison of different forms?

HARDING: No. You check. In the VHF, we have different things in the VHF. We have contacts, you have import, you have export, you have analysis base. Maybe you will just type the name Adam Abah, for example, and then a series of Adam Abah will pop up. Or maybe you use the address because Adam Abah is a common name and everybody is named Adam so you will not use Adam. Or maybe you use a unique 01:12:00something like the address. Tarry 2, so-and-so road, or a state, then it will pop up again. Then you will see Adam Abah nine years, Adam Abah zero years from the lab, Adam Abah nine. So you just compare. Automatically, that zero has been altered. The nine has been altered to the zero, so that's how we do for the lab.

Q: So you can kind of merge different entries?

HARDING: Yes, together.

Q: As you were creating this data and analyzing this data, were you able to identify any trends that were going on with the epidemic? Like, I don't know, what would an example be? Like, notice where the epidemic was heading? Like, the location, for example, or just some other piece of information with what was 01:13:00happening with the epidemic that could be useful to people out in the field?

HARDING: What was useful to the people?

Q: Yeah, like what's another trend? Sorry, I'm not being very clear. [laughs] It's not my strong suit.

HARDING: I know.

Q: You know. [laughter] Thank you. That's honest, at least.

HARDING: Just come again, maybe I will catch it.

Q: Okay, okay. So as you're putting out the data, for example, if your data is saying that you're showing--like if you look at your data you would see things like, oh, it looks like the cases are going down in this area or the cases are going up in this area. And because of your work compiling that and analyzing it, 01:14:00people are able to change how they respond on the ground, right? They're like, okay, the data says we need to focus our efforts on this specific area, so let's do that instead of what we've been doing. That kind of thing. Do you have any examples of times when you were able to do that?

HARDING: I think I can get you. Like when--Let me just say when the data was going up like when we have more cases--I don't know if that is what you meant.

Q: Sure, that's one example.

HARDING: When the cases were high, sometimes the cases are low--we were just concentrating on data. If we enter the data, we do the analysis, and for 01:15:00example, Kambia is high, we report. And more emphasis will be laid on Kambia. Or we do what we call our epi [epidemic] curve. I think that's what you're saying.

Q: Yeah, absolutely.

HARDING: Yeah, we do what we call our epi curve. When you analyze data, you see like maybe, this area is going down or this area is coming up, so we report and put more emphasis on that area.

Q: Do you ever remember seeing a result that surprised you? Like a trend that was like, oh, I didn't know that was true, but when I look at the data that's what it says.

HARDING: When the results were going down. We thought that it was all over, but later, Kambia started it all over again. I can remember, when Western Urban was 01:16:00reporting like two, Kambia was reporting like fifty. Because Western Urban was a center for the epidemic now. Everything was normal in Kambia. Kambia now was reporting--like we were asking ourselves, how is this happening? Because we thought that the trend should be going down now, but it's increasing. But everything that you want to succeed, at the later end, obstacles come in. And if you try to pull back, it's really, really [unclear]. The obstacles will continue. But if you try to force it out, you will succeed. That was what was happening. So we tried to force it out because it was at the end of the epidemic, and Kambia and Port Loko were reporting high cases. I remember also 01:17:00when we reported zero cases. After I think one month reported again two cases. I don't know if I answered your question.

Q: You did. Thank you. So how long were you working for the DERC then?

HARDING: I worked for the DERC for a year, because 2014 December to 2015--the Ebola epidemic, yeah, we were already through with it. 2016, I was back at SSL. I worked at the DERC for a year. 2016 I was back at SSL doing census. I was data supervisor, supervising the census 2016.

Q: But you're not still with SSL.

HARDING: Yeah.

Q: So what happened then?

HARDING: Wow. I applied. We have what we call--when you work, like I said before, like when I was working with SSL, in every issue, in every work, they wanted Jadnah to be part of it. So I think my work at the DERC saw me through because I did give it my best. I would say that I've given my best. I would say that, yeah, to make it happen. So eHealth, there was a space for a data manager, and I was recommended. I don't know, but I think it was just my good job. Like 01:19:00everybody--I can say it, everyone I worked with during Ebola time, every CDC staff I worked with just wanted to know my welfare, what I was doing, what is life for me now like when the epidemic was over. Everyone was concerned. Katrin was concerned, Edith was concerned, Dr. John was concerned, Lana--everyone was concerned, what is it like for you now? Yeah. Everyone was concerned. I don't know, but maybe it was what I did back then. So that is how I came working with eHealth CDC again.

