Sierra Leone international striker Kei Kamara has joined actor Idris Elba along with a host of other international footballers to launch a public awareness campaign to halt the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and recognize the efforts of health workers fighting in the frontline against the deadly disease.
The Africa United Campaign message was unveiled before last Wednesday’s African Cup of Nations draw which was conducted in the Equatorial Guinea Capital City of Malabo.
The message includes broadcasts information on the disease and how to stop it spreading and the message was done in French, English, Krio and other local languages.
According to the organizers, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation, the messages will be sent out to the three countries; Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia who are worst affected by the virus and also to their neighbors via television, radio, billboards and phone text messages.
The Africa United Campaign message was unveiled before last Wednesday’s African Cup of Nations draw which was conducted in the Equatorial Guinea Capital City of Malabo.
The message includes broadcasts information on the disease and how to stop it spreading and the message was done in French, English, Krio and other local languages.
According to the organizers, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation, the messages will be sent out to the three countries; Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia who are worst affected by the virus and also to their neighbors via television, radio, billboards and phone text messages.
Elba, who came to fame in TV series The Wire and played Nelson Mandela in the biopic Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom, said the campaign had a special resonance to him. “For me the battle against Ebola is a personal one,” said Elba, whose parents are from Sierra Leone and Ghana.
“To see those amazing countries in West Africa where my father grew up and my parents married being ravaged by this disease is painful and horrific.”
In one of the campaign's spots, Elba plays a football coach giving a halftime talk during West Africa's 'life or death' match against Ebola and passing on tips on how to spot the disease and prevent new infections.
The other videos show footballers; Yaya Toure, Carlton Cole, Kei Kamara, Patrick Vieira, Fabrice Muamba and Andros Townsend as they pay homage to the frontline health workers operating in the areas affected by wearing their names on the back of their shirts instead of their own.
“To see those amazing countries in West Africa where my father grew up and my parents married being ravaged by this disease is painful and horrific.”
In one of the campaign's spots, Elba plays a football coach giving a halftime talk during West Africa's 'life or death' match against Ebola and passing on tips on how to spot the disease and prevent new infections.
The other videos show footballers; Yaya Toure, Carlton Cole, Kei Kamara, Patrick Vieira, Fabrice Muamba and Andros Townsend as they pay homage to the frontline health workers operating in the areas affected by wearing their names on the back of their shirts instead of their own.
By: Sahr Morris Jr.
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