By Allison Kozicharow; Edited by Elizabeth Fine
In July WiRED International released an Infectious Disease Basics animation, tailored for young people and families, as part of a major education initiatives to combat global health threats (read web story).
Today we are pleased to announce the completion of our Cholera animation, the second of seven animations to help communities prepare for an expected surge of infectious diseases in low-resource countries.
WiRED’s Cholera animation introduces students and their families to the dangers of cholera and empowers them with knowledge to protect themselves and their communities. Cholera is shown as an unseen enemy of germs that thrive in unclean water drawn from sources such as a wells or rivers. The animation explains cholera by describing:
• How cholera is contracted
• What it does to the body
• The dangers of dehydration and ways of treating it
• Importance of handwashing
• Methods of making water safe to drink and preparing food safe to eat
• Keeping latrines clean.
WiRED already has training modules for CHWs, so why animations? Animations are effective at engaging people visually with appealing characters, bright colors and non-technical, short narratives. WiRED’s animations are a vital element in a significant collection of initiatives that we are launching in the wake of abrupt U.S. government budget cuts. These cuts have severely reduced the global supply of essential medicines and vaccines and damaged health infrastructures. WiRED doesn’t have the resources to provide vaccines and medicines, but as educators we can focus effectively on teaching individuals how to minimize health threats through prevention.
With the scarcity of medical supplies and medical professionals and the effects of climate change and other factors, the health of populations living in underserved areas of the world is already declining and people are dying. (For more analysis, read article here.)
The World Health Organization reports that cholera, already endemic in these regions, has killed 50%(!) more people in 2024 compared to 2023. Cholera is preventable and treatable — but only with the kind of knowledge that WiRED CHWs and animations provide local communities.
WiRED’s Seven New Animations:
- Infectious Disease Basics
- Cholera
- Water Purification (coming soon!)
- Personal Hygiene
- Healthy Living
- Malaria Prevention
- HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections Avoidance
Animator Jerilyn Lee’s Bio
Jerilyn Lee is an Asian American illustrator and designer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. They graduated from ArtCenter College of Design with a B.F.A. in illustration in 2023, and have been freelancing for various clients since then. They have a focus on editorial illustration and illustration for advertising, but branched out into many different areas of image making. Their artwork is heavily based on narratives that stem from experiences from life. Jerilyn uses primarily digital image making tools to create intricate drawings with vibrant colors. You can see more of their work at https://jerilynlee.com.
Jerilyn Lee said:
I really enjoyed getting to work on this animation because I really believe in WiRED’s mission to help bring education to more people across the globe. This project allowed me to dust off my animation knowledge, and the entire process was very rewarding because of how much I learned along the way. From storyboarding and character design to illustrating and animating, it was a joy exploring all these different realms of animation. Thank you to Sean Bristol-Lee and Gary Selnow for bringing me onto this project and providing great art direction and feedback throughout the whole process.
Enlarging Our Community Health Program Initiative
In addition to creating animations, WiRED is amping up our community health worker (CHW) program. WiRED’s professional-level training programs have a proven track record, with CHWs demonstrating exceptional effectiveness during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We are now significantly expanding our efforts to increase the number and enhance the skills of CHWs globally by:
- Training More CHWs: We are boosting our commitment and support to increase the number of basic CHW training classes in vulnerable regions.
- Developing Advanced Training: We are creating a 15-module Advanced CHW Training program that will elevate CHW preparedness to a new level, open to all certified CHWs worldwide.
- Launching a Mental Health Series: Recognizing the serious physical and mental impact of funding cuts, this seven-part series is specifically designed for CHWs to use in their outreach efforts.
- Expanding Continuing Medical Education (CME): We are inviting all CHWs globally to enroll in our expanded CME program. Our innovative new app, HealthMAP, is a unique tool that delivers CME programs directly to CHWs everywhere, regardless of where they received training. HealthMAP is available on Android and Apple devices.