Chikungouya epidemic

Juvs, far right with her family

We had heard about Chikungouya fever and we prepared by coming with lots of insect repellent and mosquito nets.  These have been very effective.  The mosquitoes are not really bothering us, but the same cannot be said of the people here. It seems no family is unaffected.  My godchild, Juva, and her entire family have had it.  Her mother, Alina is still recovering.  It starts with a high fever and a rash and progresses to a kind of arthritis in the joints.  This pain can last anywhere from a few days to months.  We visited Juva and her family in their home.  Alina was walking with a kind of shuffle because of pain in her ankles and knees.  The Haitian people, at least the poor which is most of Haiti, are completely defenseless against this virus.  There is no real treatment except palliative care with Tylenol, and there is no vaccine to prevent it.  Yet Haitians just accept it as a matter of course.

It is rainy season but actually this has been a relatively dry rainy season which is good for us (roads in good condition and fewer mosquitoes) but probably bad for Haiti.  Some of the land is as dry and dusty as during the dry season.  Fields that should be under cultivation are not being cultivated.  Despite all of the problems, people have a certain kind of joy that is hard to describe.  They have a kind of joy in being alive, in being together with others, with a deep sense of God's presence in their lives.  As I sit here typing, a group is out in the gazebo preparing for tomorrow's liturgy followed by the preschool graduation.  They are singing together, a very common occurrence here in Haiti.  In the background is another group practicing their music in the church.  Beautiful!