Red Cross nurse Karen Howard would walk into the ward every day in Kenema, Sierra Leone, and check the board for crosses and houses.
The crosses meant an Ebola patient had died in the night, but a picture of a house beside a name meant the patient was going home.
"It was hard watching people die. You would come on a shift and the first thing you'd do was look at the board and see who was alive and who had died," she said.
But for those with the little square and triangle house beside their name, leaving was usually a moment of joy.
"When you go home you have to go through a chlorinated shower. All the stuff you had that can't get chlorinated gets burned," Ms Howard said.
Survivors would be given new clothes, and food and blankets to take home following their "happy shower".
"Happy showers are interesting. Generally people were ecstatic - most expect to die when they go in."
While not all survivors were happy - some were returning home without loved ones who had lost the battle against the virus - "the ones that are happy are really happy".
"There were lots of positives as well," said Ms Howard, a Wanganui immunisation co-ordinator and public health nurse who went to Africa for five weeks to help Red Cross fight Ebola.
"One of the great ones for me, we had a little baby who came in with her father and sister ... she wasn't expected to survive, but she did."
The 1-month-old's mother had already died from ebola, and it was rare for infants to survive, but both she, her father and her sister were saved.
Ms Howard left New Zealand at the end of November for a five-week stint in Sierra Leone doing basic nursing with the Ebola patients. Two weeks of those were spent nursing, while another three weeks she spent doing finance and administration work.
Nurses were unable to go into patient areas whenever they wanted. Instead they had two designated times per shift where they would put on protective gear and go in to see the patients. Throughout the whole mission, no contact was allowed, even between colleagues outside the patient area.
"It was hard emotionally. People got sick very quickly, they die very quickly ... you know when you go in that the death rate is high.
"You're mentally preparing yourself for that before you even arrive."
It was difficult for Ms Howard, seeing the fear in patients and trying to keep them positive.
"People are scared. Often by the time they come to us they've already lost family members, friends and colleagues. "The main thing is encouraging them to drink and eat if they could. The more they could drink, the more chance they'd have of surviving."
Ms Howard was delighted to see one of the survivors outside the hospital, who gave her "the biggest hug".
"He had the biggest smile," she said.
A nurse since 1990, Ms Howard had always wanted to do humanitarian work and jumped at the opportunity to help in Kenema.
She received a call asking if she would make the trip and was on a plane, ready to help, 10 days later.
She was never afraid about heading over, and said all her loved ones were supportive of the decision.
Her 15-year-old daughter was "really, really excited" for her.
Ms Howard also wanted to praise the "fantastic" staff in Sierra Leone.
"They're doing it every day for months - they're the real heroes."
melissa.wishart@wanganuichronicle.co.nz