ARTICLE - MORE THAN CHOLERA

MORE THAN CHOLERA IN THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE PESTEL
(Peoria Journal Star) - By John Carroll, MD

I hiked up the mountains today south of the village of Pestel.

With the help of a guide I passed through the tiny village of Casavon and followed water pipes that led us to the spring at La Matin.

People from all over this part of the mountain get their water from the pipes that lead from this spring. But for the water to run through the pipes it has to be pumped from a reservoir near the catchment zone as the spring water flows out of the rocks and into the catchment zone. And for the pump to work in the reservoir, the Delco generator needs to work. And the generator wasn’t working today. So the people either walk to the spring at La Matin and carry water back to their village in five gallon buckets on their head or they collect water from a cistern in their yard or their neighbor’s yard.

Whatever. Clean water is sacred here and extremely hard to get.

The people I talked to on the mountain paths said they have had cholera in the village of La Matin last year, but not now.

There is much pathology in the mountains and it is not all cholera.

The lady above is Madame Jean-Baptiste. She is 42 years old and has eight children.

She noticed a hard lump in her right breast two years ago. She had no means no go to a doctor. Last year the breast tissue broke down. Her breast cancer eroded through the skin of her chest wall.

She has had constant pain and infection of the open tissue ever since.

Madame Jean-Baptiste will not survive. It is way too late. And that will put her children at even more risk up here with no mom.

If clean water could be made more accessible to everyone in Haiti it would cut down on the water-borne illnesses like dysentery and vector borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. Cholera would be endemic but not epidemic.

And I really believe one good thing would lead to another. General basic medical care would improve. And the Madame Jean-Baptiste’s of Haiti would stand a much better chance at getting the care they need early on to screen them for breast cancer and obtain appropriate treatment if cancer is found.