In September, 2014, epidemiological models predicted 10,000 new cases of Ebola per week across sub-Saharan Africa, leading to the predicted infection or death of nearly one million people by the end of the year. Just three weeks later, rates of epidemic infection swung radically downwards in Liberia, appeared to stabilize in Guinea, and were rising in specific locations in Sierra Leone, but were contained elsewhere. Quietly, humanitarian organizations asked each other what had happened; and they wondered how to make the trend continue.

This lecture will use an ethnographic approach to critically engage with the implementation of concepts like ‘community,' 'social mobilization,' and ‘resilience’ during the West African Ebola epidemic. Taking into account a long and well-documented legacy of community-based responses in the region to mortal threats from war and disease, I will examine the trends and countertrends that constitute community-based response, and the humanitarian assumptions that blinded humanitarian responders to its presence. Drawing upon public health, epidemiological, and anthropological findings, i will also review missed humanitarian opportunities. The lecture will conclude with lessons learned and unleaded about communities and community-based responses during twenty-five years of continuous humanitarian presence in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Sharon Abramowitz is a medical anthropologist who has been pivotal in uniting anthropologists in the fight against ebola through the Ebola Anthropology Initiative. Her work has specialised in collective trauma, violence, post-war reconstruction, gender-based violence, humanitarian intervention, and health sector transitions in the Upper Guinea/Mano River Region, which includes Guinea, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, and Sierra Leone.