00:00After months on the front lines of the Democratic Republic of Congo's latest Ebola outbreak,
00:05healthcare workers are warning that they can no longer continue without pay.
00:09Among them is Wiza Bondele, who also served during the country's 2018 Ebola epidemic.
00:15He now works on a team that disinfects homes of the Ebola victims,
00:20a job that exposes him to the virus every day.
00:23We went to live our grave, to live our grave.
00:26Yes, we went on strike because we saw that we were working under dangerous conditions and sacrificing our energy.
00:32We work in risky situations.
00:34You may find yourself in a situation where a patient is vomiting blood and you have to clean it up.
00:40We face those kinds of risks and we deserve both our allowance and our salary.
00:45When we realized that the authorities were saying nothing about our pay, we decided to go on strike.
00:50The strike has also affected patients and their families.
00:53Georgina Imani, whose father died of Ebola, is urging authorities to act quickly,
00:58saying communities desperately need treatment and stronger support to contain the outbreak.
01:03We ask the authorities to make every possible effort to find medicines that will bring an end to this disease.
01:10Bondele says workers were promised US$510, but those paid received only $380 beyond the wages.
01:18Many fear they could contract Ebola and unknowingly spread it to their families and communities.
01:25I want to keep working, but I'm in a high-risk environment.
01:29I could become infected with this virus and then I could infect my family and neighbors.
01:33So I realized that because of me, many people could die.
01:37That is why I've decided I want to leave this job.
01:42Despite considering quitting, Bondele says he will wait to see if authorities honor their promise to pay frontline workers.
01:49Meanwhile, the Ebola outbreak continues to grow, with the Africa CDC warning the response needs urgent action.
01:56You know, they're going to do it.
01:58You know, it's been so expensive.
01:58You know, it's been so expensive.
01:58You know, being a real-life therapist.
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