Hundreds of people have built tippy taps (hands-free DIY handwashing stations) in Paulette and Ferrier, the two rural communities in northeast Haiti where Bright Hope works. We are THRILLED! Frequent handwashing is vital to combating COVID-19.
In a country like Haiti that has an under-resourced health care system, prevention is their best defense against a massive outbreak of COVID-19. Improving sanitation and hygiene is critical.
In that vein, over the last several weeks our staff in Haiti have been busy training people in both communities on how to build a tippy tap. They also distributed sanitary kits to 100 families.
As of April 17th, Haiti had a total of 41 cases, with seven of them being in Ferrier, one of the two communities where we work.
Here are few highlights of how Ferrier is handling the situation:
- People who feel they have symptoms may be afraid to express it because they will be discriminated against, or they are afraid they could be physically attacked.
- Our partner church in Ferrier is using WhatsApp as a space for meeting. The members stay in touch via WhatsApp and phone calls, and they share words of encouragement to each other.
- The church has also created a health committee to advise and support the church members during this period.
- They are having difficulty providing food to elders.
For the community as a whole, however, people continue to go out because it’s necessary for them to leave their homes to take care of their families. As Levenson, our operations manager in Haiti said, “We all know confinement is not realistic for them.”
Paulette is the second community where Bright Hope partners.
In Paulette, people are being cautious. They limit their movement, but they still practice their daily routines.
Here are a few highlights from what Levenson has shared with us:
- Our partner church and school are closed for now, but the pastor is staying in touch with members continuously.
- Some people are feeling fearful about the situation and their livelihoods are also affected.
- The new water purification kiosk is still selling water, which helps the church continue to generate income, some of which can be used to help the community. Praise God for that!
- The new growing season is starting, but people in Paulette have delayed plowing their land because of rain shortage.
We are grateful to God that, so far, Haiti has not seen a major COVI-19 outbreak. Please pray that it stays that way.
Also please, pray that God will bless the people of Paulette with rain. (We also hope to start an irrigation project there soon, so we would be grateful for your prayers for that as well.)
To read urgent prayer requests from Haiti and other nations, visit our Prayer Wall.
You can read more about how the coronavirus is impacting Haiti and other nations, download our free booklet:
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To see the latest reports of coronavirus cases in Haiti: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/haiti/
