Caution

 

Karl Michel LaFrance, 10, got sick at 1 AM and died at home at 10 AM this morning. His mother says she didn't realize the gravity of his illness until it was too late. After he died, she brought him out to the road to be picked up by the government. Workers, hired by the department of health to pick up dead cholera victims, spray the body with disinfectant. LaFrance is put into a truck with 14 other bodies and taken to a mass grave.

I'm getting the impression that when it comes to cholera education, most NGOs and the government are not reaching the most vulnerable. Somehow the text messages and radio spots aren't communicating to people how serious this illness is. This kid is the third person I saw dead from cholera on the side of the road today, all within close proximity of cholera treatment centers. 

We've suspected all along that the death toll and infection rate has been under reported, but until today I had no idea how quickly the cholera is spreading in Port-Au-Prince.