Haiti in the Headlines Again

A few days ago we had a first: An e-mail from the US consulate in Port-au-Prince warning of a cholera epidemic in the Artibonite River valley of Haiti. We have gotten e-mail warnings about demonstrations, earthquakes, hurricanes, kidnapping, even heavy rains--but never for a bona-fide epidemic. The next day the story hit the international news websites. So what are we to make of this new headline? Bouts of diarrhea and vomiting are very common in Haiti (although admittedly, cholera is not--it has been over 50 years since the last reported case). It seems that most often diarrhea and vomiting result from a gastro-intestinal virus and can be very severe. Our children have often had this GI virus so bad that we were forced to give them 5ml of Gatorade every 15 minutes for twelve hours to rehydrate. In our experience, it has been very rare that we have contracted a bacterial GI infection (like salmonella) or a parasitical infection (like giardia or dysentery). For the most part, Haitians practice good hygene in food preparation. Without access to running water, however, handwashing is not always done well. Also, as is the case this time, the pit latrines that most Haitians use can create problems. The epicenter of this latest infection, the Artibonite river valley, has been flooding lately because of heavy rains. Flooded pit latrines contaminate water. Also, Haitians live in close proximity to many domestic animals (cattle, goats, dogs, cats, chickens, etc.) which often causes many sanitation problems. The greatest fear right now is the hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in Port-au-Prince's crowded and unsanitary refugee camps. Most camps have pit latrines and safe drinking water due to NGO refief activity. But, the tents don't have running water for handwashing and getting to the latrine is sometimes impossible for many. Please join us in praying that this cholera epidemic will not spread to the refugee camps in Haiti. Also, this coming week, 24-31 October, Zach will be on his own with the three oldest kids while Sharon and Esther travel to Virginia for a training session. Thanks for your prayers!