The first social scientist to be invited by the World Health Organization to help Ebola control efforts works right here in Clark County.
Barry Hewlett, an anthropology professor at Washington State University Vancouver, visited Central Africa to help the WHO in 2000, and he has visited the continent about five times as part of response efforts.
Hewlett will share stories on his experience, and how he worked to develop trust between local communities and the international and national response teams, at 7 p.m. Wednesday for Science on Tap at Kiggins Theatre in Vancouver.
When Hewlett first arrived, there was some apprehension from locals when it came to dealing with those response teams.
“The number of cases was going up, even though they were doing everything they thought they needed to do,” Hewlett said. “People were essentially running away from the World Health Organization treatment centers, isolation units and the rest. So the thought is, ‘What’s going on here?’ ”
Hewlett did his work by contacting as many people as possible who were involved in the effort. He spoke with response teams, survivors of Ebola, nurses, traditional healers and local folks.
One area where Hewlett was able to help was the transparency of the treatment process.
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