Ebola outbreak in Congo's Bunia puts coffin makers at center of safe-burial debate

In Bunia, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo affected by an Ebola outbreak, a long-standing craft has been drawn into the spotlight: coffin making. Several coffin makers in the city describe their work as a public service, providing families with the means to bury their dead.

Yet the spread of the virus has turned this trade into a point of contention. Ebola has reshaped how burials are carried out and perceived in Bunia, placing coffin workshops and their craft at the heart of a broader debate over how to conduct safe burials during an outbreak.

A trade caught between tradition and safety

Coffin makers who continue their work amid the epidemic see themselves as part of the community's support system, helping families give their loved ones a proper farewell despite the difficult health situation. At the same time, their profession has become emblematic of a wider discussion in Ebola-affected areas about balancing traditional burial customs with the need to contain further spread of the virus.

The situation in Bunia reflects a challenge faced by communities hit by Ebola more broadly: preserving dignity and ritual around death while adapting to the requirements imposed by public health considerations. For the coffin makers themselves, the outbreak has made an everyday trade suddenly central to questions of safety, tradition and community care.