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How You Can Help MSF With The Ebola Outbreak In The DRC

How You Can Help MSF With The Ebola Outbreak In The DRC
On 1 August 2018, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared its tenth Ebola outbreak. DRC’s experiences with Ebola and MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières) has been an ongoing relationship and battle for about four years.
MSF has found itself in the various communities and towns of the DRC to provide aid to those who have needed it most during these Ebola outbreaks. MSF has worked to help prevent the epidemic from spreading, set up treatment centres and provide training to the surrounding healthcare centres for infection prevention. 

MSF has opened a treatment centre of their own in the DRC within the small town of Mangina in the North Kivu province. They believe this to be the central point of where the outbreak started. This treatment centre has 12 tents for treatment, isolation and care for Ebola victims and patients.

In a country where the healthcare system is able to effectively provide care for its people, it’s up to non-profit organisations and outsiders to step up and help those in need. With the recent Ebola outbreak in the DRC, there is an ever-pressing need for more help for this country. And there are a few ways you can personally provide aid and relief to these suffering communities. 

Donations

The simplest form of aid to non-profit organisations is through donations. 
If you were to take a look at your monthly budget, you’ll see that you have a few bucks to spare at the end of the month. Or, if you still want to hold onto that “spare change”, you’ll easily be able to rework your budget by cutting out an unnecessary expense that could otherwise go towards the MSF Ebola efforts. 

The donor registration process with MSF is simple and specific enough that you can specify which project you want to support (in this case, it would be the Ebola in DRC: 2018 project). You set how the limit of want and can afford to donate on a monthly basis and then you can sign up to receive email updates on activities related to where your donations have gone. If you can’t commit to a monthly donation, then simply register your donation as a single donation that you can make whenever you are able to afford it. 

Where people become hesitant to donate, however, is when they don’t know how their donations are being used and if they’re being used to support the cause. What MSF has done, is provided an informational page on their website to tell you exactly how your funds are used. And if you’re still not sure about donating money, they also offer other ways in which you can donate to their projects such as MySchool and Smart Shopper cards rewards programmes or their “pledge your birthday” campaign, amongst others.
They even provide specific costs for the resources they need to provide welfare aid to, for the communities they are helping. 

Volunteer

Donations are a great way to help if you aren’t available to physically go to the DRC and volunteer. But if you are in a flexible stage of your life and are willing to volunteer your time and skills with the rest of the MSF team, then you should consider volunteering. 

There is so much potential for personal development through volunteering, which is only a secondary benefit to helping out other communities and providing care. MSF has a list of specialists and skills that they are in need of out in the field. For the Ebola project, they could use the help of registered nurses, medical doctors, water and sanitation specialists and pharmacists.
Working for MSF means that you meet their strict application requirements regarding experience and qualifications. As MSF deals with the physical health and wellbeing of people, it’s necessary to make sure that the staff and volunteers are prepared to handle the job and provide the best possible care. 

But if you can’t qualify for the field, you can always apply to work or intern in their offices. There will always be a need for extra minds and hands to develop an organisation so consider volunteering as your way of helping with the Ebola outbreak.

Awareness

And the last way you can play a part in helping with the Ebola outbreak in the DRC is by raising awareness. Awareness for MSF and what can be done to help them through donations and volunteering, as well as create awareness about Ebola that can be shared with the people of the DRC and the rest of Africa where this disease is a problem.
They say prevention is the best cure and the more people know about Ebola, how it is contracted and spread, the fewer outbreaks will be recorded in the timeline of humanity. Raising awareness can be done on a variety of scales and can even lead to fundraising events where the funds are donated to organisations like MSF who are in the middle of controlling the Ebola outbreak. 

Find a way to help make a difference and never think your input is too small or will be insignificant. Every little bit helps and is needed to make a positive change in the DRC people’s lives. 
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