'The 3 F's'

Sunday, in Church, the priest talked about Cholera and "the 3 F's". F stands for "facile", meaning "easy". He said Cholera is Easy to prevent, Easy to get, and, if you get it, Easy to die.

Cholera HAS spread to Jeremie and the surrounding area since last Thursday. Thus far, 3 people have died, 2 of them children. All cholera cases are handled in a special area of the local hospital.

We continue our "all out" efforts at helping prevent cholera by education, education and more education. We have also taught peer educators what to do and gave each a bucket with chlorox and soap to take to their schools in the area. We have prepared hundreds of sachets of a rehydration formula of sugar and salt to be added to water and drunk as soon as the first signs appear. These have been given to employees, including those in the mountains along with instructions on preparing more.

Here at the Center we continue our day to day activities, being extra vigilant about proper hand washing and good aseptic technique. Any of our patients exhibiting signs of cholera are sent immediately to the hospital.

How bad will it get? How much will it spread? We don't know. However, if treated early, it is not that hard to treat. If not, as Father said, "It is easy to die."

Do continue to pray for the people of Haiti - they have suffered and continue to suffer so much.

Till next time.
Mary Ann