Ebola in Sierra Leone: A History of the 2014 Outbreak Based on National and International Reports was created for a class project at the University of Missouri, African History through the Digital Medium (HIST 4815).  Professor Daniel Domingues encouraged students to pursue an African research project of particular interest that would culminate in a digital presentation at the end of the semester. Due to the sudden popularity of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, I decided to create a project that would provide factual information about the outbreak, while also looking at the social implications of the epidemic such as distrust of the local government and impact of the mass media.  

        I chose Sierra Leone, specifically, because it was a country that was first overlooked in the epidemic due to the large case numbers in both Libera and Guinea, and I wanted the voices of the local people to be heard. Sierra Leone has a unique history, ranging from colonial intervention, to civil war, to the introduction of a new republic- all within the past century. It will be interesting to see how the 2014 Ebola epidemic impacts the country's overall history, and if public health experts can use this outbreak as a means to learn how to prevent it from happening again.