Urgent: Ebola in Congo
A message from Bunia — and a request for your prayers
Dear Friends,
This morning we received word from the sisters at St. Kizito Orphanage in Bunia. Their message was simple, and it has stayed with us all day: please pray for us, and pray for the children.
We are writing to share what is happening, and to ask for your help.
What is unfolding in Bunia
Over the last two weeks, an outbreak of Ebola has taken hold in Ituri Province, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. On 17 May, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Bunia — the city the sisters and the children of St. Kizito call home — is one of the affected areas. More than 130 deaths have already been linked to the outbreak, and health authorities have warned that the true scale is likely much larger than what has been detected so far. WHOCNN
This particular strain of Ebola has no licensed vaccine and no specific treatment. Care depends on early detection, isolation, and the steady hands of the people on the ground. WHO
The sisters and the children
The sisters who run St. Kizito have given their lives to caring for children who have already lost so much — children orphaned by years of conflict, displacement and illness in eastern Congo. They rise before dawn, share whatever food can be found, mend uniforms, soothe nightmares, and somehow find the strength to do it all again the next day. Now they are doing this work while a deadly outbreak moves through their city.
The children, for their part, are doing what children do everywhere: playing, learning, looking to the grown-ups around them for reassurance. They deserve to be protected. And the sisters who protect them deserve to know that they are not alone.
What is needed
We are working quickly to get support to St. Kizito in the coming days. The most urgent priorities are:
Protective supplies — gloves, masks, hand-washing materials, and the basics of infection prevention.
Medicine and medical care — paediatric medicines, rehydration supplies, and a buffer for emergency referrals.
Food, water and fuel — a three-month reserve, as markets and supply lines in Bunia are already under strain.
Support for the sisters and caregivers — so they can keep going, safely, for as long as this lasts.
Even a modest contribution, given now, will go further than a larger one given later. The window in which prevention is possible is narrow. Click HERE to make a tax-deductible contribution to this need.
And above all
The sisters asked us, first of all, to pray. So we ask the same of you. Hold the children of St. Kizito in your thoughts tonight. Hold the sisters who care for them. Hold the doctors, nurses and neighbours of Bunia who are walking toward this outbreak rather than away from it.
If you are able to give, please do by clicking HERE. If you can share this message with others who care, please do that too.
Thank you, as always, for standing with us.
With gratitude, CKI
The Congo Kids Initiative Team