We all have our rituals of greeting and departing – a wild embrace, hugs, sweet kisses of I missed you as well as good-bye.

As Ebola spreads throughout West Africa, another casualty of the disease is affection expressed in touching, hugging, kissing each other on the face – cheek to cheek – and simple handshaking.

Perhaps the most challenging restraint is the inability to offer physical comfort to another person when they are ill or in deep despair – or are dying. The precautions mean a mother is limited in her ability to soothe her ill child with rocking or wiping sweat from the child’s face. She faces the risk of contracting the disease herself when she comes in contact with her child.

The death toll from Ebola continues – as hearts continue to break. Each day people must decide between medical precautions and their cultural and emotional expressions of love.

(S-R photo: Children pray during a service at the Bridgeway Baptist Church in the St. Paul Bridge neighborhood of Monrovia, Liberia.)

 

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