{"id":8600,"date":"2014-10-13T08:22:16","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T15:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=8600"},"modified":"2014-10-13T08:22:47","modified_gmt":"2014-10-13T15:22:47","slug":"using-animation-to-battle-ebola","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/using-animation-to-battle-ebola\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Animation to Battle Ebola"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nashville-based United Methodist Communications collaborated with Chocolate Moose Media and iHeed to create an animated video for use in West Africa that helps dispel myths about how Ebola is spread and promotes prevention of the disease. \u00a0The video can be viewed and downloaded free at\u00a0ebolavideo.org<\/a>.<\/h4>\n

\u201cOur goal is to provide education that leads to better understanding of the disease and how to prevent infections,\u201d said the Rev. Larry Hollon, chief executive of United Methodist Communications. \u201cEbola gains its foothold in poor communities where mistrust, resistance to proper care and lack of understanding of the virus and how it is transmitted is widespread. The church\u2019s advantage lies in its grassroots network of trusted clergy and leaders who live in the affected regions.\u201d<\/p>\n

United Methodist Communications<\/a>, the global communications agency of The United Methodist Church, is using a variety of approaches to help\u00a0educate people in Ebola-affected areas about prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease, including providing text messages to clergy in Sierra Leone and Liberia, where nearly 70 percent of the population owns cell phones. Commentaries\u00a0on television, radio and in print by trusted leaders are helping to correct misinformation and encourage cooperation with health programs to halt the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n

The agency provided partial funding for\u00a0Chocolate Moose Media<\/a>\u00a0to create the video, which will be produced in various languages. The executive producer of the video is\u00a0iHeed<\/a>,\u00a0a mobile-health-education innovator.<\/p>\n

“I have created what I hope will be a compelling and effective video to prevent the further spread of Ebola in West Africa and beyond,\u201d said Chocolate Moose Media founder and award-winning director Firdaus Kharas. \u201cMy approach is to combine animation with non-coercive persuasion by having Africans speak to their own broader family within their countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I’m doing is helping Africans give voice to themselves. Far too many tragedies have befallen that great continent, far too many Africans have died from preventable diseases, including Ebola. Not one more African should die.”<\/p>\n

Primarily accessed through download for local playback, all partners will use their various networks and channels to distribute the video widely in order to reach as many people as possible. Distribution channels include many international organizations, non-governmental\u00a0organizations, civil society and churches and through social media using the hashtag #Ebolavideo.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/vimeo.com\/108650573<\/p>\n

“Through a combination of weak health infrastructure, lack of awareness and inconsistent levels of education and an unfortunate level of unpreparedness, this epidemic has become a global threat,\u201d said Dr. Kunal D. Patel, medical director of iHeed. \u201cDigital\u00a0media and animation can help fill the awareness and educational gaps in regards to the Ebola epidemic. In combination with technologies such as mobile phones, mobile cinemas, projectors and tablets, animated information can rapidly help counter the spread of Ebola.”<\/p>\n

The United Methodist Church is also responding to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa in a number of other ways, including treatment and prevention. The response is a joint effort by the United Methodist Committee on Relief, West African United Methodist church leaders and regional health boards, denominational health facilities, and others. For more information, visit\u00a0umc.org\/ebola<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rev. Hollon said that United Methodist Communications is increasing its focus on using communications technology for humanitarian aid. \u201cLack of communications capacity has exacerbated this crisis. Those concerned with humanitarian assistance to people in crisis situations must be at the forefront of this new era of technology,\u201d said Hollon.<\/p>\n

According to the World Health Organization, 7,470 cases of Ebola had\u00a0reported as of Oct. 3<\/a>, with 3,431 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n

Ebola is transmitted to humans from wild animals and spreads through person-to-person transmission. Contact with the body of a deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola. According to the World Health Organization, raising awareness of risk factors for Ebola infection and protective measures that individuals can take is an effective way to reduce human transmission.<\/p>\n

\n

About United Methodist Communications<\/strong>
\nAs the communications agency for The United Methodist Church, United Methodist Communications seeks to increase awareness and visibility of the denomination in communities and nations around the globe. United Methodist Communications also offers services, tools, products and resources for communications ministry.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

About Chocolate Moose Media<\/strong>
\nChocolate Moose Media produces animation, documentaries, films and television series designed to educate, entertain, and change societal and individual behavior via a process called Culture Shift, with a goal of positively influencing viewers\u2019 knowledge, attitude and behavior in order to better the human condition. Further information can be found at\u00a0www.chocmoose.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

About iHeed<\/strong>
\niHeed is an Irish Social Enterprise, dedicated to innovation in global health worker training by producing next-generation digital animated training content, and developing new blended training programs for health workers using mobile technology.<\/em><\/p>\n

Media contact:
\nNatalie Bannon\u00a0nbannon@umcom.org<\/a>
\n615.742.5413<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nashville-based United Methodist Communications collaborated with Chocolate Moose Media and iHeed to create an animated video for use in West Africa that helps dispel myths about how Ebola is spread and promotes prevention of the disease. \u00a0The video can be viewed and downloaded free at\u00a0ebolavideo.org. \u201cOur goal is to provide education that leads to better […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":8606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[125,32,3],"tags":[399],"class_list":{"0":"post-8600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-emergency-response","8":"category-news","9":"category-umns","10":"tag-ebola"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/492400526_6403.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-2eI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8600"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8603,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8600\/revisions\/8603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}