FATU KEKULA: LIBERIA | Adriana Garriga-Lopez

Adriana Garriga-Lopez is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. She is also a poet, muralist, and soprano. Adriana’s research focuses on epidemics as events that make visible the workings of colonial power, race, gender, and sexuality in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. She painted this portrait of Fatu Kekula after reading a newspaper article detailing how the young student nursed 3 of her infected family members back to health during the 2014-15 outbreak of Ebola in Liberia using very limited means. In the portrait, she is wearing a black plastic bag on her head, exam gloves, and a facemask. These were some of the protective measures she used while caring for the sick. The canvas is available for purchase from the artist. All proceeds from the sale will be donated directly to Fatu Kekula herself as she pursues graduate education in nursing. Interested parties contact agarriga@kzoo.edu.

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