So many of my friends warned me "don't get Ebola" before I left for Kenya. It almost became a joke. I always assured them that it was in west Africa and we were going to east Africa. I took the threat seriously, the stories on the news were so sad. but honestly no part of me was at all concerned, My brain just didn't let it be a real possibility. Today the reality of the threat hit Kira and I when we were watching a news anchor covering the recent developments in the Ebola situation. They showed all the big scary facts: "one of the deadliest diseases in the world", "no cure", "90% death rate". And they showed clips of fully protected workers screening incoming travelers at the Nairobi airport that we had flown into only weeks before. They explained how Kenya is a stage 2 country because of the high threat and imminent risk of Ebola outbreak. Stage 1 are countries with the Ebola epidemic and stage 3 are countries without high concern for contamination.
Watching this really drove the reality of the situation home. It's terrifying in one sense, but the country is taking every precaution to avoid exposure. Chances are it won't even happen while were here. And if it does come technically our safety is compromised and we would have to leave. The US embassy will alert us, we will have to move our flight up and leave before the risk of infection grows.
A week ago we would have been really sad to leave, but we would've been able to get over it and be okay if not slightly happy with going home early ...But now I can't imagine leaving, it would feel 110% wrong for us to swoop out, while everyone we love here is left to pray they do not get infected.
Pondering over the possibilities has given us an incredible view into how volunteers have felt in many situations where they have been evacuated because their safety is seemingly more important then the natives. It brings into perspective things like when the volunteers had to leave Rwanda during the genocide.
It's been a real paradigm shift for me, I feel how difficult these situations are on a visceral level. It has shed light on the uncanny amount of bravery it takes to be selfles.. The strange dichotomy between self preservation and not holding your safety and value above others.. And on a less cosmic scale, it's shown how exceedingly grateful and happy we are to be here; we are settled and doing work that feels useful. We knew we were content here, but having to be aware of the real possibility of leaving early has helped us truly grasp how entirely we want to be here and helped us remember to soak in each day as much as humanly possible.