Fighting Ebola in a war zone

Available for over a year

Dr Jean-Christophe Shako is an epidemiologist who specialises in disease control. He is based in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a province that is currently facing a deadly outbreak of Ebola. It's a relentless job: it's the first Ebola crisis in a war zone and the presence of armed groups has seriously affected the response. Mexican sound designer Sergio Díaz has been nominated for Best Sound Editing at this year's Academy Awards for his work in Roma, a movie that traced the 1970s childhood memories of director Alfonso Cuarón. Sergio spent 18 months collecting the sounds that transported the viewers back to 70s Mexico, often waiting for days when the city was deserted, like Christmas day, to get those special recordings. Outlook’s Clayton Conn went to meet him. In 1976, the Johannesburg township of Soweto erupted into protest. Students were furious with the government decision to make Afrikaans a language of instruction in South African schools. The protests were met with brutal force by the police, and hundreds of students died in the ensuing gunfire. In the midst of the chaos was Dr Edelstein, a white man involved in various humanitarian causes in the township. Students who had fled the gunfire suddenly turned their anger on him, and he was killed in the street. His daughter Janet was just 12 at the time, and she's spent many years trying to find answers about what happened that day. Photo: A health worker puts on his personal protective equipment Credit: Getty Images