Nyamah Dunbar’s calling to feed the people in her native land of Liberia collided with the worst outbreak of Ebola in history.
“Ebola, for me, has been the gift that came wrapped as a plague,” she said.
Since the first case was reported in Guinea in March 2014, more than 11,000 people have died of the disease and 27,000 cases were reported. Liberia had the most deaths at 4,806 but was declared Ebola-free in May 2015. However, a 17-year-old boy died of Ebola in June and two other cases were reported in the same village.
But the country that was shut-down for almost a year is struggling to find a way to come back to life. Dunbar wants to be one of the seeds that will grow Liberia back stronger than before.
Dunbar worked for the United Methodist Committee on Relief for six years doing health and relief work. Two weeks after she resigned from a job she really loved and flew to Liberia, suddenly she was living with quarantines and panic. Airports were closed. Hospitals were shutting down.
“My mother said, ‘We’re only here in the hands of God.’”
