A face for Ebola

My heart breaks a couple times a day. Whenever I look at the headlines and remember our friends, my heart just sinks.

Granted, I have more in this personally than the average American, and so what I have to say here comes from my heart, not my head.

Thanks to the media, Liberia is all over the news, and as usual, it's bad news. Ebola. The dreaded disease that is killing thousands. People are living in tremendous fear because of how deadly it is, and because hospitals are shutting down. I saw the story today of a lady who died in childbirth because 4 clinics turned her away.

What makes me the most sad, is how it has once again reduced Liberia to broken down hospitals, unsanitary living conditions, and ignorance. The article on CNN detailing the terrible conditions of one of the main hospitals made me sad and angry all at the same time. I feel maternal and protective and it feels like Liberians have been violated and stripped of their dignity. See, I told you I'm thinking with my heart right now, and not my head :)

I realize that every word is true, but Liberians are more than all that. They are funny, warm, friendly, and creative. They have faces.

They are more than just statistics. More than willfully ignorant people. More than dirt and poverty and broken down buildings. They have names and emotions and personalities. They have faces.

What makes me sadder yet is the attitude that many Americans have displayed about the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to help out with this horrible epidemic. 

Most don't realize that working in the hospitals over there is no walk in the park to start with, and then to stay to help with Ebola? That takes a special kind of person, a Christ-like kind of person, a life-giving person. And when I hear people suggesting that if they would truly be unselfish, they would not have decided to bring Ebola back to the States, well, words fail to adequately describe how I feel.

Articles like this leave me speechless. 

Our definition of inconvenience is the waiter bringing the appetizer late, or worse yet, the wrong entree.

The driver pulling out in front of us as we are running late on the way to work.

Golden Corral's buffet prices going up.

Having to park way out at Wal-Mart on a busy day.

How about this for a new definition:

hauling all your drinking water and any other water for household use in buckets on your head for a mile.

a terrible health care system, where many people die for lack of proper care and equipment

eating once a day because you can't really afford more

relying on public transportation because you couldn't nearly afford your own vehicle.

Honestly, I don't know how this will pan out. I can only pray and cry to the Father to have mercy and stop this epidemic. I'm preparing to hear that some of our friends will have gotten it. This disease is ruthless, painful and most times life-taking.

In the meantime i will remember the better days,

of a colorful people

of beautiful, happy babies

of sandy beaches

of friendly folk

My Liberia.