When Dr Raymond Kasereka Kamwanga told his family he suspected he had Ebola and was going to a treatment centre in the city of Butembo in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, his family were horrified.
They regarded the specialised unit as a “death house” as not many patients do recover – especially those admitted in the late stages of the illness. His 50-year-old mother was in tears, pleading with him not to go there.
“Why are you choosing to die at the Ebola treatment centre?” Masika Ndungo had asked him.
But as a doctor at Butembo’s Katwa Hospital, he knew that if stayed at home, he was unlikely to survive.
This was in July, two months after the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo a public health emergency of international concern. Since then 5,400 people have died and 11,000 have been infected, making it the second-most deadly outbreak ever recorded.
Butembo is in North Kivu province, the epicentre of the crisis, with the highest number of reported cases, according to the Congolese health ministry.
Dr Kamwanga is one of 3,031 people who have survived – and is evangelical about sharing his story in an effort to help stop the spread of infections devastating his community.
After staring death in the face and overcoming ostracisation, he has even started writing a book about his experience.
“As someone who has recovered, I am living proof that the disease exists, but also that it is possible to recover from it,” he tells the BBC outside Katwa Hospital where he still works.
The 30-year-old medic believes he contracted the virus through contact with a patient in a setting where protective measures are not always adequate.
