Ralph and I returned this week to Cap Haitien after spending the week at the NHAHA conference in Port-Au-Prince. In addition to our activities at the conference, we spent part of Friday afternoon visiting one of SOIL's composting toilet sites in Cite Soleil. Friday is the weekly dumping where they place nearly 600 gallons of dry feces into a composting site that will later be used to start a community garden. The Friday dump has turned into a community activity as many local kids are out on the cement soccer field playing and enjoying the visit from the SOIL staff. As part of the effort to combat the current cholera outbreak SOIL placed health promotion materials in each toilet.
On our drive back from Port-Au-Prince and over the mountains we got word from Network members that the Ministry of Health was placing a staging clinic at the top of the mountain on the drive between Gonaives and Limbe/Cap. The purpose was to assist anyone who might be trying to travel with cholera from the areas of St. Marc and Gonaive to the north. Government officials had gotten word of some folks who were attempting this as hospitals in the Artibonite were reaching or overcapacity.
We had the opportunity to go by the hospital in St. Marc on our drive back as well. Many reports had suggested that the condition was dire their. While the hospital appeared full and there was quite a bit of traffic in and out of the gate, we did not witness anything that looked like the situation was out of control. We say that keeping in mind that the loss of those people who have already died from the outbreak is tragic, but it appeared at the time that while the hospital was stressed it was managing.
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