Cholera Carols

I am staying for a few nights near Limbe (an hour-ish from Cap Haitien). Last night I worked at the cholera treatment unit here. Today my coordinator and I met with Doctors without Borders to discuss possibilities for collaboration in Bayeux a village an hour from here. I also facilitated communication between my Haitian and Dominican colleagues to get a shipment of cholera supplies on Sunday, communicated with future volunteers about airport closures and flight cancellations due to the roadblocks and demonstrations that started today. And then, when I thought that after supper remained only sleep (after getting 2 hours in the past 36), I found out that we would be gathering with some of the volunteers that have come to work with the cholera patients.

It was lovely. We sang Christmas carols, read the story of Jesus' love for Mary and Martha and his weeping with them in their sorrow just before the resurrection of Lazarus. We heard from a sermon that addressed why Jesus weeps and where he is in moments of death and suffering. As we sang the carols, we kept on finding ones that were about cholera. I'm not kidding! Now, maybe if you haven't been working many dark, tiring nights battling death and dehydration, you won't see the songs in the same way. But here are a few verses:

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer

Our spirits by thine advent here;

disperse the gloomy clouds of night,

And death's dark shadows put to flight.

Joy to the World

No more let sins and sorrows grow

Nor thorns infest the ground.

He comes to make his blessings flow

Far as the curse is found.

(Cholera would be the "thorns" that are literally infesting the ground and seeping into the drinking water.)

Okay, there were more but my brain is no longer functioning. Good night!

Cholera Update

Hi, everyone! Our internet has been nearly non-existent recently, and when we've had it it's been slower than the slowest dial-up you can remember. But suddenly today it is running beautifully! Um, when we've had electricity, that is—I think it's gone off five times today.

Thank you all so much for your prayers for little Odlin. I stayed in touch with one of the nurses from Hinche by phone, and I'm happy to say that he continued to slowly get healthier and finally went home! When I think of what he looked like the day he came in, and indeed even the next few days, I am just amazed.

Every day there are more patients in more communities sick with cholera. There is no sign of this stopping for the next few months, if not longer. There is also a lot of misunderstanding about cholera. It's not uncommon to hear people say they would rather get HIV than cholera. In the past weeks our work has been to:

• Coordinate shipments of IV solution and other supplies to combat cholera.
• Prepare for a Training of Trainers in Port-au-Prince, specifically designed for people who have children's ministries. We were supposed to go to Port-au-Prince on Sunday, but have postponed the training due to continued violence in the city.
• Follow up with the Community Health Evangelists (CHEs) who continue to teach their neighbors from house to house. I've mentioned before the lessons they teach for physical health: what is cholera and how is it spread, how to wash their hands with a simple system using a plastic jug, string, and a stick (most people don't have running water), how to make oral rehydration solution at home, and the importance of using latrines.
• The CHEs have also helped people develop frameworks to process things emotionally and spiritually. Cholera is yet another disaster being faced this year, by people who suffered greatly from the January earthquake and now also violence surrounding national elections. I have heard many people, even young children, say that Haiti is cursed, and cursed by God. What a terrible burden to live under! Our lesson entitled "God and Cholera" leads people to God's Word to learn about God's character and God's heart for us.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." Jesus (recorded in John 7: 37 -38)

And when Jesus speaks in Kreyol, you hear it like this: Dènye jou fèt la, se li ki te pi enpòtan. Jou sa a, Jezi kanpe devan foul moun yo, li di yo byen fò: Si yon moun swaf dlo, li mèt vin jwenn mwen, li mèt vin bwè. Moun ki mete konfyans yo nan mwen, y'ap wè gwo kouran dlo k'ap bay lavi koule soti nan kè yo, jan sa ekri nan Liv la.