. . . . and the heartbeat of the Allegre CTC (Cholera Treatment Center) goes on.
As regularly as life can be here in rural Haiti, the shifts continue to come and go, the John Deere Gator (our waste disposal vehicle) breaks down, and "By Grace We Clean."
"Vibrio cholerae" in varying serotypes, is the bacteria responsible for the Cholera epidemic here in Haiti. This bacteria can live on almost any surface, and multiplies rapidly in a moist environment. This along with the fact that any person can be reinfected countless times, even after receiving treatment, makes cleaning and disinfection paramount.
About eighty percent of the work involved with operating a CTC is cleaning. Once a patient is admitted, has an IV started, and their medications given, the only thing left to do besides wait the 2-3 days for the cholera bacteria to be killed, and the troublesome enterotoxin it produces to be flushed from the body, is to clean up lots and lots of diarrhea. The average patient will usually produce several gallons of diarrhea in three days and some of the worst cases as much as a liter per hour. Sadly because of the nature of diarrhea, far too often our patients do not make it off their bed to the bucket in time. So ...we wash them, ...the bed, ...the floor (and sometimes ourselves) and disinfect everything with clorox.
I was once asked by a Haitian, "What makes you come help the sick people, and why aren't you afraid of dying from Cholera?" I replied that it was the grace that God put in my heart and His love for me that made me come and overcomes any fear. Aside from God's work and presence in our lives, I do not think there is anything that would motivate us to voluntarily, joyfully, and lovingly clean up after our patients over and over again each time they mess up their bed.
It is such a blessing to be able to quietly share Christ's love with our patients, even though we have the barrier of different languages, and to see the gratitude on each of these special peoples faces when, after you are finished helping them they smile and whisper mesà (thank-you).
Please pray for continued strength and health for everyone working here, and also that God would continue to give us sunny weather, as rain has a direct effect on the number of people infected with Cholera.
Michael Rudolph
Haiti Field Director
Aid For Haiti, Inc.
Working with GTH on the CTC project.
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