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HAITI / CHOLERA TREATMENT
STORY: HAITI / CHOLERA TREATMENT
TRT: 3.25
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: CREOLE/ SPANISH/ ENGLISH/ NATS
DATE: 26 OCTOBER 2010, ARTIBONITE REGION, HAITI
1. Med shot, people waiting in line
2. Various shots, water distribution
3. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jurve Resident:
“Children are dying in our arms. It’s misery that fell upon us. We were already very poor. Only thing we hope for now is to somehow get some clean water. “
4. Pan left, people pulling truck from mud
5. Thierry director of NGO Jeunesse en Action talking to villagers of Jurve
6. Med shot, volunteer carries a sick woman into a truck
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Thierry Snow, National Director of Jeunesse en Action:
“Every time we come with water we are taking sick people out. We’ve already, personally, “Jeunesse en mission” have transported out of Jurve a total of eight people now, that would have died. Nobody is getting any assistance here at all. Medically, they have a small clinic here, but they have no serum, nothing. So, we are trying to do two things at one time. Drop of water, pick up sick.”
8. Wide shot, people standing on the banks of irrigation canal
9. Med shot, children playing in canal
10. Wide shot, people walking in the fields
11. Med shot, women, wading in water
12. Tilt up, woman sitting on jerry can to a crowd of people waiting beside the road
13. Close up, a child waiting with parents
14. Wide shot, people waiting
15. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Joseph St. Pierre, Senal Resident:
“Nobody came to help us. We are isolated here. We have yet to see some support. They say don’t drink water from the river, but we have to. We put some chlorine in it, the little we can afford. And we have to use river water to drink, bath and wash. We don’t know what else to do.”
16. Various shots, Cuban doctors working in L’Estere Hospital
17. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Dr. Oscar Fonseca, Chief of Cuban Medical Team:
“As you can see, there are a lot of patients coming here. And its number is increasing every day. We have already processed some 2,000 patients of which some 400 were treated for cholera. But our team is very motivated and works with a lot of enthusiasm. What’s most important to us is to save the lives of our patients.”
18. Med shot, child on a sickbed
19. Wide shot, tent with cholera patients
20. Med shot, a mother with two babies waiting
21. Wide shot, queue in front of L’Estere Hospital
22. Close up, nurse and patient
23. Close up, Cuban doctor with a mask on his face
24. Wide shot, hand washing station at the entrance of the hospital
25. Med shot, two people half carrying a sick man between them
26. Various shots, MINUSTAH machines levelling ground for a new Cholera Treatment Centre
For some 600 families living in Jurve, on the south bank of Artibonite River in Haiti, a few precious bottles of water could mean the difference between life and death. Since cholera was detected in the river the last week, they were left with no safe drinking water.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Jurve Resident:
“Children are dying in our arms. It’s misery that fell upon us. We were already very poor. Only thing we hope for now is to somehow get some clean water. “
The only way to reach Jurve is by travelling in an off road vehicle on a long and difficult road that follows the river. Jeunesse en Action an international NGO, together with MINUSTAH has managed to bring total of six truckloads of water to the suffering population. On the way back, they also serve as an ambulance.
SOUNDBITE (English) Thierry Snow, National Director of Jeunesse en Action:
“Every time we come with water we are taking sick people out. We’ve already, personally, Jeunesse en Action have transported out of Jurve a total of eight people now, that would have died. Nobody is getting any assistance here at all. Medically, they have a small clinic here, but they have no serum, nothing. So, we are trying to do two things at one time. Drop of water, pick up sick.”
Jurve lies in the middle of the rice growing Artibonite region. At their best, roads in this part of Haiti are barely passable, and now at the height of the rainy season, people have no choice but to wade through cholera infested water to reach their homes.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Joseph St. Pierre, Senal Resident:
“Nobody came to help us. We are isolated here. We have yet to see some support. They say don’t drink water from the river, but we have to. We put some chlorine in it, the little we can afford. And we have to use river water to drink, bath and wash. We don’t know what else to do.”
In the meantime, in the nearby town of L’Estere, a brigade of Cuban doctors is working around the clock. They arrived in Haiti in the aftermath of the 12 January earthquake and have been treating the Haitian population in rural areas ever since.
Now they have taken upon themselves to fight against the cholera outbreak.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Dr. Oscar Fonseca, Chief of Cuban Medical Team:
“As you can see, there are a lot of patients coming here. And its number is increasing every day. We have already processed some 2,000 patients of which some 400 were treated for cholera. But our team is very motivated and works with a lot of enthusiasm. What’s most important to us is to save the lives of our patients.”
Since the outbreak, more than 4,500 people have been infected by cholera and 303 have died, according to Haitian authorities.
Although the rate of newly infected is decreasing, the international aid community and Haitian medical authorities are bracing for a possible national wide spread of infection. The strong sensitization campaign about proper personal hygiene is primary a tool of prevention. Meanwhile, MINUSTAH engineers are erecting Cholera Treatment Centres throughout affected area.
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