Mpondwe (Uganda) (AFP)

Every day at dawn, Doneka Kabowo, a Congolese teenager, walks miles into the jungle, under the threat of armed militiamen who roam the area, to go to school across the border in Uganda.

But for some time, another obstacle has stood on the road to Doneka, 15, and hundreds of school children who daily go from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Uganda to study: health checks to prevent transmission of the Ebola virus.

"It is useless, but we get used to it, it is to prevent Ebola from crossing", tells to AFP Samuel Baini, 15 years old, after being examined in Mpondwe, the main crossing point between the DRC and the 'Uganda.

A new case of Ebola was recorded Thursday in Uganda, in Mpondwe precisely. The story of a nine-year-old Congolese girl arrived on the scene Wednesday with her mother, a few days after the AFP team's visit, and died Friday morning.

She wanted to go to Uganda for treatment and border medical teams noticed that she had symptoms similar to those of Ebola. The Ugandan authorities insisted that she had not come into contact with anyone in their territory.

In June, three members of the same family diagnosed with Ebola in Uganda, after contracting the disease in the DRC, died. But in late July, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Uganda free of Ebola.

A total of 2,006 people have died of Ebola in the DRC in a year, and Ugandan authorities, who fear the virus is spreading in their country, have taken strict preventive measures.

Nearly 18,000 people cross the border between the two countries daily, according to Ugandan government figures.

Each must be carefully examined to make sure she is not infected with haemorrhagic fever. We take the temperature and disinfect their hands. Those who have fever must pass additional tests.

- Recall the order -

In this flow of travelers, thousands of schoolchildren from isolated and poor villages in North Kivu, in eastern DRC, thousands of kilometers from the capital Kinshasa.

They are sent by their families to Uganda, a country with which they have cultural or kinship ties, and where the education provided is of much better quality.

Every day, these children run towards Mpondwe, for some barefoot and in their torn uniforms, to join the morning rush.

The older ones help the younger ones get online, while the medical staff, behind their protective gear, check their temperature and order them to wash their hands with a sterilizing product.

Most children know and master the procedure. Even if it is not sometimes without causing them problems.

"Sometimes we come late to school, because we have to wait in line to be examined and it takes time," says 16-year-old Doreane Kambari, who is attending school in Bwera Kasese district, western Uganda.

The Ugandan authorities had to call some schoolchildren to order, tried to take side roads to escape the controls.

"They were told that unless they were controlled for Ebola, they would lose the opportunity to receive an education," says Rajab Kasero Bezza, director of studies at Nyabugando Primary and Public School, located about one kilometer from the border crossing.

- Raise awareness -

Even after the announcement of WHO, Ugandans have maintained extreme vigilance. Especially since the spread of the disease proves very difficult to stem in the DRC.

This epidemic is the second largest in the history of the disease after the one that killed nearly 11,000 people in West Africa (Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone) in 2013-2014.

Screening is crucial, but not without imperfection. Because the incubation time of the Ebola virus is 21 days. And it is sometimes difficult to distinguish it from other diseases, such as malaria, typhoid fever or meningitis.

Francis Tumwine, a member of the Red Cross in Mpondwe, stresses how important it has been to educate the public to silence the rumors surrounding Ebola.

"The fear that Congolese children are bringing Ebola to schools was real," he says. "But we educated people about the virus and now they know what to do."

In Nyabugando, where a hundred schoolchildren come from the DRC, it was necessary to show conviction. "At first, there was a negative attitude towards the children of the DRC (...), but it has changed," says Bezza.

Yusuf Baseka, director of Kasese Health Services, notes that these children have also helped to change people's view of Ebola in their own communities.

"The people there thought that Ebola was witchcraft," he notes. "But now, their children are learning at school, Ebola awareness teams, that the disease is real and deadly, a message they pass on to their parents." We observed a change in behavior.

© 2019 AFP