Katharine Owen: interview 2 and PDF transcript

[00:00:00] Reflects on time between first cases in Sierra Leone and state of emergency declared months later, problems around donors and funding, late response, Department for International Development [DFID] stepping in with funding. [00:04:00] Katherine’s role in social mobilisation and burials, reflects on other centres such as Kerry Town – the first UK funded treatment centre. [00:06:30] Explains remit as head of programmes at GOAL in Freetown and Kenema, GOAL working with Kings College London to set up isolation units, how those units worked. [00:10:15] Reflects on what things were like, WHO, CDC nobody having the answers, the importance of in country plans and ideas. [00:11:30] International and national staff decisions to stay or leave and the privileged position of international staff who could leave, the daily changing situation. [00:14:30] Staff inductions, GOAL construction staff building isolation units and being in the most frontline roles. [00:16:45] Gives overview of child protection programme, social workers entering communities, working with children made vulnerable by Ebola. [00:18:15] Working with communities to give them information, defines social mobilisation work, SMAC (social mobilisation action consortium), implementation of behavioural change interventions. [00:22:30] Explains what the social mobilisation ebola work was, the cultural context, facilitating discussions in communities, encouraging communities to take responsibility, BBC Media Action’s role, working with religious leaders, enabling communities to make their own action plans. [00:28:00] Recalls people being terrified of PPE, communication and language used to explain Ebola to communities. [00:33.30] Difficult reality of the rule of not touching within families. [00:35:00] The practical steps of action plans, reflects that communities have the answer. [00:36:50] Stigma around Ebola survivors and misinformation, explains Ebola ‘contacts’, explains Ebola Observation and Interim Care Centres [OICC] for children and how they run. [00:43:20] SMAC consortium, the ongoing social mobilisation and community surveillance. [00:47:00] Comparisons of Ebola situation in Liberia. [00:48:30] Discussion around ‘getting to zero’ Ebola cases, importance of accurate surveillance data. [00:50:50] Stigma and discrimination created towards the region. [00:55:00] Late global response to Ebola, impact of Kenema hospital being the main treatment centre in the country, problems with ambulances. [01:01:00] Lack of co-ordination generally and the impact that had, lack of Sierra Leonian presence in meetings, talks about lots of research and information but lack of people with operational standing in the country. [01:05:34] End of interview.

03/03/2015

662 MB 1 WAV file, 1 transcript

The interviewers copyright in this interview has been assigned to Wellcome Collection. The interviewee still holds their copright in these interviews. You are free to use the material in any way that is permitted by copyright exceptions and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights holder.

PDF transcript created by archivist for preservation and access reasons. See OH3/4/3 for original Microsoft Word format version of transcript.

This item is not available online. Email collections@wellcomecollection.org to request access.