International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Preventing Cholera

Photos: 
The IRC’s Stephane Barsalou shows members of the environmental health staff how to chlorinate water with a syringe. The IRC is testing and chlorinating water in 30 camps in Port-au-Prince. (Photo: Susana Ferreira/The IRC)
The IRC’s Fritzner Pierre-Louis checks the chlorine levels at a water source in a Martissant camp. It will need to be chlorinated to be safe to drink. (Photo: Susana Ferreira/The IRC)
For every liter of water, between 0.5 and 1 mg of chlorine is needed for it to be safe to drink. The darker the shade of pink on the testing kit, the more chlorine is present in the water. (Photo: Susana Ferreira/The IRC)
IRC’s environmental health team teach a group of Community Hygiene Promoters how to treat water for households in the Teleco camp. (Photo: Susana Ferreira/The IRC)
First they make a chlorine solution. (Photo: Susana Ferreira/The IRC)
Then they treat each bucket of water with a syringe of the solution. (Photo: Susana Ferreira/The IRC)
Two boys from Teleco camp watch as a group of Community Hygiene Promoters learn how to chlorinate drinking water. An outside group trucks in water for the camp several times a day, and residents have complained that it is not clean to drink. (Photo: Susana Ferreira/The IRC)
Heavy afternoon rain turns parts of downtown Port-au-Prince into a river. (Photo: Susana Ferreira/The IRC)
Frequent flooding of streets and camps during storm season is a source of worry, as the water mixes with waste, potentially spreading bacteria and disease. (Photo: Susana Ferreira/The IRC)

The IRC is responding to a cholera outbreak that threatens the capital Port-au-Prince. Our prevention activities are in full gear in 30 settlements where we work assisting some 100,000 earthquake survivors.

Photos by Susana Ferreira/The IRC