by Staff Writer on OCTOBER 21, 2014 in DISASTER RELIEF


A cursory view of TV shows and newspapers in America will alert you to the fact that Ebola has become wall-to-wall news,
as it’s begun to impact people worldwide. The U.S. experienced its first Ebola victim, Thomas Eric Duncan, who died in Dallas earlier this month. Health care workers who’ve been infected from interactions with Mr. Duncan are now undergoing treatment, and the public is expressing growing concern for travel bans and rapid containment.


The escalation of cases deserves our utmost attention and focus.
Food for the Hungry (FH), through an Integral Alliance partnership that includes Medical Teams International (MTI), has joined the fray to help quell the spread of Ebola at its source in Liberia. Working together, FH will help support the following initiatives:

Mobilize community health volunteers to provide Ebola prevention in the community. Information and education are a critical piece of insuring the virus doesn’t continue to spread. Misinformation and rumors need to be squelched, and accuracy regarding how Ebola is contracted and spread must be disseminated.

Provide protection for health workers. The fear of infection has stymied the flow of volunteers and, as a result, it is necessary to train potential workers on the basics of Ebola and how to protect themselves from infection.

Improve infection control measures at health facilities. Support for timely and accurate tracing and follow up of Ebola contacts as well as performing clinic assessments and on-site corrective feedback is being given, with the goal of keeping the local heath care system working properly.

Home-based care. Home-based Infection Prevention and Control teaches individuals how to care for family members who may have Ebola, and how to keep themselves from getting infected. Supplies are also given to the family (gloves, plastic sheeting, bucket, etc.) in order to help prevent infection.
Liberian in Ebola infection region
FH and Integral Alliance partners are working to help people like this stop the spread of Ebola.


To take this issue lightly would be a grave mistake.
This is not the first health issue to adversely affect a vast portion of the world’s population. In the 14th Century, much of the known world was devastated by the Bubonic Plague, which cost Europe some 60 percent of its population as over 75 million perished.  As recently as 1918 another 75 million lost their lives, this time to the worldwide spread of the Spanish Flu Pandemic. One of the worst influenza pandemics in history, it ravaged the world from 1918-1923.


Are these numbers that unimaginable in this day and age?
A recent USA TODAY report estimated that the number of Ebola cases could top 10,000 per week in West Africa. As a result, the U.S. and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have recognized the need to step up their responses to the Ebola virus.

The good news, and there is some good news,
is the fact that we now recognize the alarming potential of the Ebola virus and, as a result, we are taking more pro-active steps to counteract it. Organizations like the CDC, and non-profits like FH are already involving themselves. And, each individual can get acquainted with the facts regarding the virus, especially in regard to contracting the infection.

Learn more about the disease, watch the FH website for information
on how FH is supporting MTI to bring an end to Ebola in West Africa. And you can GIVE to help. Finally, we can all draw assurance from Philippians 4:6 – “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”