Roseann Dennery, Information Coordinator for the Samaritan's Purse disaster response team in Haiti, reports from the scene of the cholera outbreak.

There is a Haitian proverb that says prevention is better than illness. This has become our motto here at Samaritan’s Purse Haiti.

Join us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates from Haiti and other Samaritan's Purse projects around the world.We are canvassing densely populated areas like markets, soccer fields, and schools. We have hired a DJ van, large speakers propped up on a tap-tap (Haitian style) that is currently blasting out the message on how cholera can be prevented.

Today is market day in Cabaret and mobs of people are surrounding the van, taking notes. People are scared, they want to know what to do, what it is, how they can stay healthy. There is energy, a buzz of movement as people gather, desperate for information. We feel hopeful that the message will settle on willing and open ears. Please pray for hearing to translate into action.

See Roseann's blog for more photos from Haiti.

We showed up yesterday with a team at our shelter communities in Cabaret. Just five minutes before our arrival the village elders were meeting and discussing what to do. God is going before us, we are certain. Nearly 300 people came out and received prevention education. Cholera has not yet hit this region but reports indicate movement to the south, and we want to divert this as quickly as possible through behavior change. These messages are saving lives.



The SP WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) team successfully installed two water filtration systems, which will serve about 15,000 people in Villard and Boudette. We revisited the site and the water was still flowing, children running up with tattered buckets, giggling freely.

While we were there we visited the river that is the suspected carrier of the virus. It’s very close to this village. We saw many people come down to try to gather water. We have stationed teams along the river to educate them about the usage of this water. We are desperately getting the word out. We are all educators now, sharing this message together.

We saw 108 people at our rehydration clinic in Villard yesterday. Thirty-five were under the age of 5. We were able to discharge 96 of them after they received oral rehydration solution—people who would otherwise have gone to the overcrowded St Marc hospital. This has become our goal, to divert people from the hospital if possible.



The heart-wrenching piece of all of this is the children, who we have seen are suffering the most. They are coming in with uncontrollable diarrhea and vomiting. Their little lives are frail, weakened. They are so scared.

Robens Jeune and his 2-year-old son, Frantzley, came into the clinic. The little boy looked up with wide eyes, and sat on the cot, scared and suffering. We started an IV and sat with him and his father to quiet his crying.

“Today, he just started throwing up,” Robens said as he gently placed his hand on Frantzley. “I was on the way to the St Marc hospital and someone told me that there was a clinic here, closer to home. So we came. And he has perked up, he is feeling better. I am hopeful he can live through this.”

We had chaplains on site yesterday from the BGEA. Almost every single person was prayed over, and there was corporate prayer happening all day in the IV rooms. My eyes fill with tears as I think of this, the image of God infusing strength in our tired bodies as we bow before Him, pleading for these lives to be spared. It is undeniable that He is propelling us forward and giving us compassion for each new person we see.

We’re handing out antibiotics and clean water to those well enough to leave. We had to open a third IV room, and YWAM showed up with a team of nurses to help us after they heard about our clinic from the St Marc hospital. We also received 20,000 bottles of water from World Compassion Network who heard about our work. More indicators of God’s movement here.



There is collaboration and swiftness as we work, changing IVs, comforting the sick, moving from bed to bed. Please pray for strength, for protection for our team. We trust God will grant us resilience and favor as we try to derail the inevitable.

The reality of the situation is at our front door. Unconfirmed reports say that cases are continuing south and now appearing near the epicenter of the quake. We forge on, together. Our national staff has come in on their own time to help us bleach scrubs and decontaminate vehicles into the late hours of the day. It’s a harmonious and unspoken agreement to do all we can, with who God places in our path, each day.

And we believe it’s working, and it’s because of your prayers and support. Please continue to remember Haiti today.

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Samaritan's Purse , Haiti , Help for Haiti , These Messages are Saving Lives