BELLADERE, Haiti – In the pediatric ward of Belladere Hospital, IV stands line the room like lampposts, each one standing guard next to white-barred cribs where infants lay listlessly and parents stand quietly beside.

There is very little talking – except for the occasional coo from a mother wanting to comfort her child.

“Typhoid, diarrhea, another case of typhoid,” says Dr. Ralph Ternier, the hospital’s medical director, as we walk around the room. “All are here because of a water-related illness,” he told us.

Of the average 250 patients seen per day at Belladere, Dr. Ralph estimates that nearly two-thirds are being treated for a water-related illness, some in addition to other diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV.

The problem of potable water in Haiti is not new, yet it continues to ravage the impoverished, the old and the young. Even the hospital has fallen victim to its impact.

For the past two years, the hospital has been without running water. While there is a cistern that collects rainwater on the property, most patients simply bring jugs of their own water from the city or local rivers. But the problem remains – the water is still very much unclean and unsuitable for drinking.

But all of that is about to change.

Thanks to a partnership between Partners in Health and Operation Blessing, clean water is on its way in.

Teams arranged for the hospital’s underground piping to be replaced and connected to the city’s water line. From there, the water will pass through a chlorinator to be purified and then stored in a large 30-foot high water tank.

It’s a small step that will make a big impact for the hospital and its patients.

“When the patients bring in their own water, we can’t ensure that the water is good,” Dr. Ralph said. “Sometimes we’ve had to delay surgeries for several hours because no clean water was available to sterilize the tools. “

Today, as the new piping was being laid, a young mother approached us with an extremely malnourished child in her arms. Her daughter was one year old, but her weight was probably closer to that of a 1-month-old.

We offered her a water bottle, which the infant latched onto and did not stop drinking from until she was nearly half-way through.

It was incredibly overwhelming to see a child so dehydrated and so devoid of nutrition, yet it also gave us a clear picture that a little bit of clean water can – and will – go a long way in helping to create a healthier future for Haiti’s families.

Tags: Belladere, Belladere Hospital, Caribbean, Chlorine, clean water, Contaminated Water, Haiti, Medical Aid, OBI, Operation Blessing, Partners In Health

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 6:49 am and is filed under Caribbean, Clean water projects, Haiti. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.