This Fashion Blogger in Sierra Leone Is Now Documenting the Ebola Outbreak
Fashion blogger Jo Dunlop, 39, is an Australian living in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It’s the capital of the West African country where an estimated 622 people have died from Ebola and another 1,682 people have been infected, according to data provided by World Health Organization from the Ministries of Health.
Related: 9 Things Every Woman Needs to Know About Sexual Health
Dunlop splits her time between working for UNICEF, assisting doctors in an Ebola hospital ward, and capturing photographs of stylish Sierra Leoneans’ street style for her blog Freetown Fashpack, and she recently began using her fashion blog to catalogue the stories of people she met who’d been affected by Ebola through interviews and photos. There are many. She spoke to Cosmopolitan.com about how the country has responded to the health crisis.
Tell me about your blog and why you started it.
I started it two years ago. I was noticing amazing fashions in Sierra Leone. West Africans have a particular way of dressing that’s flamboyant, dressing in bright colors with traditional prints. There’s a big secondhand clothes market, and they do an amazing job at pairing things together on a very low budget. They’re very resourceful. They have this inherent sense of style. They can throw an outfit together that someone from Williamsburg, [Brooklyn] would agonize over and spend lots of money on. They manage to look hip and cool without much effort.
You’re in Sierra Leone’s capital city, Freetown. What’s it like there?
It’s a very poor country — one of the poorest in Africa. Basic services in terms of health care, infrastructure, education are quite limited. It’s emerging from civil war and taking positive steps in terms of development. With Ebola, everything has sort of changed overnight. I think Sierra Leone had finally escaped this narrative: its violent past, a civil war, child soldiers, blood diamonds. Now it feels like it’s got this new narrative, which is this horrible disease that has just sort of taken over the country. It’s really sad because what I’ve tried to do in the blog is to shine a very different light on a place that has quite negative associations. It’s really sad to see that the country is now taking this big step backwards.
Related: Top Docs’ Tips & Tricks
When was the first time you heard about Ebola? Were you scared?
I’ve been here for nearly three years. When I’m not working at UNICEF, I work at [a] hospital supporting a team of doctors and nurses working on [the] front line of the Ebola outbreak. Prior to the outbreak, they were working there, strengthening the health system and strengthening the capacity of the hospital. It’s been really interesting and really devastating seeing what’s kind of unfolded and evolved. The first case in Sierra Leone was reported on May 26, and before that, there were murmurings and rumors. When it happened, it was in a very remote district that’s near the Liberian border. So it was something that was happening far away. After those first few cases, there was speculation on whether it would come to Freetown — whether it would spread. Of course, it spread beyond what anyone could have ever imagined. Ebola is everywhere. Seeing the case numbers go up everyday in the Ministry of Health reports has just been devastating. We know that they’re not going to go down until something drastic is done. And nothing drastic has been done as of now. So it’s been hard to remain optimistic.
How did your blog coverage evolve to reflect what’s been going on?
I already had an audience. I like writing. It was the perfect place to start documenting the human stories. Media coverage is sensationalist. There are a lot of statistics and opinions from people high up in organizations, but you don’t often get human stories of how Sierra Leoneans are affected by Ebola. There are so many heroes that have emerged from this crisis — particularly amongst health workers. As many as [81] Sierra Leonean health workers have become infected with Ebola and have died from the disease. It’s so sad that these people have lost their lives, and it’s so sad for their families and for the health system in Sierra Leone — for a country with an already weakened health workforce to then lose that many people. Often it’s the international health workers that get attention, but it’s important to highlight Sierra Leoneans who are the backbone of this response. They’re not going to get medevaced if they get infected. They haven’t chosen to be here. They’re just absolute heroes. I admire them very much.
I’ve heard there’s a fair amount of stigma surrounding people infected with Ebola. Was it hard to find people who would talk about the virus?
All the people I’ve interviewed on my blog have been open to chatting about their experiences. Sierra Leoneans are very friendly and open. If you’d gone through something like what they’ve gone through, you’d probably want to share your story. In terms of knowledge on the street, I think at first there were lots of myths and misconceptions around Ebola and there still are — that’s what’s stopping people from going to health centers when they show symptoms or keeping their sick relatives in homes and not taking them to hospitals.
