PICTURE: Philippa Youd

Crosses at a mass grave in Haiti. More than 4,000 people have died as a result of a cholera epidemic which broke out in the wake of last year's devastating earthquake which in itself killed more than 220,000 people. Latest figures from the health ministry say there have been more than 209,000 cholera cases recorded in Haiti.

8th February, 2011

PHILIPPA YOUD is a doctor from London who was recently in Haiti where she worked with an humanitarian organisation. Here, in a piece written before her return to the UK, she writes about her experience in battling the cholera epidemic currently sweeping through the island nation...

Having been in Haiti after the earthquake last February, I've now returned to help with the cholera relief project. It's a powerful illness. People get ill and can die within a few hours. The blessing is that it's very easy to treat. Intravenous fluid can turn people round in a few minutes. It's been wonderful to see that happen.

     As we finished praying for one young man who was slow to respond, he opened his eyes and said "Thank you", in English, and then drifted back to semi-consciousness. It has been a privilege to be part of the remembering, prayer and conversations a year on from 12th January, 2010.

     Everyone has a story. Most have been bereaved in the last year. They are strong people, resigned to suffering, philosophical in their perspectives and quick to laugh. There is real sadness though. The women have a tough time here. Physical and sexual abuse by men seems endemic. It's commonplace for men to leave their wives or girlfriends to bring up young children alone. Sexually transmitted infection is the most common condition I treated in the general clinic. Admittedly I've been working in a very poor slum, but I believe this isn't unusual.
      In the midst of all this, I've met some genuinely committed Christian people. Please pray that they'd stand firm. We've worshipped and prayed in the cholera treatment centre together, have had incredibly intense moments with broken people and was presented with a list of people at the end of each clinic who had given their lives to the Lord. If only it could be the same at home! There is hope here, but it's hard. I go home tomorrow. Please pray for these traumatised people who long for security, employment and still wake at night in fear that the ceiling will fall in on them.