Roseann Dennery reports from Haiti.

It’s the fourth day of our ramped-up cholera response. Our patient numbers are averaging around 200. Each day we discharge and each day we receive more. Our triage is full. It’s a constant ebb and flow of triaging, treating and discharging. There is synergy and purpose to our flow of care.




People have asked us how it is inside our Cite Soleil clinic after quadrupling our numbers overnight last week. There is a constant flurry of activity and movement. Transfers come in by the truckload throughout the day from facilities nearby that are over capacity. But there is order, and there is skill.

The Samaritan’s Purse team has such a sense of pride in our Haitian staff who have trained hard for this. Just months ago, many of them didn’t know how to start an IV or manage fluids. But today in our clinics, you see confidence. You see efficiency and a sense of compassion as they care for their own people. It’s a sense of empowerment that we’ve given them, that they can—and have—proven their ability to become excellent in their trade. It’s one of the greatest gifts Samaritan’s Purse has given to this community.




During a U.N. meeting this week a key leader said that it needs to be known how Cite Soleil has risen to the occasion and absorbed the sick from nearby metropolitan areas. This place, which is usually ostracized and cast aside because of its poverty and reputation, has stepped up to the plate. We always knew they had it in them. They were just never given a chance to show it. This week, they did.

If there is a positive side to this fresh outbreak, it is how it has allowed a very tangible way for Haitians to care for one another. We’ve been blessed to watch this unfold. We see relatives of one patient help comfort a crying child who is alone. We see a young man stroking the hand of an elderly woman who is lying sick. It’s moving, and it happens naturally because there is a fundamental sense of compassion in everything we do. It’s because of Who we serve, and why we are here.




As I visit the clinic patients, it is clear that healing is happening. After just a couple hours, people who came in barely alive are sitting up. Smiles break over faces. They summon to have their photo taken. Cholera is simple to treat once caught in time, and it is very rewarding to be a part of the transformation that occurs from triage to discharge.










Siblings, and sometimes whole families, are coming in with cholera. Other organizations are beginning to open their clinics to help respond to this sudden influx of the sick. We will work together to make sure each person who falls ill gets the care they deserve.

Help is needed. As the rains continue to fall, we remain prepared. We pray that people will not forget Haiti during this time, and will join with us in this renewed fight.

Samaritan's Purse , Haiti , Prepared for the Battle

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