Easing the suffering in Haiti

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This article was published 06/01/2011 (5409 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THOUGH Beverly Kroeker has some idea of what it will be like, she knows it will be nothing like she pictures.

Kroeker and Olive Holm, both registered nurses in Winnipeg, are heading to Haiti on Friday to help the earthquake-ravaged country combat its cholera epidemic.

As a part of the Samaritan’s Purse volunteer organization, the two are joining up with medical professionals from around the world to help provide relief, treatment and education at a cholera clinic in Cite Soleil, a slum in the capital region of Port-au-Prince.

It’s estimated 125,000 Haitians suffer from cholera, an intestinal disease brought on by contaminated water. More than 2,500 people have died from the outbreak.

For Holm, it will be her second trip to Haiti (she was there in March), and this will mark her ninth medical mission abroad. For Kroeker, the rookie, the trip is built on mystery and anticipation.

“Nervous and excited at the same time,” Kroeker said Wednesday, taking a break from packing.

“It’s reassuring to know that Olive is coming with me. She has some experience in this and she’ll hopefully guide me through it for the first part. I think once I have my bags packed and everything together, I’ll feel more in control.”

In preparation for her two-week mission, Kroeker said she’s been checking websites for news on the situation and political climate in Haiti.

She’s being cautious, she said, and doing some homework so she will be able to absorb some of the shock once she gets there.

Holm said she’s not sure if a person can ever get used to the sight of people struggling to find hope.

“It’s never old hat but you kind of get a feel for what it’s all about. It’s not as scary as it was the first time around, that’s for sure,” Holm said.

When asked to describe her experience in Haiti last March, Holm had trouble finding the words.

“I don’t think you can describe it. It’s overwhelming, the poverty and the conditions,” she said. “When we arrived in Port-au-Prince and got out of the van, the stench was awful. You had raw sewage running in the streets, mixed with the animals, mixed with the garbage.”

Holm said the toughest thing about her March trip was the idea that small children were suffering. She stayed with a local doctor then, and while the conditions were excellent by Haitian standards, it was hard for her to get comfortable knowing that families nearby would go days without eating.

“There are children who haven’t eaten anything in 24 hours… it’s pretty tough mentally,” she added.

Kroeker and Holm will be gone for two weeks. Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake that hit near the town of Leogane, which is 25 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca