Objective

To stop Ebola transmission by giving people understandable information before they become patients. The four-film body of work addresses four different behavioural requirements:

1. Ebola: A Poem for the Living — containment and immediate protective behaviour
2. Ebola: In Praise of Prevention — prevention of future infections
3. Ebola: Beyond Survival — reducing stigma against Ebola survivors
4. Do Not Let My Death From Ebola Take You Too — preventing transmission through unsafe funeral and burial practices

Together they address the human behavioural chain surrounding an Ebola outbreak rather than concentrating only on clinical treatment. (Vimeo)

Method

Short, emotionally engaging animation rather than institutional instruction. The films use empathy, culturally recognizable situations, music, storytelling and local voices. They deliberately avoid blaming communities. A Poem for the Living speaks through the voice of a dying African child; In Praise of Prevention uses music sung by Grammy-winning African artist Angélique Kidjo; and the 2026 safe-funerals film reframes avoiding physical contact with the body not as abandonment of tradition, but as a final act of love and protection for the living. (Vimeo)

Languages

The original West African campaign was produced in 17 languages. For the 2026 DRC/Uganda response, versions include Congolese French, East African English, Ugandan English, Alur, Beri, Hema, Iteso, Juba Arabic, Lendu, Lingala, Luganda, Lugbara, Nande, Runyankole and Swahili. The multilingual model makes the same essential health information usable at community level rather than requiring audiences to understand an international language. (Chocolate Moose Media)

Where used

First deployed during the 2014–15 West African Ebola epidemic and subsequently reused and expanded for later outbreaks. In 2026 the films were redeployed for communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, including through faith networks and radio. The new safe-funerals film was also incorporated into the Ebola Communication Network’s resource collection.

Evidence/impact

The first Ebola film provides unusually strong evidence of actual dissemination. Humanitarian Practice Network reported that by December 2014 it had been uploaded more than 500,000 times, embedded more than 600,000 times, broadcast on television in Liberia and transferred phone-to-phone by Bluetooth in Guinea. It ultimately surpassed one million online views and was available in 17 languages. (Humanitarian Practice Network)

The 2026 deployment provides evidence that the model remains operational more than a decade later. Harper Hill Global reports distribution through its faith-based networks and radio partners in the DRC and Uganda; audience feedback from eastern Congo included people describing watching the material with their families and discussing it together.

Partners

Across the four films: United Methodist Communications, iheed, Harper Hill Global, UNICEF Togo, the Government of Togo, Catholic Relief Services, Translators Without Borders and Chocolate Moose Media, with Artha Animation among the animation collaborators. Angélique Kidjo provided the vocal performance for In Praise of Prevention (Vimeo)

Watch

Watch the Ebola collection — multiple films and languages

Download/use rights

Free to view, download, distribute and use. Versions have been supplied in high- and low-resolution formats to facilitate use where bandwidth is limited. The Vimeo editions specify Creative Commons/open-use terms, and the 2026 safe-funerals resource is explicitly offered free for community, humanitarian, educational and broadcast use.