Democratic Republic of Congo: The people behind the mask

Sylvain Radjabu Lubangi is a physician who worked in MSF’s Elikya Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) in Bunia, Ituri province. The ETC has since closed. He entered the high-risk zone each day for months to care for patients with Ebola disease.

Having survived the disease himself, he knows how frightening it can be.

“At the beginning of the outbreak, many people were dying. I thought I was going to die too,” he says.

Lubangi contracted the virus before joining the MSF-run treatment centre. Admitted to this facility, he learned that other health workers had died in the region. “That was very hard. I kept thinking maybe I would be next,” he says.

But he found the strength to fight.

“I told myself Ebola is a disease like others — you can receive care and recover,” he says.

After recovering, Lubangi chose to continue supporting the Ebola response.

“I know the fear, the pain and the uncertainty. That gives me even more empathy and more strength to help them,” he says.

Carla Schwanfelder is a pediatrician from Germany, working at MSF’s Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC) in Mongbwalu, Ituri.

While children represent a minority of patients seen at this facility, they represent a larger proportion of patients who die from the disease.

“Most of the children we treat who test positive die,” says Schwanfelder. “They are among the groups most vulnerable to this disease, alongside older people and pregnant mothers.”

“They can seem fine one day – eating and playing – and the next day they are dead,” she says. “It is no longer surprising, but it is deeply sad. When we see them deteriorating, there is not much we can do.”

So, seeing children recover provides a dose of relief to the team.

“When they are beginning to get better, we have fun – we fist bump through the plastic screen designed to stop infection,” she says. “They laugh and we laugh with them.”

This is Schwanfelder second Ebola disease reponse.

“I can’t sit at home and watch from afar when I know I have skills I can use to help,” she says.

Dieudonné Tchuma Longa works as a health promoter with MSF in Mongbwalu, raising awareness in communities about the dangers of Ebola disease and advising people how to stay safe.

“We go door to door, organize community meetings and speak with religious and other community leaders,” he says.

Since July, Longa has lost eight members of his family to Ebola disease, including his father and son. He believes he was infected at his father’s funeral.

“People listen to me. I know what it is like to suffer from Ebola disease. Explaining the seriousness of this outbreak is essential if we are to save lives.”

Charlotte Borive provides mental health support to patients at the ETC in Mongbwalu.

“Most of my job is about identifying the needs of patients and helping them overcome their fear of the treatment centre,” she says.

“People are scared of being isolated, they are scared of Ebola disease and they are scared of people in personal protective equipment (PPE).”

Borive says that the death of health workers in Mongbwalu has been difficult for the team to handle.

“It really impacted us,” she says. “These are people who wanted to help the community.”

Alice Alyerunga is a nursing supervisor from Bunia, working at MSF’s ETC in Mongbwalu. Although she has worked with MSF for the past 12 years, she has never responded to an emergency on this scale.

“It is the most stressful intervention I have been a part of,” she says. At the beginning, it was catastrophic. We had no survivors for three weeks. Around 100 people died. Every night, my heart was bleeding for our patients. When we had our first survivor, it was a joyous moment.”

“As frontline health workers, we face high levels of exposure, even with PPE,” says Alyerunga. “This means that it can be frightening to work here, but we are motivated by our mission to save lives.”

Richard Kasereka is an ambulance driver. He is initially from Goma, North Kivu, and works at MSF’s ETC in Mongbwalu, Ituri, where the outbreak began.

“We have picked up a lot of patients here,” he says. “In bad cases, there is a lot of blood, diarrhea and vomiting. It is risky because these fluids are highly infectious. Sometimes the person is nearly dead already when we pick them up. Sometimes they are dead by the time they arrive.”

Samson Balidja grew up in Ituri province. Today, as MSF’s country director support in Bunia, he helps MSF navigate the security and humanitarian challenges of working in his home province.

Around a dozen active armed groups operate in the area, making humanitarian access difficult and complicating the Ebola disease response.

“During clashes, the communities flee,” he says. “This disrupts prevention measures, facilitates the spread of the disease and prevents us from accessing affected areas.”

MSF teams also face deep distrust. Balidja was among the first MSF staff to arrive in Mongbwalu, where the outbreak is thought to have begun.

“We were threatened and a group of youths set fire to a tent we had set up next to the hospital. They didn’t believe Ebola disease was serious. They thought NGOs had created it to make money,” he says.

More recently, Balidja and other colleagues were attacked in another part of the province.

“They threatened us, saying we would not make it out alive,” he says, but remains resolute.

“To save lives, we need to earn the trust of the people,” he says. “We need to reinforce community engagement, help communities understand why we are there and work alongside them.”

Judith Mudjagani is a nurse in Bunia who joined MSF’s Ebola disease response in May. She worked in Elikya ETC in Bunia, Ituri province, until the closure of the facility, at the end of October.

“For months before the outbreak was declared, we were treating sick patients without proper protection,” she says. “In early June, I tested positive for Ebola disease. I’m sure it was because I had been working without protection.”

“It was frightening. I know other health workers who have died,” she says.

Mudjagani is driven by a strong sense of duty.

“If we don’t isolate and treat patients, a single case can wipe out an entire village,” she says. “But if we keep going I’m optimistic that we can defeat this epidemic.”

Adelard Kasereka Kasisivahwa is from Butembo, North Kivu. As MSF’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) supervisor at the city’s hospital, he leads and trains around 60 colleagues, to clean wards and create a safe environment for staff, patients and the community.

When a patient dies, his team helps prepare the body — which is highly infectious — for safe burial. Transparent windows in the morgue tent allow families to watch the preparations.

“Families need to see what we are doing and be part of saying goodbye,” he says.

But the process can be hard to bear.

“At MSF, we do everything we can, but we cannot save everyone. And it weighs on us all.”

Vivuya Kavira Mwenga is a nurse at MSF’s ETC in Beni, North Kivu.

When patients arrive, her team isolates them, monitors them closely and treats their symptoms.

“We cannot cure Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo Virus yet, but we can treat the symptoms,” she says.

“When someone walks out alive, it is a great joy,” she says. “That is what we want for every patient.”

Kass Kalume is chief of community engagement at MSF’s ETC in Beni. He joined the response in August 2026.

His job is to inform patients, families and visitors about Ebola disease and how to protect themselves – and to tackle the rumours that can spread fear.

“Some people say our ETC is a morgue – that no one leaves alive,” he says. “Others say we inject people to make them weak.”

The most difficult moments occur when a patient dies. Mourning can turn into anger, and sometimes into threats and accusations against MSF staff. Kalume and his colleagues respond to disinformation with facts.

“When families accuse us of causing the death, we listen, then we tell them the truth: it is the virus that kills,” he says.

Rachel Mbuto is MSF’s infection prevention and control supervisor in Butembo, North Kivu. She joined three months ago – her first MSF response.   

She leads 20 people to keep the ETC safe and limit the risk of infection.  

“My job is to make sure everyone follows the protocols,” she says. “One mistake can put everyone at risk.”  

Rachel checks that staff are properly dressed before entering the high-risk zone, that equipment is disinfected and that waste is handled safely.  

“I know the context is dangerous, but I am a health worker. When we take an oath, we cannot give up,” she says.