Read the full article online at sandiegouniontribune.com.

By Diane Bell
​When Deborah Lindholm left for the airport in Liberia on Aug. 8, the doorman at the hotel that has been her second home for more than six years, pleaded: “Deborah, please pray that we are alive when you come back.” In our corner of Southern California, the deadly Ebola virus spreading in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in West Africa seems a world away. But for Lindholm, who set up a microfinance network to help women start their own businesses in Liberia in 2006, it is right next door. 

​She pays for the education of a young boy named Moses and found him a home with the vice principal of a school run by the Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse. He lives only three doors away from the infected American missionary Nancy Writebol, who recently returned to the United States for treatment. The sister-in-law of a dear friend of Lindholm was infected with virus while working as a nurse. She died and her husband and entire family were exposed.

​“No one touches anyone any more. No one shakes hands. No one hugs,” says Lindholm. “This is a very caring culture. It is awful to watch.” Read the full article at sandiegouniontribune.com.