Plenty has happened since last year - Mama, who we mentioned in our last blog, tragically lost her son Jean to malaria. The National Women's Evangelical Church Conference was held in Macenta with some 4,000 women in attendance. We returned to the UK for three weeks (a very intense time) and an outbreak of Ebola occurred in the southeast of Guinea where we are based, spreading to other places in-country.
Sunday service during the Women's conference
A full conference room, decorated by children who play on our mission compound
Ladies in their finest also had to sleep outside full dormitories because of record numbers in attendance
Preparing rice for some 4,000 delegates
With regards to Ebola, in mid-March whilst in the UK, we received the devastating news that the head of the
laboratory at the Medical Centre, Dr Samba Keita, had died suddenly in a taxi whilst
travelling to N’Zerekore, the capital of the region, a couple of hours away. At
first, it wasn’t clear what the cause of death was, then after some thorough
investigations linking him to other recent deaths, it became clear that it was Ebola.
The Medical Centre was in shock. We were in shock. There’s one thing of mourning
the death of a colleague and a friend, but another to consider wherever or not
you’ve been infected with the same virus and could die similarly. Members of
staff who had simply done their duty and had handled Dr. Samba’s body with
loving care, then underwent a gruelling 21-day wait, the time it takes for
someone to be given the all clear from the virus. Thanks be to God that no
other member of staff was infected and praise Him that not one single member
fled from the situation to somehow escape, a real testimony of courage, love
and dedication to the population.
A real gentleman: Dr Samba Keita, former head of the Laboratory
Quite
naturally, the whole country has been gripped with fear and some bordering countries
have shut their frontiers. The health authorities are fighting against false rumours
concerning how the virus is passed on and how to protect oneself and informing
the population of the appropriate hygiene measures to take. During his brief
absence, Eric had left Dr. Samba in charge of leading the morning staff
meetings. “I’ll remember Samba with much fondness. You could depend on him, he
was a kind man, sociable, a natural leader and diplomatic. The Medical Centre
has lost a key figure.” Samba’s wife,
who was in her last month of pregnancy at the time of his passing, has since
given birth to a healthy baby boy, Samba. Please remember this family and for all the
other families touched by this disease.
