Marginalized and suspicious: listening to people who have little reason to trust foreigners – Democratic Republic of Congo

The village of Alima, its houses scattered around a large common room, the walls open to let the gentle breeze, look serene and welcoming.

However, this village, located in a deep clearing in the forest of the health zone of Mandima, between the cities of Beni and Butembo in North Kivu, east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has several years of conflict, deprivation and suffering. deeply suspicious of strangers.

And now, another threat has touched the heart of this community: Ebola. Although Alima is in a health zone among the first infected in the largest epidemic ever recorded in the DRC, and the first to occur in the east of this vast country, the locals are living in the heart of the country. Alima do not seem to know about the disease or why he is killing now in their midst.

"Why are you bringing strangers into our village to tell us about it? The message should only be transmitted by our people, said the village's imam. "

"Do not you pray in a foreign language? In Arabic? "Responded Dr. Ibrahima-Socé Fall, Deputy Director General for Emergencies, who oversees Ebola response in the DRC. "Aliens can bring important knowledge that we all need to use to train local people"

Dr. Fall and a team of Ebola experts were at Alima to hold a community dialogue – listen to the concerns of the people and provide them with the knowledge they need to protect themselves from the risk of contracting the Ebola virus.

One of the lessons learned from this and other Ebola outbreaks is that it is not enough to send messages. Every community should have the opportunity to voice their concerns, to be listened to and to receive the information and actions that meet their needs.

At first shy, the women, all sitting on the back benches, refused to ask questions when they were invited there. Finally, we stood up and said, "I want to know why this disease kills women. He kills all the mothers. Why & # 39;

All women joined the choir "Why, why, why?"

Although distrust of strangers is clear, most of the questions posed testified to a burning thirst for information about the disease and how people might protect themselves.

It was one of the many community dialogues organized by WHO, in which technical experts and response leaders traveled to a village or group suspicious of or in need of more information about Ebola and HIV / AIDS. measures taken to prevent it.

Organizing such a dialogue involves understanding what the village or community group needs, which is usually organized by socio-anthropologists and community engagement specialists. Julienne Anoko, WHO's chief socio-anthropologist, drives a motorcycle through torrential rains, mud and barely visible forest tracks to reach villages in this region, understand their concerns and organize community dialogues when is necessary.