In Haiti: Arne Grieg Riisnæs/Norwegian Church Aid/ACT Alliance
(The church hall was packed as NCA distributed hygiene kits in Artibonite, Haiti. Photo: Arne Grieg Riisnæs/NCA)
The 320km-long river Artibonite is the longest and most important river in Haiti. For many, it is also the only source of drinking water. When the first cases of cholera were recorded in mid-October 2010, it became clear that this river was the source of the infection. Many weeks later, large numbers of people have still not heard about the epidemic, or know how to protect themselves against it.
”I hadn’t heard about the spread of cholera, so I continued drinking water from the river until a few days ago,” says a visibly weakened Claudette Hygiene (39), a resident of the town of Fery. From her hospital bed in the town of Brocozelle, she explains that she suddenly began vomiting and had diarrhoea.
”It all went very quickly. I became very sick. I’m just happy I’m getting treatment now,” she says.
A team made up of Norwegian Church Aid and partner organisation MISSEH staff travelled into the Artibonite region, north of the capital Port-au-Prince, this week, to hold information meetings and distribute hygiene kits. Several hundred women came to a meeting in a church in Brocozelle. Here, as in many places in Haiti, there is a shortage of basic day-to-day items such as soap and disinfectant. The atmosphere quickly became noisy and tense once people understood that there was not enough equipment to go around. The team was, however, able to calm the situation down by assuring the local residents that more equipment would be distributed in the days to come.
The clinic in Brocozelle has established a separate ward for cholera patients, where 25 people are currently receiving treatment. Cholera can be cured easily with antibiotics and clean drinking water. Left untreated however, the disease can kill, and in the worst cases the patient may die as little as a few hours after the first symptoms have appeared. In the last two weeks alone, two patients arrived at the clinic too late, and the doctors were unable to save them. This clinic, like many others, is already working at full capacity. Outside the cholera ward, patients lie on the carpeted floor and wait their turn.
“We were lucky that Claudeson Augustin was given a bed almost immediately,” explains mother Evelyn Alexis (20), stroking her two year-old daughter on the forehead. The child is crying hard and sweating profusely. “I was so afraid when she suddenly fell ill, but I feel safe now we’re at the clinic,” says Evelyn, a resident of the town of Clauduclas.
Haiti’s current cholera epidemic is its first for one hundred years, and the population has very little knowledge about the disease. Many blame the country’s government for not doing enough. In recent days, frustration has also been directed at the UN peacekeeping troops and at international organizations, who seem unable to bring the epidemic under control. The Nepalese UN soldiers have also been accused of bringing the cholera from South Asia, although these accusations are not based on any evidence.
As soon as calm returns to the packed church hall, healthcare workers from NCA and MISSEH begin explaining their hygiene information to the several hundred local residents that have gathered. In the clinic across the road, patients wait patiently for treatment as staff members rush around. One nurse brings a bowl to a small girl who has just arrived, and she vomits into it immediately.
“I wish I had known that the water was dangerous. Then my daughter wouldn’t have fallen ill. Still – we’re lucky,” says Evelyn Alexis.