Nov 19, 2014 3 min read

In a second-grade classroom in Dallas, Texas, students recoiled in fear when an American girl of West African descent sneezed.

“The whole class got up and said, ‘Oh, she has Ebola,'” Matuh Ntumngia Awunti, a Canonsburg Hospital nurse, said while describing her young relative’s recent experience. “(Some) think if you’re in the same room with someone that is from West Africa or know somebody who came from West Africa, you immediately have Ebola.”

Ntumngia Awunti, originally from Cameroon, along with two of her colleagues, hope to use education as a weapon to combat the stigma and misconceptions surrounding Ebola. A nonprofit organization founded by Ntumngia Awunti will host an Ebola symposium and “Hope Concert” Friday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

The event is free from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at which time a panel of medical experts and charity organizers will discuss Ebola from a number of angles, including disease control, national security and public health preparedness. Starting at 6 p.m., the paid portion of the event will feature entertainment from a West African dance ensemble, a Brazilian samba dance group, a jazz performance, a poet and a fashion show.

Proceeds raised from the tickets – $25 per student, $50 per adult and $75 per couple – will be donated to Brother’s Brother Foundation and Doctors Without Borders to provide aid to Africans in Ebola-stricken countries.

Ntumngia Awunti, of Houston, founded Global Health Education Outreach one year ago in hopes of providing health education and services to impoverished countries and even local areas in Southwestern Pennsylvania. When the Ebola outbreak hit West Africa, claiming the lives of more than 5,000 people, she knew what the organization’s first task should be.

“There’s a lot of stigma,” Ntumngia Awunti said about Ebola. “There’s a lot of fear. There’s a lot of concern. And there’s a lack of education right now.”

Doreen Doshen Krut, a social worker at Canonsburg Hospital and vice president of GHEO, added that misconceptions still persist, such as the innacurate belief that Ebola is an airborne disease.

“We realize there is a definite need to bring awareness and discussion regarding this issue,” Doshen Krut said.

The small group of volunteers in GHEO experienced some resistance while trying to organize the event. Ntumngia Awunti said the reason is fear, coupled with the perception that Ebola does not need to be discussed in the United States.

“Some people don’t want you to mention the word Ebola. It’s a scary word,” she said.

Both women, in addition to hospital employee Stefani Lutz, hope to continue the conversation about Ebola after the symposium. They also want to start visiting local schools to bring these lessons to students.

After this, they hope to address other common issues that affect Pennsylvanians, such as diabetes.

“People die because they don’t know how to take care of themselves with diabetes,” Ntumngia Awunti said. “It’s an issue around the world – even here – with noncompliance, especially in underprivileged areas.”

To register for the Hope Concert, visit www.globalhealtheducationoutreach.org. Anyone interested in volunteering for GHEO can contact the organization at info@gheo.care.