WeSurvive: Stories of the Ebola Outbreak

oral histories of a Modern
global health crisis

WeSurvive: Stories of the Ebola Outbreak is a web-based, oral history database that allows users to access a substantial collection of personal video testimonials from Ebola survivors, their family members, and other community members affected by the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak. We are highly motivated to preserve this archive and to continue our work to facilitate the inclusion of African voices in the telling of African history. We hope that these interviews will aid in a deeper level of understanding and improve strategies implemented by foreign systems in the future.

West Africa received unprecedented international press attention after European and American healthcare workers contracted the disease and were diagnosed in their home countries. A preoccupation with the European experience of Ebola created even more distance from a region that hovers on the edges of international attention and understanding. Additionally, local trust in government and foreign aid organizations was lacking, and compliance with recommended health practices came slowly. A central goal of this Project is to ensure West Africans contribute directly and significantly to the historical record of this global health crisis and to enrich how the Ebola crisis and the region are understood.

The Project is made possible with generous support from the Bertha Foundation and Global Giving Foundation.