Night clubs have shut their doors. Soccer leagues have been suspended. And a strict curfew is keeping the streets empty at night.
But there’s one place in Monrovia where people continue to gather despite the threat of Ebola: Sunday church service.
Since Ebola broke out in Liberia’s capital city, more people have started coming to Sunday service at Trinity Cathedral, says the Very Rev. Herman Browne. And like many priests across Monrovia, Browne has been spreading the word about Ebola prevention through his sermons.
But Browne’s message this week was personal. It came from his family’s encounter with the virus.
For the past three Sundays, the reverend had been under a volunteer quarantine. This week he returned to the pulpit and explained to his congregation what happened.
It all began when his wife, Trokon Browne, went to see a close friend. “The friend … broke down, fell on the floor and started to cry,” Herman said. “Some illness had returned to her, and she was explaining it to Trokon.”
These were warning signs about Ebola. Trokon knew that. But her nurturing instincts kicked in. She embraced and fed her friend anyway.
“I cannot see my husband sick and not touch him. Or I cannot see my child sick. Ebola might as well kill us.
– Trokon Browne of Trinity Cathedral in Monrovia, Liberia
“I said that was a crazy thing to do,” Herman said to his congregation, “because the lady was vomiting and had diarrhea.”
Two days later, the Brownes learned that the friend had Ebola.
One of the reasons Ebola continues to spread in Liberia is that people who know they’ve been exposed to the virus often keep it a secret until they’re desperately ill and highly contagious. They fear the embarrassment, the stigma and the prospect of losing their income.
But the Brownes went public…Read More
Source and Original Content by BCNN1