Cholera

A month ago a cholera epidemic started in Haiti. When it started we didn’t have water in the school at all. We distributed drinking water to the kids twice a day

but other than that we were highly unhygienic. So – we got water tanks into the school, got a truck to actually fill those with water and started practicing with the kids after toilets / before food proper procedures. We hang posters, and each teacher reminds the classes daily. It might sound trivial to us, but the plan is that the kids will teach their parents about hygiene..

The main source for the cholera is an infected river about an hour drive from here. A week ago I tagged alone to some folks from our organization that were bringing a big water tank to a cholera emergency center that was being built. Strangely enough the deadly river looks the same. The population looks the same. There was no real feeling of emergency.

But – expectedly, it has now spread to other parts of the country, thriving in a densely populated country without any infrastructure for taking care of water or sewage. Our little village sits on a huge underground water pool that pretty much provide the water to port-au-prince. If this water gets contaminated the ‘little’ epidemic that has still not reached its peek and has so far killed about a 1000 people will become a huge natural disaster. The current estimation is that cholera will now become a permanent resident in Haiti for at least a few years and possibly spread to near by countries.