In Liberia, Ebola takes a toll on small businesses

Patrice Juah’s shop in Liberia is an explosion of color. Brightly printed garments in violet, turquoise and daffodil yellow hang in neat rows along the walls.

“Liberia is a colorful nation,” she said one September afternoon. “Outside from all of our struggles, it’s a colorful country with 15 different ethnic groups, and each ethnic group has its own styles and fashions.”

Her brand is called Moie, which means “to talk,” because “wherever you go in those bright and funny colors, you get that magical spark. You stand out.”

She launched her tailoring business in 2011 and opened a storefront earlier this year. Her boutique is in the capital Monrovia on Camp Johnson Road, a street designated for locally Liberian-owned stores.

But most of the businesses along that street are now closed. Juah said she’s lucky if she gets one or two customers a week.

It’s one of the consequences of the worst Ebola outbreak since the virus first was identified in the 1970s. This year’s outbreak is spreading in Liberia and several other West African nations, and has killed more than 2,400 people.

A man in Monrovia, Liberia, shows a doctor’s order to get tested for the Ebola virus. Photo by Michel du Cille/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Liberia has been hit the hardest, with more than 2,000 cases and thousands more expected. Whole communities are in quarantine and all schools are closed. Because of a government-imposed curfew, people must be inside their homes from 11 p.m. each night to 6 a.m. the next morning for extra security and to prevent opportunity crimes.

People have also been instructed not to touch each other to help prevent the spread of the disease. “Now, we don’t shake hands, we don’t hug anybody,” said Juah. “You see a friend and you want to hug them, but you can’t.” It’s particularly hard on the children, such as her nieces and nephews, who don’t understand the importance of obeying this simple hygiene rule.

With the unseen threat of Ebola lurking, Liberians are constantly on edge. They’re cleaning doorknobs and other surfaces of their homes all the time, said Juah. “When I go to the store, usually, I was the one buying snacks and little juices. But lately, I always come out with a lot of disinfectant, chlorine and bleach. You’re constantly washing your hands.”

Ebola is taking an economic toll as well, especially in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

“The economies of the affected countries were doing really well until this outbreak started,” Dr. David Nabarro, senior U.N. system coordinator for Ebola disease, said at a briefing on Sept. 3. “They were recovering from civil wars and they had good growth rates, but now a serious economic downturn is likely, and that needs to be dealt with, prevented and if possible a rapid recovery.”

According to a World Bank fact sheet, the three countries need at least $230 million, including $117 million in emergency funds, for medical supplies, protective gear and health care worker training.

On the micro level, many people are losing their jobs, such as housecleaners who are dismissed because their employers are worried about getting infected, said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general for health security at the World Health Organization, at the Sept. 3 briefing.

Patrice Juah’s store in Monrovia, Liberia, offers colorful clothing based on traditional ethnic designs. Photo courtesy of Juah

As for Juah, her shop remains open with just her store manager. She’s laid off six other employees, partly for their safety but also to save money, she said. Her rent is paid through the end of next year, but the other costs of keeping the doors open, such as electricity bills, add up.

Looming ahead, she has the tall task of convincing a public battered by Ebola to buy fashion again. But she’s faced this before coming out of Liberia’s civil war in the 1980s and 1990s, when people were more concerned about basic education, electricity and health care.

“It was a bit of a challenge to convince people that if you want to build a wholesome society, it’s about mind, body and soul. You have to look good and feel good. It’s all part of the recovery process,” she said. But if in the end her store closes, “I can still retool and come up with other innovative things to do for the country.”

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