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Saving Lives in Haiti

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23 year-old Wilky has a very dangerous job. Every day he takes care of the sick and dying at this cholera clinic in Haiti.

“I have many different jobs,” says Wilky. “I do laundry. Of course I help dumping the buckets with waste, and cleaning them out. I know that cholera is a bacteria, so if I touch someone or touch their soiled clothes without washing my hands with bleach, then I could get cholera, too."

Wilky started work here in November when a few cases of cholera suddenly turned into hundreds. That’s why Operation Blessing helped to set up this medical clinic just behind a major hospital. There are 200 beds in 14 tents for patients, but just two weeks into the treatment protocol, this clinic had a crisis. They ran out of bleach.

“We use everywhere,” says Wilky about the bleach, “in the general water supply, to wash our hands, to do laundry, to spray the cots, and the tents and the ground where patients have been. 

Bleach that was normally available in stores was now gone or too expensive for even the hospital to buy. Fortunately, Operation Blessing has the solution that Wilky needed and they had plenty of it.

Operation Blessing set up two chlorine generators that run around the clock producing 120 gallons of bleach solution every 12 hours. We quickly delivered palates of the product to Wilky and his staff..

Wilky was very happy when he saw the bleach. “I just took the 5-gallon container with bleach and started putting it in the 50-gallon water drums to purify it. After four days without bleach, I didn’t even ask anyone, I just started using it to clean and purify things.”

Operation Blessing installed a huge commercial washer and dryer to help the clinic with what has become a 24-hour-a-day laundry operation where staff have to pour buckets of water into washing machines just to get them to run.

“I would like to say a big thank-you to Operation Blessing for all of your support,” says Wilky. “The needs all over Haiti are great. You have made a great difference in this fight against cholera.”  

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Be a part of CBN's Operation Blessing's efforts to transform the lives of children and adults in the United States, please make an online contribution and help us continue to reach those in need.

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About The Author

Ken Hulme
Ken
Hulme

CBN International Managing Director for The 700 Club | Ken's been telling stories as a producer and writer for nearly 40 years. Currently, he manages and mentors media teams based in countries worldwide that provide stories about the work of CBN, Operation Blessing, and Orphan’s Promise for The 700 Club and other media platforms. He is married with four adult children and nine grandchildren.