Posted on 10/15/2014 7:19:43 AM PDT by a fool in paradise
In West Africa, one of the simplest ways to slow the Ebola outbreak is to educate people about how to keep from getting infected with the virus. Now, there are some signs that Ebola awareness is indeed driving down the number of cases in parts of Liberia — and Liberian musicians and DJs may deserve some of the credit.
The airwaves in Liberia are saturated with songs about this disease. Early on in the epidemic the government and aid agencies commissioned public awareness songs but they actually ended up terrifying people. The message: There's no cure. Don't touch anybody. Stop eating bush meat.
"It used to be a death sentence to people, so it scared people away," says Elliott Adekoya, a 31-year-old musician and disc jockey who works at one of Monrovia's most popular pop stations, Sky FM. "That's how people started running away, from one community to another. And people saw it worse, like a curse."
Adekoya says people started to see that you can survive the disease, and that listeners don't want to hear those despondent messages all the time on the radio.
"The Ebola scenario is something that people don't want to listen to anymore, because they're so fed up, so sick of it," he says. "If you're making a song — an Ebola song that people gonna listen to now — it has to be danceable."
Adekoya, also known as The Milkman, says one of the most popular songs right now is by F.A. and Soul Fresh, called "Ebola is Real." It tells people to protect themselves from getting infected. He says two of the most powerful phrases are "The thing, Ebola, now come" and "The thing now show face."
"'The thing now come, the thing now show face.' That's the thing that the children enjoy," he says. "People go around, people be like 'No shaking hands my man.' In the Liberian way when they say, 'The thing now come,' it means the thing is here. Now we know it's here and it has shown its face. So we all understand that's in our midst now; we gotta be careful."
Radio remains an incredibly powerful medium in West Africa. It blasts from shops and young men crank it up in rust-bucket taxis. You hear it playing from simple shacks and tidy stucco homes.
In addition to the Ebola songs, announcers are regularly talking about the disease. They urge people to stay away from dead bodies, regularly wash your hands and get to a treatment center right away if you have symptoms.
Some of the most popular Ebola songs get played repeatedly. The chorus of "Ebola is Real" wafts all over the city. But it's not just pop music that has taken on the epidemic. There are R&B songs, slow jams and Afro-pop tunes as well.
Adekoya, at Sky-FM, says music is having an impact. He says it is a way to express frustration and let off steam and a way to remind people to protect themselves from the disease. It's a way for Liberians to come together in the face of a terrifying illness.
Adekoya is particularly excited about a project called "Save Liberia." It's sort of a Liberian version of "We Are the World" and it brings together 45 of the country's most famous musicians.
"The Save Liberia project is the main thing I'm looking forward to, and I just want to see how it's going to turn things around," he says.
And Adekoya believes it will have an impact on Ebola, because he has faith in the power of music.
Song Ebola Is Real
Song Stop Ebola, Sénégal (Y en a Marre)
Song Sweet Africa
Hopefully, the NFL will wear black cleats, mouthpieces and jock straps once Barry uses his “executive powah” to designate Ebola In America Awareness month.
Well, as soon as they all break into a chorus of “We Are The World” the virus will vanish!
“Hi, I’m Qasey Qasim and you’re listening to Liberia’s Top 40......uhhhh, Top 39........I’m Qasey Qasim and you’re listening to Liberia’s Top 38...ah, ferget it. I’m outta here.”
I was about to say that we’re well past the time of cute “awareness raising” but they’re actually using the stickiness and memorability of song to teach people about the disease and what to do or not do, so it’s good. Glad I read through the excerpt at least before replying. I bet many won’t. It’s a tradition, lol.
Now, I'd probably enjoy a Weird Al Yankovik take on some song, modified to be about ebola. Even though ebola isn't a laughing matter, Gallows humor, etc.
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.
So far the false positive rate is 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life, and death...
Someone said: I was thinking that someone would redo “Eve of Destruction” using the names of the CDC, Ebola & Obama
He knew it had to be simple enough to be understood and catchy enough to be remembered.
These songs don't have that jingle quality, and while the intention may be good, too many cluttering the airwaves may cause audiences to "tune out" to the background noise.
We are sure that this approach will be as effective as the recent black celeb ads saying, “Lets Talk about HIV/AID”.
I’m working on the next one.
Anyone have a good rhyme for “projectile vomiting”?
There are banners up saying "Ebola is real" everywhere there.
It took that because some of the locals thought it was more deathsquad and purging going on. Why take precautions if it isn't infectious, rather the work of government agents injecting people or even terrorists doing it?
I’m sorry, I used up all my good rhymes about “projectile vomiting” in my theme song for ABC’s The View.
They can have a fundraising convert and call it EbolAid.
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