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On the Front Lines of Ebola: Nebobongo Needs Our Help
Background: We have partnered with Nebobongo Hospital in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for well over a decade. Over the years, we have trained nurses and specialists, built housing for doctors, installed clean-water wells, conducted malaria prevention campaigns, distributed mosquito nets, and shipped containers filled with medical equipment, including X-ray machines and other critical supplies.
Today, we continue to support the hospital’s weekly inpatient and outpatient malnutrition program for children, as well as a monthly debt-relief program for the poorest patients who come through its doors.
Current: Since the Ebola outbreak began in May 2026, we have been in almost daily communication with Nebobongo Hospital. Early on, we raised more than $3,500 to help protect hospital staff with urgently needed supplies, including chlorine, 70% alcohol, masks, gloves, eye protection, gowns, boots, and handwashing materials. That was three months ago, and they are almost out of supplies. We sent another $1,200 last week so that they will not run out of supplies while we work to raise more financial support for them.
These may seem like basic supplies, but at Nebobongo they are often out of reach. The hospital has so few resources that disposable gloves are sometimes washed and reused. Yet despite these limitations, its doctors and nurses continue to save lives and perform emergency surgeries that no other hospital within 55 km can provide. They need our assistance just to obtain any form of protection. Full-body, impermeable personal protective equipment (PPE) that leaves no skin exposed is standard for anyone entering direct ebola patient care areas. The hospital does not have any of these, and we have not been able to acquire any for them.
"This is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history, with many people dying outside treatment centers. It has recorded seven times more deaths at this stage than the 2014–2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak." — AP News, August 24
We provided what we could while praying Ebola would not reach the hospital. In recent weeks, it has.
12 people who came through the hospital are now presumed to have had Ebola, although the hospital does not have the ability to test for it. Patients are assessed and then referred to a government Ebola treatment center about 15 km away. Of those 12 patients, five refused transfer and died in their villages within days. Three transferred to the Ebola center and died there. Four others refused treatment, and the hospital has been unable to learn what happened to them.
This has become an extraordinarily deadly outbreak, as of August 28, 2026 more than 5,700 confirmed cases and over 2,700 deaths reported across the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our partners also tell us that people are becoming sick and dying in remote villages near the hospital without ever being included in the official numbers. Decades of conflict, displacement, extreme poverty, limited infrastructure, and a fragile health system make it extremely difficult to identify, reach, test, and care for everyone affected.
Cost: $8,000
100% of funds raised will be sent directly to Nebobongo Hospital to purchase additional protective supplies and equipment, and disinfectant for its facilities, to protect both staff and patients.
The hospital is also building an urgently needed small triage area and needs more fencing so people with suspected Ebola can be evaluated before entering the main hospital. If enough funding is received, we will help meet those needs as well.
