End of Ebola

Last Wednesday we joined the district celebration of the End of Ebola, the final closure on months of struggle and loss. A helicopter full of Ministry of Health, CDC, World Health Organization, and other visitors touched down and set off a parade through town as the dignitaries marched from one end to the other. We congregated at the hospital by the graves of the four health workers who died of Ebola and were buried there. The Minister of Health’s representative, Dr. Otaala, honored Melen with a speech by Dr. Jonah’s grave. It was so crowded I could not hear much of what went on, but when the crowd thinned out Jonah’s family and we were able to once again embrace at the site of so much sorrow, and weep together again over our loss. It made me thankful that we had been there in early December when no one else wanted to come near, and made me realize again the bond we had from that terrible time. From the hospital the whole delegation moved to the Boma Grounds, the large grassy field in the center of town where tents and chairs had been set up for the speeches. By this time the whole day was running several hours late (as usual) and the visitors were worried that gathering clouds could threaten their ability to fly out. So the ceremonies were mercifully compressed from the planned 4 hours to about 2. . . Enough time for a local member of parliament to make outrageous and inappropriate statements about his intention to continue eating monkeys, and for the rest of the visitors to make respectful and encouraging remarks about the courage of the survivors and to honor the memory of those who died. We were seated with the Ugandan doctors, not with the Kampala visitors, which seemed appropriate. Scott was thanked several times, called forward in a select group of about a dozen to receive certificates of recognition for their service. The best moment for us came when Dr. Sessanga was recognized as an Ebola survivor and a health worker. As he was returning to his seat, the guest of honor Dr. Otaala took the microphone to thank Scott for caring for Dr. Sessanga when he was ill with ebola, because they had been medical school class mates. Just as he was saying that Dr. Sessanga had reached our seats on the way back to his, and he and Scott hugged each other. It was a sweet symbol of the little redemptive bits of connection and relationship that come through shared suffering.