United Nations Photo - Child care Center Butembo

Headline Child Care Centre Near Ebola Treatment Unit in Butembo

Caption Description The child care center near the Butembo Ebola treatment center in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) opened on 22 March 2019. Children separated or orphaned by Ebola in the country have received care and support from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and its partners. The child care centre in Butembo cares for children whose parents are receiving treatment in the Ebola treatment centre.
Kasereka Miyisa Jophet is an Ebola survivor from Butembo. This is his story: “It all started with my son. He fell ill and we went to a local hospital. A patient touched my son and he was contaminated after 2 weeks. We did not know it was Ebola. We were ignorant. We went to another general hospital and after 2 days my baby died. In November 2018, my wife fell sick and we thought it was poison. We went to see a traditional doctor who tested her and confirmed to us it was poison. He tried to cure her, but after one week my wife died too. After this, my mother became sick as she was close to my wife. We started doubting it was poison. At that point, friends working for the response intervened. My mother did the swab test and they found out she had Ebola. But by that time she was very sick and died in the hospital. At this point, my dad and I went to the Ebola treatment center and found that we both had Ebola too. We stayed 17 days at the Ebola treatment center in November 2018. We both survived. I then saw other lullaby singers helping parents with children and that’s when I decided I also wanted to help others. I have been working as a lullaby singer for 6 months now and I am proud to do this work, as many babies have come to the Centre. I work 6 days a week. It’s a difficult time for me, but caring for babies gives me a purpose in life and I feel very proud.”

Unique Identifier UN735597

NICA ID 817641

Production Date 08/13/2019 8:48:35 AM

Country Democratic Republic of the Congo

Credit UN Photo/Martine Perret