The "C" Word

Today was another successful day of rubble. I basically spent the whole day removing rebar, though I got in a few good sledge sessions in. It's unreal how quickly the days pass here. I can't believe I'll be home next week. If I could stay longer I would. But school is calling my name.

Tomorrow I'm taking the day off from rubble to go install a playground at one of the local clinics. Patients often spend hours and hours waiting to be seen, so All Hands built a good old fashioned playground (i.e. slide, swings, etc.) to keep the kids occupied.

There are a lot of things going on in Haiti right now, so I'm going to try to talk a bit more about some of the various issues. One that (I think) has been in the news a fair amount recently is cholera. The disease causes severe diarrhea and vomiting, which leads to dehydration. It's spread mostly through ingesting contaminated drinking water or food. Most cases have been reported in an area some 50 miles north of Port-au-Prince, but it has spread to most everywhere in the country. When treated, cholera is usually treatable, but, sadly, many Haitians don't have access to the basics required for recovery. It's frustrating; people should not be dying of cholera in 2010, yet they are. Nearly 3000 people have died during this epidemic so far. The origins of this epidemic are still unknown. A lot of people believe the UN troops from Nepal brought the disease, though this hasn't been confirmed. The UN is "looking into the origins", so we'll see what they conclude. But what can be said is that some Haitians associate the disease with foreigners. There have been stories (including within the very organization I'm working with) of NGO workers being held-up, threatened with violence, and questioned about the origins of the disease. It's obviously a sensitive issue, so we at All Hands don't use the word "cholera" when we're out in town. We talk about it discreetly, using code words and such. We have foot baths by all the doors around base filled with bleach water that everyone steps in before coming inside. We're trying to be extra careful and using lots of hand sanitizer. But there is only so much one can do. There have been some confirmed cases of cholera in Leogane, though it hasn't been a major issue. And we can only hope it stays that way.

I'm too tired to go on, so I must retire.

Hoping everyone is enjoying their last few days of 2010.

Love,

Daniel

P.S. The photo above is of the rubble team that I was on yesterday. This is a picture of us on the clean slab at the site we finished in the morning.