My bin has been filled and is ready to go! Sorry, I forgot to take additional photographs — you’ll have to trust me on this. I went to register with the US State Department regarding my time at GEM and learned that Uganda is at Level 4 as of May 18th. The US has also added restrictions that the point-of-entry must be one of Washington-Dulles International Airport, Houston’s Bush Airport, and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. My return ticket is currently non-stop from Amsterdam to San Diego.

So, now I wait… I’ve been told that the airline will, in its own time, change my return ticket automatically to return through one of the three approved airports. There will most likely be a long layover and a hotel stay, but that is unavoidable. They will absorb any ticket costs, although I may have to absorb the hotel stay. If I were to change the return flight myself, I’d likely be out-of-pocket for about $750 — plus the hotel stay.

You say, why are you still going, if the government says “Don’t go!”? The short story is that the risks have been greatly mitigated by GEM. The May team is currently in country and our team leader is in constant contact with them as well as the GEM director. We’ll be picked up at the airport in Entebbe and transported directly to The GEM Foundation property, and have limited exposure to anyone that may have Ebola. So far, Uganda has been very responsive to control any Ebola spread within its borders. The Democratic Republic of Congo — not so much.