According to the World Health Organization, “Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.”1 Cholera induces high-volume fluid loss that can progress to shock and ultimately death. The National Library of Medicine’s website cites an estimate of more than four million cases per year, worldwide.2

Cholera developed as a major health crisis in Haiti amid relief efforts following the 2010 earthquake. It started in a camp of foreign volunteers, probably with a leak in their sewage system. From there, the disease easily infected the ground water—and once cholera infects the water supply, it is difficult to eradicate. Since then, water trucks and deep wells have become the main source of water for Haitian citizens. Connect 2 Ministries operates one of these water trucks as a resource for our own children and the broader community under normal circumstances. But since the gangs have blocked many of the roads, our distribution capacity has been limited, and similar sources have become completely inaccessible.

In this current situation, many Haitians have resorted to drinking from shallow wells or rivers and streams. This is catastrophic because cholera invades surface water. Cholera can be prevented if the water is boiled before consuming, and there are also filters that can perform effective decontamination. For people in Haiti, however, the challenge is that boiling requires charcoal or propane, which are both expensive. People drink contaminated water because they have no other choice.

Another aspect of the crisis is lack of education about the disease. Most Haitians are uneducated, which means that problems like cholera can be difficult to understand. There is a disconnect between the point of infection and when the first symptoms appear. Touching fire and feeling the burn are closely related, but drinking water and seeing the infection are nebulously linked in comparison. Similar to the AIDS epidemic, the cause and effect are so separated that people struggle to grasp the root of the issue.

Cholera is an easy disease to treat with antibiotics, yet nearly 7,500 people died from the disease after the 2012 earthquake because treatment options were so scarce.3 Now, under gang rule, medical care is even less accessible. Many medical institutions have closed because of the threat of looting and violence, and as a result, people aren’t being treated. After more than three years with no confirmed cholera cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed more than 20,000 cases between September 2022 and January 2023 alone.4 It is likely that the real numbers are much higher because so much goes unreported. Our prayer is for increased attention and involvement from the international community in the coming days. Intervention seems necessary.

To learn how you can be praying with us for the ministry in Haiti, visit Prayer Requests.

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1 “Cholera,” World Health Organization, Accessed September 5, 2023, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cholera.
2 Matthew Fanous and Kevin C. King, “Cholera,” in StatPearls [Internet], National Library of Medicine (Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing, 2023), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470232/.
3 Ezra J. Barzilay, Nicolas Schaad, Roc Magliore, Kam S. Mung, et al., “Cholera Surveillance During the Haiti Epidemic—The First 2 Years,” New England Journal of Medicine 368, no. 7 (February 14, 2013): 599–609.
4 Denisse Vega Ocasio, Stanley Juin, David Berendes, et al., “Cholera Outbreak—Haiti, September 2022–January 2023,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 72, no. 2 (January 13, 2023): 21–25, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7202a1.