Ebola Survivors Football Club

Contemporary Issues

Men who are part of the Ebola Survivor's Soccer Club wear t-shirts at a soccer practice in the city of Kenema, 190 miles east of the capital Freetown, Sierra Leone, Tuesday, April 21, 2015. In 2014, 38 members of Erison Turay's family died from the deadly Ebola virus, which has killed over 11,000 across West Africa. Erison founded the Ebola Survivor's Soccer Club as a support network for survivors and a means to battle negative stigmas in the community.

The Ebola Survivors’ Football Club provides a support network for survivors of the disease and helps battle negative stigmas in the community. It was founded by Erison Turay, who lost 38 members of his own family to Ebola, in his hometown of Kenema, 300km east of Freetown. The assignment was for The New York Times and won a World Press Photo award.