CHICAGO (AP) – Families in the United States expect to be reunited as early as this weekend with some of the more than 300 Peace Corps volunteers evacuated from three West African nations affected by the worst recorded Ebola outbreak in history.
“We did really have faith in the Peace Corps that if things would become dangerous they would do what they’re now doing,” said Mirna Jope of Carmichael, California, whose 25-year-old son called home Thursday after learning he would be leaving Sierra Leone.
In his personal blog, Dawson Jope described Peace Corps’ withdrawal from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia as “testament to the deadly potential and spread of the disease,” noting the organization’s first priority is volunteers’ safety.
“I’m sure most of you have many, many questions. I have some answers, but not the time at the moment to present them all because me and my fifty-four other colleagues are in the hectic process of preparing for our evacuation of country,” he wrote in a Thursday entry. “That statement alone does not come close to conveying the maelstrom of stresses that have been placed upon all of us so quickly thrust into this situation. Just know that we are all safe and healthy, and will soon be back in country.”
A Peace Corps spokeswoman said the organization is working to bring the volunteers home as quickly as possible and following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that say people without a known exposure don’t need to be screened but should monitor their health. Two workers who have been exposed to the virus still were being monitored.