My name is Zhang Jianbo, 28. I have been a People's Daily journalist in the Africa office since December of 2011. Right now I am sitting on a bench in front of Kingharman Hospital in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, and writing down these words.

Since Guinea announced an outbreak of ebola in March of this year, the virus has spread rapidly in West Africa. In July, the situation became critical. I was sent by People's Daily to Sierra Leone at the end of July.

Because five of the ten airlines in Sierra Leone were suspended, I set off from South Africa on the 14th of August at forty minutes past midnight bound for Kenya. I then took Kenya Airlines to Sierra Leone - with a stopover in Ghana, my journey took almost 20 hours. I arrived at Sierra Leone to a packed interview schedule.

In the face of such times, a lot of people have abandoned Sierra Leone and taken flight. I was moved by the fact that businesses and doctors from China have remained – in particular those medical crews who came all the way from China to help in the fight against ebola. They are working at the battlefront where the greatest danger is to be faced. It was very hard to obtain an interview with them.

A doctor from the Chinese medical team, enveloped in protective gear, told me: "Though the rainy season is the coolest time in Sierra Leone, wearing so many layers, gloves, masks and goggles is still very challenging. After a couple of hours, we are sweating all over. If this was the dry season, we couldn't stand it for more than half an hour."

Sierra Leone is such a beautiful country in the rainy season. But people are only starting to learn about her because of the Ebola virus.

As I walked the streets in mask and gloves, people would look at me curiously. An employee in a pharmacy store told me that a pair of disposable gloves cost 2000 leones - about 2.8 RMB, the equivalent of two loaves of bread. For most of the people here, protective equipment is an unaffordable luxury.

"Ten years after the war, our country was at last becoming stable, and tourists were starting to come back. But now ebola had destroyed everything. Compared with the war 10 years ago, the invisible ebola virus is far more terrifying." So said a cab driver who has been working in Freetown for 30 years.

The Sierra Leone trip has been like a psychological baptism. I have made my preparations, and I plan to stay!

This article is edited and translated from 《塞拉利昂，我愿继续坚守（离埃博拉最近的人）》，source: People's Daily, author: Zhang Jianbo