Back in February I spent about three weeks in Sierra Leone producing a short documentary about the founding of a community health center during the Ebola crisis.
In a lot of ways, I had no business being there.
I had zero prior experience making films in a foreign country, much less in the middle of an epidemic.
I'd been to West Africa once before, but I was four years old at the time and spent most of the trip goofing off with my younger sister while our dad, a doctor by trade, helped out at a local clinic. Suffice it to say, my firsthand experience with the culture was limited at best.
The only reason I was even offered the gig is that my dad helped found the clinic in question, a modest cement compound in a mostly rural eastern district of Sierra Leone. His organization wanted someone to document the grand opening, and I jumped at the chance to go.
So there I was, just some guy with a budget camera and a well-connected dad, trying to tell a story in a place I'd never been.
Eight months later, I'm happy to report the whole thing turned out better than you might have thought after reading that intro. I had an incredible experience, got to spend time with some genuine heroes in the realm of global health, and learned a lot of valuable lessons along the way.
My number one takeaway? When it comes to health care, everything's harder in a place like Sierra Leone. But even in the midst of incredible need, individual contributions and good ol' fashioned elbow grease go a long, long way.
Whenever I find myself asking if individual global citizens can really make a difference when it comes to huge issues like world health, I think about the film's main character, Phebian (whom you may remember meeting in my very first vlog). Her courage and tenacity sparked a movement that is making life better for thousands of people in Sierra Leone.
In honor of Health Month here at Global Citizen, I thought I'd share the short documentary I brought back from Kono District. This is the story of how one woman overcame civil war, long odds, and an Ebola epidemic to achieve her dream of bringing better health care to her homeland.
Presenting: