The Faces of Ebola

When Carielle Doe (Col ’02) was a child, her family spent two years in Liberia. They left before the civil war hit, moving to Reston, Va., where they heard stories, through friends and family, of the carnage that followed. “But when we turned on the news, you hardly heard anything about the country,” Doe says. “Even as a child, I saw this as a grave injustice. How could people be so oblivious to the horrors on the other side of the world?”

Doe received her master’s degree in journalism from NYU in 2007. She found herself in Liberia on a project last summer when the Ebola outbreak hit. “I wasn’t old enough to be a voice during the civil war, but now I was older, I was trained, and I was there. I felt I had to stay,” she says.

She started reporting for ABC news, following leads to problem areas. She spent time with burial teams, and visited treatment units. She took photographs and videos of patients and doctors, posting them on Instagram and the news blog Ebola Diaries.

 

8-year-old Richmond sits on the wall outside of the MSF #ebola treatment unit. He was outside waiting with the people who came in ambulances, but when it was time to go in, only the people in the ambulances were allowed into the center. We are waiting to see if he gets in. #Liberia #eboladiaries

A photo posted by Carielle Doe (@cariyell) on

Sep 19, 2014 at 8:39am PDT

 

“Many of the people affected by Ebola have been from low income backgrounds. They didn’t feel they had power or connections, all they had were their stories,” she says. “Many of them asked journalists to go back and tell the government and the international community that they were suffering.”

Since the number of cases has dropped, Doe has been working on longer pieces and “Where Are They Now?” stories. “It’s been wonderful to meet people I saw at their lowest points and now see them smiling and doing well,” she says. At the same time, “the disease hit many people of low socioeconomic status, who were already having difficulty getting by," she says. "The children of the dead now need to be taken in by their already struggling extended family members. What will the future look like for them?

“People donated as much money as they did and doctors came to help because journalists sounded the alarm that something was wrong,” she says. “I feel proud to be part of a profession that can inspire people to come forward and do good.”

 

Three @morethanmeorg students getting picked up EARLY on their first day of school. All three girls lost parents during the #Ebola crisis, and MTM is sponsoring their education, along with that of other girls from low income families and families affected by Ebola. #Liberia #eboladiaries

A photo posted by Carielle Doe (@cariyell) on

Mar 2, 2015 at 1:08am PST

 

 

 

9 year-old Mercy Kennedy moments after she learned that her mother had died of Ebola. Our story about children orphaned by the disease airs tonight on Nightline on ABC News at 12:35 ET. #Liberia #Ebola #eboladiaries

A photo posted by Carielle Doe (@cariyell) on

Jan 19, 2015 at 5:50pm PST

 

 

 

Outside of the ELWA 2 #ebola treatment unit where he works, Dr. Jerry Brown and a coworker use an #abcnews producer's smartphone to get a first glimpse of Brown's picture on the cover of #TimeMagazine. Dr. Brown is featured on one of five magazine covers Time Magazine will issue to honor their selection for 2014 Person of the Year: the healthcare workers in the fight against Ebola. Dr. Brown told #abcnews today "There’s a lot of joy and happiness among the staff, among the workers. And that keeps us going. If we can save just one life, we feel so great about it." Check out Dr. Brown's cover on the @Time Instagram page, he's the guy in the full protective gear. #Liberia #personoftheyear

A photo posted by Carielle Doe (@cariyell) on

Dec 10, 2014 at 5:17pm PST

 

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