The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

by Samantha Power

I came across an essay that MSF had posted on its blog the previous week from a Liberian worker named Alexander James who had been traveling around the country educating communities on Ebola. “Sunday, the twenty-first of September, is a day I will never forget in my life,” James wrote: At that time, Ebola had come to Liberia so I tried to talk to my family about the virus and to educate them, but my wife did not believe in it. I called my wife begging her to leave Monrovia and bring the children north so we could be together here. She did not listen. She denied Ebola. Later that night, my brother called me. “Your wife has died.” I said, “What?” He said, “Bendu is dead.” I dropped the phone. I threw it away and it broke apart. We were together for 23 years. She understood me. She was the only one who understood me very well. I felt like I’d lost my whole memory. My eyes were open, but I didn’t know what I was looking at. I had no vision.