Monday, September 22, 2014

Church! Ebola! Liberia! W/ help from John Green Trevor Haueisen 6th


     Ebola is getting worse in the countries where it started. That has a lot to do with the poor medical attention that the patients are getting there due to hospitals lack of supplies. Many can't get to hospitals so their family must treat them, which just leads to more sickness. At a local church in Kakata the Pastor has stopped many of their normal customs such as no one takes communion wine from the same cup anymore and even stopping people from hugging and shaking hands. They also added a place where they can wash their hands off with bleach when they leave. 

     I have to say that I am impressed with the Pastor's actions here. Many people resist change, and many of the church members did, but he put his religious thoughts aside (slightly) and thought about the people instead which I think is pretty admirable of him.
     I would like to say Ebola is a very serious health issue, but it is not as infections as tuberculosis which can be passed through the air, and not as deadly as HIV/AIDS. Diarrhea, which is an easily diagnosable and treatable condition, kills about 1.5 million children each year. The main thing to take away from this Ebola outbreak isn't that it is this huge scary monster disease, but that much of the deaths in these African countries are largely due to lack of proper medical treatment, and not because of the sheer monstrosity of the disease.

     The attached video discusses briefly what I'm talking about.



     

2 comments:

  1. Why would one wash their hands with bleach?

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    1. Well bleach is just very good at cleaning, it kills a lot of harmful bacteria. It's also probably just the best that they can get.

      -Trevor Haueisen 6th

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