Faith over fear: The Church’s response to the escalating Ebola crisis in Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is grappling with the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in its history. It’s already killed over 2,100 people out of more than 4,500 cases, according to government figures released August 11.

According to the head of the African Centers for Disease Control, the disease has also already reached a sixth province after a man who travelled from Isiro, in Haut- Uele Province, died in the previously unaffected Bas-Uele province. The latest outbreak began in the northeastern Ituri province, and infections have also been recorded in North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo provinces. The death in Bas-Uele province has now been added to the list.

“If we do not stop this outbreak, it will last more than a year and will be the largest in the world,” Jean Kaseya, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, warned last Thursday. He said there was a real risk the disease could spread to other countries.

On Wednesday, August 12, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that at its current pace, the outbreak is on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016 that killed over 11,000 people.

Yet, deep-seated community mistrust—fueled by language barriers, and insidious rumors that Ebola is a “business” or a hoax—are constraining the fight against the virus, and has even led to violent attacks on treatment centers and kept infected individuals from seeking life-saving care.

Adding to the urgency is a looming funding crisis. As traditional major donors, including the United States, implement foreign aid freezes and cuts, the organizations on the front lines are being forced to do more with less, as the threat of the virus spilling into neighboring Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi remains acute.

Yet, in the midst of fear, uncertainty, and skeletal resources, the Catholic Church is stepping up and offering hope.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS), in tandem with Caritas Congo, is leveraging the deep, pre-existing trust of local religious leaders, including the inspiring, day-to-day dedication of Catholic sisters—to combat rumors and deliver critical public health interventions.

To understand the grim reality on the ground, the challenges of community engagement, and the spiritual resilience required to fight this epidemic, Catholic World Report spoke with Brandon Payne, Ebola Project Manager for Catholic Relief Services.

Following are excerpts of that interview.

CWR: The UN has called this the largest and fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record, driven by the Bundibugyo strain. From CRS’s vantage point in eastern DRC, does the reality on the ground match that grim description?

Brandon Payne: It’s not yet the largest outbreak on record, but it is on pace to be the largest as new cases continue to increase.

For many people, life goes on as usual because it has to–they don’t have the option to change their routines–but it is increasingly punctuated by stories of members of their community succumbing to Ebola. The majority of Ebola deaths continue to be recorded outside of health care settings, which means that monitoring for Ebola and seeking treatment are not yet frequent enough to slow the virus.

As the outbreak goes on, it will eventually have a personal impact on everyone in Ituri, especially in rural areas.

CWR: Beyond the tragic loss of life, how is this outbreak fracturing the daily lives, local economies, and already fragile healthcare systems in these communities?

Brandon Payne: Persistent rumors about Ebola have created tensions around the response. Some people claim that Ebola is a “business” for the government or for NGOs. Others say that Ebola isn’t real or that it has been introduced by NGOs. These beliefs have fueled some of the attacks against Ebola treatment centers.

At the same time, the attention paid specifically to the Ebola response means that comparatively fewer resources are going to routine medical care, like malaria treatment, pregnancy care, etc.

CWR: CRS has expressed Caritas’s full solidarity with affected communities. Can you share a specific example or story from your staff that illustrates what families are actually going through right now?

Brandon Payne: We have had members of our staff who were “case contact,” which means that they had some exposure to someone who was later confirmed to have Ebola. This means that they have to isolate themselves and don’t know for 21 days if they themselves have gotten the virus.

Fortunately, all these CRS staff have turned out fine, but the uncertainty is very stressful and not unlike what families in communities across Congo are experiencing right now.

CWR: Historically, Ebola responses in the DRC have faced severe community suspicion, sometimes resulting in violence against health workers. Why does this mistrust exist, and how is it manifesting during this specific outbreak?

Brandon Payne: A large part of CRS and Caritas’ work (and indeed the work of the entire humanitarian community) is Risk Communication and Community Engagement.

Essentially, we want to explain to people how to protect themselves and their families. One of the challenges with this is that the scientific language to describe Ebola, how it works, why it becomes more viral in the bodies of the recently diseased, etc., does not necessarily exist in the local languages that people communicate in on a daily basis.

This means that it is much easier for people to comprehend information that is shared by familiar faces than new information being shared by government officials or aid workers who are not from their communities. Unfortunately, those familiar narratives may be deeply misleading about the public health crisis.

That’s one of the reasons why CRS works so closely with local organizations, local leaders, and local governments. By leaning on their experience and the trust that they have from people in their own communities, our messages on what Ebola is, how to prevent it, when to seek treatment, etc., reach as many people as possible.

CWR: How does CRS navigate these suspicions? How do you convince a terrified community to trust outside medical interventions?

Brandon Payne: To overcome these barriers, CRS and Caritas are recruiting trusted community leaders, including religious men and women, to be a part of Risk Communication and Community Engagement programs. Bishop Uringi of the Diocese of Bunia has also shared messages with his parishes to encourage them to adopt the best practices for preventing the accidental transmission of the virus during church functions.

However, the challenge is immense; even when people might be inclined to seek care for suspected Ebola, the availability of treatment beds might be insufficient in their town or village.

CWR: There are serious concerns that recent cuts and freezes to US foreign aid are crippling global health responses. Concretely, how are these US funding reductions making the fight against Ebola in the DRC harder today?

Brandon Payne: We don’t know specifics around how the aid cuts affected epidemic monitoring in Congo; however, the American State Department has become one of the leading funders of the humanitarian response to this outbreak. In addition to secular actors, they support religious non-profits like CRS.

The State Department also solicits regular input from groups like CRS on our response strategy, and we are hopeful that recent announcements that the US Congress will dedicate even more funding to the response will come to fruition.

CWR: Who is currently providing the funding to keep the CRS response alive? Are other donors filling the void, or is there simply a massive shortfall?

Brandon Payne: Through the beginning of August, the State Department is by far CRS’ largest institutional donor.

CRS has also received grants from Islamic Relief and from anonymous private donors in the United States.

Of course, there is always more work to do, and other institutional donors would do well to contribute now before the outbreak becomes worse and potentially spreads to other countries.

 CWR: What specific, concrete actions is CRS taking right now on the ground in eastern DRC to stem the virus from spreading, especially as reports suggest it is spreading to neighboring countries like Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi?

Brandon Payne: Fortunately, at this time, there are no active, confirmed cases in any neighboring countries.

However, the risk remains acute, and CRS in Uganda, for example, continues to invest in preventive activities in that country.

CWR: In the face of a fast-growing virus, aid cuts, and community fear, what is giving you and your teams hope right now?

Brandon Payne: Some of our greatest inspiration comes from the sisters and nuns working for Caritas Congo at health clinics and at other Church institutions in Ituri.

They enact the cardinal virtues every day as they go about their work, and they always do it with a smile and an effervescence that is truly Christ-like. Their dedication to the response day in and day out is one of the highest demonstrations of solidarity as demanded of us by Catholic Social Teaching.