Q: When was that?

HARDING: September.

Q: September 2016.

HARDING: Yeah.

Q: And you've been here since. This is a--sorry, were you going to say something? I'm sorry.

HARDING: Yeah. When I wanted to leave SSL, I was happy, but it was not good news for them. But my boss was proud of me. He was a consultant, K. B. Dansomano. He was proud of me, he would always say. Yeah, he always say, "Let me just keep the good work." He knows that I'm playful, that he can always say that. I like [using] my phone but when I want to do my work, I do my work. But he was happy for me but sad on the other hand because I'm leaving there. Yeah. I also met 01:21:00with another consultant, Angela, back then.

Q: I was going to ask you, this is kind of a departure from what we've been talking about before, but what was it like--can I ask how old your child is?

HARDING: Yes.

Q: How old is your child?

HARDING: He's nine.

Q: He's nine. [laughs] What was it like having a child during Ebola? Were you able to tell him anything about what was going on? What was it like for you, for your child and your husband when you're working these crazy hours? This kind of stuff, I'm interested in.

HARDING: I give back to him before Ebola. It affected him a lot because there 01:22:00was no school. When it affected him, it affected me also because so many organizations closed down. So many things were cut off. During the Ebola period, I was the only one working. My husband wasn't working because they had to close down because there was no funding again. It was crazy for me because I have to take care of the home, I have to go to work, to come home. Working at all hours, not having time with my family, especially my kid. Sometimes I come home, he's already asleep. I normally tell him that it will be over soon. I just keep the 01:23:00faith that--it's just like a calling for me to do it. At times, in the middle of the night, he will just wake up. He just doesn't want to leave me. He just hangs onto me and then he will sleep off again. In the morning, I will just take off his hand and quietly go out. Maybe he will not be even awake when I'll be going, he'll be asleep. I just have to do it because I love to do it and I have to--I have to keep my family going because I was the breadwinner then. [laughs]

Q: Is there anything that I haven't asked about, any aspect of your Ebola 01:24:00response that you'd like to talk about before we end the interview? Any memory, any reflection?

HARDING: I remember, yeah, like who visited us, who played--some people that played a part. When we were at the DERC during the Ebola response, [Olusegun M. O. A.] Obasanjo, the past president of Nigeria, visited us. That showed love because during the Ebola, you like your country to come and visit us. It was really, really good. We felt good because those that helped us during that time, during the epidemic, it meant a lot because it showed love. And also, I can 01:25:00remember the president of Sierra Leone just giving us money--those are some memories--for our good work. When the epidemic was ended, we were celebrating at the DERC. I don't know if I have that video. We celebrated at the DERC. That's a memory that I won't forget because we celebrated, we danced. Here, the epidemic was like--you know what it was like? It was more than the Rebel War. It was more than what happened in 1990, those days. It was worse than that. So we have to celebrate because during that time, there was no contact tracing, but this time, 01:26:00Ebola kills everyone that you come in contact with. So it was really, really good celebrating that Ebola has ended for good; although then we have one or two cases, but we now know that it's ended for good. I think that's the memories, yeah. I will never forget Zuliatu Cooper.

Q: Zlaikatu--

HARDING: Zuliatu Cooper. She is the first lady that led us to success in the Ebola fight. Honestly, I can never forget Zuliatu Cooper, Charles Keimbe is a pillar head. I can never forget G. S. He's late now, he was a commander-in-chief. I can never forget James Bangura. I can never forget Fransis 01:27:00Feury. Those were some pillar heads. Brian, Sobonikeh, he's the coordinator, Kposowa for quarantine. Those people made a lot of things, you know. They are the link to success because without their help--they were really behind us. They were really putting force on us to do the right thing because they were our bosses, they were our leaders.

Q: Thank you so much, Mrs. Jadnah Harding. This has been great. Thank you.

HARDING: You're welcome.

END