Shortly after arriving in Zaire/D.R. Congo in 1995, there was an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever in Vanga, 60 km downriver from Kikwit, where the Ebola virus had a month earlier killed 245 people in what then was Africa’s most deadly outbreak.     Bill and I with four young children had just settled in to our new home a foot path away from Vanga Hospital which abutted a building which the hospital would soon make into the ‘Ebola Ward’.   

I remember the early morning meetings in our living room where Bill and the other doctors prayed and discussed the care of patients infected with Ebola. Coffee and tea were served as they sat in the very chairs and couches where I had the night before read stories and would soon do school lessons with our children.  Hearing them talk about patients who had died, the need for strict isolation, and the hospital’s policy to not release the bodies for fear of contamination, I could not help but wonder how infectious and transmissible this disease truly was.  It was hard not to think about the risks to our family as I bid the doctors good bye and washed and put away the dishes.

As it turned out the strain of Ebola in Vanga was as deadly as that in nearby Kikwit.  Every patient who presented with the disease died. I still remember the muffled sounds of wailing from the Ebola ward across the hedge.  Unlike Kikwit, however, there was no transmission of the disease to other patients and no staff members were infected.  Like most endemic and deadly viruses, the greatest cure is prevention, and the White Cross supplies that were abundant in Vanga Hospital ensured that patients had isolation material and nurses and doctors wore protective gowns and gloves. The infection rate within the hospital was zero.

Our hearts go out to those confronting the Ebola virus in neighboring West Africa which has claimed to date over 3000 lives, far surpassing the previous outbreak in Zaire/Congo.  We are aware of a similar outbreak of hemorrhagic fever near the border with South Sudan and wonder what would happen if Ebola came here given the fragile health care system strained by ongoing war and conflict.  We are also aware of cases that have recently come to the U.S.

We think back to 1995, nearly 20 years ago, and the preparedness and support we received through White Cross, and know we can count on the same today.  God never promised that our days would be easy … or free from the threat of diseases such as Ebola.  He did promise that He would abide with us. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who strengthen our faith and share our burdens, our concerns, and needs.

Bill and Ann Clemmer

International Ministries

Juba, South Sudan