Sewage and Cholera, Voices from the Front Lines

I am sharing two comments left in response to the post about cholera in Haiti.  These were made by friends who spent two years in Guyana, serving in the Peace Corps.  Their insight is invaluable, so I thought I'd share!  Thanks again, Ilana and Nate!

-MM

In the Words of Ilana Echevarria-Stewart:

Meghan thanks for sharing this. Really great insight on a continuing problem that doesn´t seem to get much attention since the earthquake. 

Like Nate mentioned, living in the 2nd poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, I am not surprised that the lack of sanitary infrastructure is what perpetuates this epidemic. Many rural communities in Guyana didn´t have latrines or had very few ones causing them to defecate into rivers (their primary source of drinking water) or anywhere with some bush cover. In fact, we worked in a small community of only 100 people and Red Cross installed 5 latrines for the community. However, because they wanted these latrines to be (more?) sanitary they built them pretty far away from the houses. Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect as hoped. Since they were so far away, community members continued to defecate outside their doors and not use the latrines. So they just sat there and were used more like trash cans or bat houses!

While reading the NPR article what really stood out to me is that over $9 million of aid has been given to this country, yet no long-term solution has been implemented. So many of these problems have easy solutions but require long-term program and infrastructure implementation. However, it just seems easier to put a cheap band-aid on it and then act surprised when it doesn’t work. Why only build 5 latrines, why not build compost latrines that don’t require someone to empty it out and doubles as a fertilizer? There are solutions out there, they just aren’t being implemented. 

I could keep going on about this and the second issue of proper rehydration, but I´ll save you from it. These health issues are near and dear to my heart and being on the ground really helped me understand the many pros and cons of aid organizations and how they don’t always efficiently help these underdeveloped countries. 

Thanks for including me in this Dr. May

In the Words of Nate Stewart:

Wow. Thank you for reaching out with this information. I had no idea that cholera had affected/killed so many, or that it's a toxin from the bacteria that causes the diarrhea, or that the treatment is simply to properly hydrate! 

As someone who lived in the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (Guyana), I'm still awestruck when I learn about how exponentially worse things are for Haitians. As detailed in the NPR article you linked to, there are no sewers. None. Latrines are a luxury and have to be emptied by hand. Many people just go to the bathroom in a plastic bag and throw it. Until they get sewers, the Cholera problem seems intractable. 

Thanks for raising my awareness Meghan!