Related: What Your Pimples Say About Your Health
What are some of the myths?
Initially, there were myths that Ebola is a way for health workers to make money out of people, steal organs and blood when you go to the hospital. Ebola is a way for the government to make money. That health workers are killing people in hospitals. Health workers suffered a lot of stigma, public ridicule, and harassment. I’ve spoken to nurses who were scared to wear their nursing uniforms out on the street because they were getting harassed. There’s so much distrust in government, and health workers represent government. They’re an easy target for people. It’s all just a reflection of fear. When people are scared, they’re angry and need to direct their anger somewhere. It’s classic behavior around an outbreak. When HIV was first discovered, there was so much stigma, misinformation, blame — it was the same kind of thing. In this context where there was already massive distrust toward the government, it’s amplified.
Of the people you’ve interviewed, who stood out?
I wrote about Nurse Nancy [Yoko]. She stepped up into the role of sister in charge of the Kenema Hospital Ebola Treatment Center in Sierra Leone. This hospital just lost so many nurses. But she took charge and was just so impressive, so resilient, so committed. Her colleague, William [Pooley], a British guy who I also wrote about, was infected. It was devastating for the entire staff. He was amazing. He was medevaced to the U.K. for treatment and he recovered. He’s actually coming back to Sierra Leone to work, which is great. But then a week after he was infected, Nancy was infected. It was absolutely terrible to hear that news, because I knew she wouldn’t have same support as Will [because she’s a Sierra Leonean]. She died about a week later. When I spoke to Will, he said she hadn’t had a day off in three months. She worked every day and was 100 percent committed to the Ebola treatment center and motivating her staff and encouraging everyone around her. There are a lot of nurses, but not a lot who will go [into the] Ebola ward and treat patients. I got the feeling Nancy was one of those nurses who went out on a limb and treated patients on the ward. A lot of times the people who commit at the highest levels get infected with Ebola. There’s not a lot of medicine in Ebola treatment. There’s also a lot of unpleasant work like moving corpses. It’s really gritty stuff. It’s been a big challenge to get nurses to get their hands dirty. Nancy was one of those nurses who got her hands dirty and did everything she needed to do to care for patients.
Do the doctors know the proper precautions to avoid infection though?
There is limited infection control in hospitals here to start with. It’s a really low-resource setting. A lot of people are just now learning about infection control. People can be told what to do, but behavior changes takes a long time. You don’t learn these things overnight. Constant hand-washing, how to take off protective suits, it takes a while to get right.
Did you know anyone who became infected?
Aside from health workers I’ve met and interviewed, no. I haven’t had close friends or friends of friends who have become infected and I hope it stays that way. I’ve spoken to a few survivors. One’s mother started feeling sick early on in June. He was taking care of her, he got sick, but awareness was starting to grow. He realized what was wrong with him, isolated himself from [his] family. He walked to [the] health care center on his own — it was 10 kilometers [about six miles] or something unbelievable to get himself there, and then he recovered.
Related: The 4 Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate
Are you nervous about getting Ebola?
Yeah, but I know it’s highly unlikely I’m going to catch Ebola because I’m not around symptomatic people. I don’t work with patients and I wash my hands a lot and I take precautions when I’m in the hospital [for work]. I don’t go into ward or any high-risk areas. But I have had moments of paranoia, sure. One night I woke up with a sore throat. I got up and I must have been partly dreaming. I had a glass of water and I was fine. Sometimes you feel a little paranoid. It’s different when you work close to health care workers. You realize that your risk is a lot lower than theirs. My paranoia is around friends getting infected. It’s a not paranoia. It’s a valid fear. I think about it every day.
Are you leaving Sierra Leone?
I’m here, and I haven’t left. A lot of people have left. I have a job here and friends and people I love. It wasn’t really an option. I’m going on holiday for a week, and that feels like a big step. But it’s a really hard thing to turn your back on what’s happening here.
More from Cosmopolitan:
24 Things I Wish I Knew About Health When I Was Younger
7 Exercises for the Sexiest Legs Ever
Your Shape, Your Workout
