Haiti-Cholera: CECI Takes Stronger Action As the Epidemic Intensifies

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Nov. 26 /CNW Telbec/ - The cholera epidemic continues to require an urgent response. To date, over 1,415 people have died from the disease and 25,000 have been hospitalized. The Centre d'étude et de coopération internationale (CECI) is one of the primary actors in the Artibonite area, where cholera has claimed the most victims. CECI continues to mobilise and to step up its response in order to help the most vulnerable victims and prevent the epidemic from spreading further.

Guypsy Michel, CECI's regional director for the Americas division and country director for Haiti, is worried. "The epidemic is spreading," says Michel. "It's become a question of public safety and the hospitals are completely overwhelmed! We have called upon all our partner networks that are involved in healthcare, to have them give people information and protect them. In addition to our own teams, over 450 facilitators trained in health promotion are taking action in public markets, in isolated villages and everywhere. We are training elected officials, community leaders, clergy members and school teachers to spread the message that it is possible to take suitable and effective preventative action. Right now, everything hinges on prevention!"

Michel adds that other action is also called for: "We have to continue distributing soap and water-purification tablets for families to use at home in their day-to-day activities. And we must help the sick by distributing rehydration salts. Prevention measures must also include providing technical support to municipalities, health agents and families so that the bodies of the dead are handled safely."

Action on the ground
Since October 22, the CECI teams have been working tirelessly, distributing hygiene kits, promoting and teaching hygienic measures and purifying water sources. Our actions are focussed in the following 11 communes of the Artibonite area: Verrettes, Gonaïves, Marchand-Dessalines, St. Marc, Grande Saline, L'Estère, Petite Rivière, Gros Morne, Anse Rouge, la Chapelle and Desdunes. We are also active in Hinche in the Centre Department.

Until now, the distribution campaign has benefited over 100,000 people, members of over 16,000 families. Our stocks are replenished weekly, subject to product availability.

In the aftermath of the flooding caused by Hurricane Thomas, CECI, in partnership with other humanitarian aid workers, distributed 2,000 pails in Grande Saline to allow families to gather and treat water. Furthermore, assessments of water-supply points (rivers, pumping stations and wells) have been carried out, allowing us to target the intervention areas.

Collaborative work
Artibonite, which is considered to have been where the cholera epidemic originated, is the area of focus for CECI activities, including our emergency project, "Lakansyèl," which is financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). CECI acts in collaboration with various partners, including local authorities, regional public health departments, the civil defence force, the Centre de coopération internationale en santé et développement (CCISD), the Organisme de développement de la vallée de l'Artibonite (ODVA), the Office de coordination des affaires humanitaires (OCHA), the Direction Nationale de l'Eau Potable et de l'Assainissement (DINEPA) and UNICEF.

Fundraising campaign: We need your support!
Given that a hygiene kit costs approximately CAN$10 and meets the needs of one family of five, and given that we anticipate supplying nearly 125,000 people during the coming three weeks, the operation will require CAN$250,000. The CECI team needs your help and is asking its members, friends, partners and donors to renew their support for the people of Haiti. Please participate in the UNITING FOR HAITI campaign.

By giving $30, you can help protect a Haitian family from cholera for three weeks. Three weeks is the amount of time considered necessary to overcome the critical stage of the outbreak.

Donate online: The UNITING FOR HAITI campaign on our website: www.ceci.ca
By mail: CECI—UNITING FOR HAITI, 3000 Omer-Lavallée Street, Montreal QC H1Y 3R8
Please make cheque out to: CECI—UNITING FOR HAITI
By phone: [phone] or 514-875-9911 Ext. 283

When you donate to CECI, you can be sure that your contribution will be used to fund concrete action and that information about this action will be accessible and measurable. Stay updated about our work through our Website and through our Facebook and Twitter pages. A donation to CECI is a donation that works!

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CECI is involved in projects in 18 countries worldwide, in the areas of humanitarian aid, development and volunteer cooperation. We currently have humanitarian aid projects running in Haiti, Pakistan, Guatemala and the Philippines as well as in the Sahel due to the food crisis in Niger. After responding to the immediate emergency, we implement socio-economic rehabilitation projects and reconstruction projects, and we maintain ongoing development activities that considerably strengthen and accelerate the ability of communities to return to their regular activities.

For further information:

In Port-au-Prince
Esther Labonté
Cell: 509 38 07 74 33

In Canada
Cindy Savard
Cell: 514-882-4601