Ebola, I'm coming!

"Ebola." I replied.

"What??!! Ebola!! Are you kidding?!" My friend asked me again. 

"Not kidding, Ebola project in Liberia, West Africa." I answered clearly.

Then, we were silent for a few seconds.................

"The mortality rate of Ebola can be up to 90%, you have to be very careful." My friend broke the silence and said.

"Yes, I will." I replied in short.

The above scenario happened quite often before going to Liberia for my mission. I am very grateful to all my friends for their concern and care.

 

In fact, as early as the end of March, when I was still in Pakistan, I had already put my eyes on the development of the Ebola epidemic in Guinea. In June and July, as expected, the epidemic has been out of control, as neighboring countries Liberia and Sierra Leone were also affected. MSF has repeatedly warned about the uncontrolled Ebola epidemic in West Africa and stressed that more international collaborations and deployment of resources were definitely needed. I still remember there was an analogy from my colleague to describe this epidemic. The Ebola epidemic is like unprecedented wildfires, we only have two small sprayers and we are doing our best to extinguish or control the fires. At that time, I was thinking, maybe, I can do something for this epidemic if time is fit after my mission in Pakistan.

 

I came back to Hong Kong in mid-September. In October, I was notified by Human Resources who said there was a vacancy in Liberia and asked if I was OK for that. My reply was simple and straightforward.

 

I am now going to work in ELWA 3 Ebola Treatment Center in Monrovia, which is the largest Ebola treatment center that MSF has ever built.

 

Ebola, I’m coming!