I’ve been wondering how long it would take for me to write a
blog post like this….Ebola. Now, Ebola has yet to be officially found in Kenya
yet there is always a discussion about it. While the current areas of infection
are not close, it is also not possible to believe that Kenya will be safe from
Ebola forever. It most likely will happen, but it’s just a matter of when and
how it will happen. Nonetheless, prevention is a huge part, and I encountered a
very surreal moment of this prevention this past week.
This past Friday, a few of my friends and I decided to head
to a bar we had been to before. It is fairly close to where we live and pretty
convenient to get to. We had been there before and it was a nice atmosphere to
hang out at. We arrived and were enjoying some drinks at our table, when we
noticed something very unique on the television. It was a commercial for Ebola
prevention.
It was one of the most surreal feelings I’ve had. I was
casually at a relatively up-scale bar with some friends, and the commercials
during the soccer game were Ebola prevention commercials.
Whether or not we notice it on a daily basis this country is
on edge about Ebola, but I will say the manner in which they have been handling
it is far more admirable than what seems to be happening in the United States.
The Ministry of Health has published announcements in the
newspaper, there are easy-to-understand commercials, and the radio frequently
is talking about it. However, through all of this discussion there is a very
small sense of panic. It is hard to say how prepared Kenya actually is (recent
articles about health-care workers and their training does not make it look
very promising), but this nation is resilient. Even more admirable, is that
throughout this discussion they is always the rhetoric of “helping our brothers
and sisters in West Africa”, a sentiment that I wish would emerge more from the
United States.
What was more surreal was seeing the issues that this
commercial highlighted including: washing dead bodies, and refrain from eating
bats. While these two factors are incredibly important in preventing Ebola from
spreading, these are not warning that will be seen in the US. It was a very odd
juxtaposition between the direct environment we were in (a place where if it
weren’t for the security, you might forget where you are) and what the TV is
featuring as its commercials. As part of our safety here, we are all monitoring
the situation very closely, and necessary precautions will be taken if needed.
We will remain safe.
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