Living Haiti

Cholera: Education and Resources...

So this Cholera thing is pretty crazy. I want all of you to know that I am by NO MEANS an expert at infectious diseases. I know virtually nothing about tropical ailments. I really am not the person you need to be getting your NEWS from. I'm just a girl, living and working in Haiti, a country that happens to be experiencing a Cholera outbreack. If you're interested in following people who really know what they're talking about when it comes to the illness, I suggest you check in with the link that I blogged about in my latest entry. Also it would be good to check in with groups like the World Health Organization and Partners in Health. You can find more technical stuff from them.

Now...on with my "not-so-professional" take of the situation.

I live just outside of Port Au Prince. There are tent cities around the corner...we're not too far from Cite Soley (a big slum you've probably heard of) and we're on National #1...and huge road that goes from downtown PAP up north into the areas where the Cholera has broken out. There have been many fatalities and it seems that it started with contaminated water up in a river that many people live life out of...cleaning, drinking cooking. It won't take long for Cholera to spread that way. The hospitals were not equipped to handle this outbreak.

We've been hearing reports all day of cases being found closer and closer to Port Au Prince. There are unconfirmed reports of cases here already. Many people in this country are still living on top of each other in tent cities. Many people use the bathroom inches from where they find their water supply, and there aren't sewers, water treatment plants, or septic tanks. If the Cholera spreads here, it could be a pretty big (nasty) deal.

Cholera does NOT have to take lives. With proper rehydration and treatment it can be taken care of. And with proper education it can be prevented in a lot of cases. Sometimes it's hard to get good information Haiti. Someone can start a rumor and it can make it's way throught the country in no time. I heard Haitians today talking about how this started because someone in the Dominican dropped something in the river to make Haitians sick. Education is key!

Today I met with our staff here at the orphanage/guesthouse. At first it was difficult to convince people that this was a serious issue that they needed to be informed of, and to take precautions against. I told them what Cholera was, how it is spread, what it does to your body, how to prevent it, and what to do if they got it.

I was able to hand out kits to all of our workers (24 total) that had anti-bacterial soap, hand sanitizer, clothes, and salt and sugar to make rehydration solutions if anyone they knew got sick. We talked about "boiling the crap" out of their water...and only using clean water. I did a mini clinic on how the hands over everyone in our house should be washed. And we talked about cleanliness, cleanliness, cleanliness. By the end of the meeting the ladies were ready to listen to everything we had to say. They were especially excited when they got their own supplies for their homes and families.

Honestly...it wasn't much. Just some information and small amount of resources. We used what we already had. I wish it could have been more. I wish I could do more to help educate our area. Tomorrow I'll go into the streets with papers with instructions written in kreyol for prevention and treatment.

If you looking for ways to help you can give through the Haiti Mission Project. If you would like to donate money to go specifically towards medical care, we support Heartline Ministries that is equipped with doctors and staff that treat people in some of the poorest areas of PAP. If you want to send stuff...it's probaly easiest if you live in the MN area. A HMP board member is travelling down next week.

We need hand sanitizer (smaller bottles can be more widely distributed)
Antibacterial soap (pump and bars, foam soap for kids)

Rehydration salts

Gatorade packets

if anyone can get their hands on self contained water filtration bottles (like from REI) that would be great
Cholorine tablets for cleaning drinking water

Those are the things that are within our power to distribute and help. If you live in MN or if you would like to send things along, let me know, I can get you an address. If you'd rather donate money for these supplies, it can be done through the HMP as well. See our website at http://www.haitimissionproject.org/

Thanks so much for working with us in this, and for praying. Please pray that this illness does not spread to the sprawling tent cities. I'll try to update here as much as possible when I hear more information. I can let you know what we're doing and what things look like in our neck of the woods!