ARTICLE
Jan. 27, 2011

Gathering Aid for Haiti

BRADENTON, Florida -- The death toll has risen to nearly 1,000, while thousands of others are being hospitalized in Haiti. There are even fears a massive cholera outbreak could threaten one million more people.

Julio Volcy, from the Hope Outreach International organization in Bradenton, returned over the weekend after delivering aid for nearly three weeks in Haiti. "Life is extremely difficult. I mean extremely difficult," he said of the conditions there.

Cholera was first confirmed in the still earthquake-ravaged nation in October. When Hurricane Tomas hit earlier this month, it piled on the problem. "They're afraid. They're scared. There's nothing happening for them. They don't know where to turn," Volcy described. He calls what he saw "heartbreaking." Volcy said people everywhere were getting sick, while others living in tents lost all they had to flooding.

"People are trying to, of course, keep their hands clean, and try to stay away from that disease. But when you have nowhere else to get your water, you are going to get infected," he explained.

On Sunday, supporters of his organization met to discuss ways to help. Included in that group was Eliane Jean-Baptiste, who lost a cousin and has seen two other relatives hospitalized by cholera. "It has broken their spirit. They cannot drink the water now. They have to find clean water to drink," she said through a translator.

That's why Volcy will go back to Haiti later this month, with as many water filters as he can get his hands on. "If people like me don't go, some people will never have access to safe drinking water," he said.

Volcy estimates the death toll is much higher than what is officially being reported. The United Nations estimates it could climb to around 200,000.

By: Adam Freeman, 10 News

 

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Hope Outreach International
P.O. Box 29
Oneco, FL 34264