EBOLA

We were in the States in 2014 starting our speaking in churches when the Ebola epidemic started hitting the news in a big way. Almost immediately my husband Dan said (with pity in his voice), “Rachel, you know you are going to have to write about Ebola.”

I knew, if I wrote about it I had to do a lot of research. Because of the danger of misinformation killing people, I had to get the health details right. One of the United Methodist missionaries from Sierra Leon, working in health helped me. And an epidemiologist with Samaritan’s Purse filled in details.

We have used my dramas in our presentation in the States since I first started writing. We do “radio theater”; where members of the audience (congregation) are given a script, assigned parts, and read those parts to the rest of the audience. (At least one read-through a head of time helps.) It has been very effective.

We started using this drama about Ebola in our speaking. Everyone was interested, entertained and “polite”. I was going to drop it for another more pertinent drama. Then EBOLA arrived in United States—in Dallas. SUDDENLY everyone was FOCUSSED! Americans GOT a topic I was writing about. I have quite a few amusing stories about that experience.

But when I got back to DRC I was informed that we needed to get this translated into French and used to educate Congolese about this topic—YOU REALIZE THAT EBOLA WAS FIRST IDENTIFIED AND STUDIED IN DRC? Congolese and especially the health sector are very aware of this disease. But this was going to be another tool in their arsenal.

That’s why I write.