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Ebola has been one of the most talked about health emergencies in the past year, but unless you’ve been in close contact with an infected person, you are very unlikely to contract the virus. There are many myths and fears surrounding the Ebola outbreak, both in the affected region of West Africa and in our own country. These fears are hampering efforts to fight the disease.

It has always been in Tory Dalrymple's nature to give back. On her eighth birthday, she asked her guests to donate to charity instead of bringing a gift. Since then, the 13-year-old from High River, Alberta, has made giving a part of her life. After learning about the Ebola crisis in school, she set her sights on making a donation to the Red Cross. 

Social worker Lindsay Jones has just recently returned home to Ottawa after working at the Red Cross Ebola treatment centre in Kenema, Sierra Leone. She was there to provide psychosocial support to patients being treated for the virus. She’s been describing her experiences on her blog and recently in this CBC interview. We share this excerpt.

While much of the attention around the current Ebola outbreak has been on treating patients, combating the fears, stigma and myths associated with the virus is another important component of the Red Cross response.

As an administrator of a series of emergency-type hospitals in remote parts of the world, Erwan Cheneval has had to supervise, plan, develop, and monitor them and maintain appropriate standards of care. Meeting these challenges in abnormal circumstances is doubly hard.

While most of us will be spending the holidays with our families and friends, we wanted to highlight the special individuals working with the Canadian Red Cross who have sacrificed their holidays here at home to help those in need overseas. 

Social worker Lindsay Jones recently arrived at the Red Cross Ebola treatment centre in Kenema, Sierra Leone. The Ottawa resident is there to provide psychosocial support to patients being treated for the virus. She describes some of the heartwarming and heartbreaking moments she has experienced. 

The days are flying by, a blur of highs and lows. We move from gut-wrenching tragedy to clapping, dancing celebration in the three steps it takes to cross between patients. Three steps more, back to tragedy again.
 
Yesterday, we had a six-year-old girl arrive in an ambulance full of suspected Ebola cases. She came with no contact information. We weren’t even sure of her name. Today, she died with one of our team, dressed in full protective gear, holding her hand.