Photographs capture reality of managing Ebola in Liberia

Bearing witness to Ebola as a photographer can be tough, says Irishman Victor Lacken, who has spent the last three months in Liberia as an emergency communications delegate with the Red Cross.

"But it's not just Ebola, it's the extreme poverty. People here in Monrovia are living in slums. I've seen plenty of slums in Africa but these are the worst."

Lacken’s task has been to chronicle the burial of those whose lives have been taken by the worst outbreak since it first emerged in Africa in the 1970s. The job of the Red Cross is to supervise the removal and burial of the dead, who are cremated unless it can be proven that Ebola is not involved.

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Members of a Liberian Red Cross Safe & Dignified Burials (SDB) team talk to relatives of a suspected Ebola victim in the Clara Town community in Monrovia. Photographs: Victor Lacken/IFRC

He says the danger posed by the disease is “a question of distance”. “Ebola, it’s not something you catch on the bus or walking down the street; there has to be direct contact.”

He doesn’t wear a mask or protective clothing, but he does wash with chlorine every half hour.

“We don’t do clinical work here, just the dead bodies. I’m not taking pictures of dead bodies; by the time I see them they are already bagged. We have to treat people with dignity.”

The death toll in the Liberian capital is falling; from 60 bodies a day in September to fewer than 20 now.

“It’s not under control but it is a lot better than it was. We’re at a dangerous point, with people thinking it will all be over by Christmas. There’s still the potential for flare-ups.”

Cremation rankles with the families of the deceased who, understandably, want to be able to grieve properly. However, the swift disposal of bodies, many of them highly contagious, has played a large part in controlling the epidemic.

A massive awareness-building programme has also helped. Giant posters in Monrovia remind citizens to wash their hands frequently. People entering a public building have their temperature taken, and are refused admittance if they have a fever.

This isn’t a time for complacency, he says. “Once you get outside Monrovia, the infrastructure breaks down. You’re out of radio contact, and away from the awareness messages. The health system isn’t functioning and care is provided by family members.”

“It might take two days to get an ambulance to come, or four to five hours’ walk to the nearest phone. People are still ignorant about the dangers posed by the disease.”

In one village he visited last week, 16 people were quarantined with the disease.

Originally from Dublin, Lacken has lived in many countries, and now calls Amsterdam home. He’s due to leave Liberia next week, and is looking forward to spending Christmas with his family.