By Meesha Brown | Program Director
As part of our effort to support the West African community to #tackleebola, PCI Media Impact has launched the #ISurvivedEbola campaign. #ISurvivedEbola, is a groundbreaking West African multimedia campaign, has launched a new, interactive mobile app that allows Ebola survivors to connect with each other, share public health advice, and update the world on the challenges they still face during their post-recovery lives.
The updates from the app appear on the newly launched #ISurvivedEbola website, which also houses the stories of a growing community of Ebola survivors from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
In the first message sent via the mobile app, Camara “Fanta” Fantaoulen of Guinea shared, “Yes, I survived Ebola, thanks to the help of the brave healthcare workers who treated me. And I’ve learned that together, we can defeat this virus and protect our families and communities.”
After losing her father and five other family members to suspected or confirmed Ebola, Fanta believed her death was imminent when she tested positive for the virus. Thanks to a combination of early treatment, strict adherence to her treatment plan, and sheer determination, Fanta recovered from the virus and is now providing psychosocial support to Ebola patients.
View Fanta’s survivor story video here: A Pillar of Strength and Support for Fellow Ebola Victims: Fanta’s Story of Survival and Solidarity
The mobile app is just one, small component of the #ISurvivedEbola campaign, which leverages survivor stories from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea to deliver vital public health information about Ebola to affected populations, and to reduce the stigma faced by Ebola survivors. A key way in which the campaign does this is by documenting survivor stories in video, audio, and print formats; then disseminating these stories broadly via local, national, and international media, online platforms, and other distribution channels. Educational radio dramas that tell fictional yet reality-based stories about how to survive Ebola, and radio call-in shows that feature discussions with Ebola survivors and health experts, are foundational campaign activities.
Created and managed by PCI Media Impact in collaboration with UNICEF, this innovative program debuted in Guinea on January 5. Funded by contributions from Global Giving and a major grant from Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Productions in response to the Ebola
The latest Liberia video introduces the world to Decontee Davis, a 23-year-old who overcame Ebola but lost her fiancé to the virus. Decontee now works in an Interim Care Center for children who have come in contact with Ebola patients and are under 21 days of observation. Many of these children have lost one or both parents to the disease. In the new Sierra Leone video, audiences meet Aminata Kargbo, a university student who, after surviving Ebola, has arisen as a leader in efforts to educate her fellow countrymen and women on the benefits of early treatment.
View the two new videos here: Mother of Many: Ebola Survivor Decontee’s Mission to Help Children Touched by the Outbreak, and The Power of Early Treatment: Aminata’s Story of Ebola Survival and How She is Using it to Help Others
“The campaign is really accelerating, especially in the three countries hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak,” said Sean Southey, CEO of PCI Media Impact. “We began in early December with the launch of the campaign and release of the first survivor video out of Liberia. Then, the campaign launched educational Ebola-focused radio programs in Liberia and released the premier survivor story out of Sierra Leone. Now, we have activated the mobile app, released the first survivor story out of Guinea, and launched a website that will allow concerned citizens throughout the world to join the movement.”
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