Jerry

By the way ... I'd say that if your friend has any problem at all - he needs to think about clean water. That is ... clean water for himself. It is likely that water could be scarce in Haiti after this earthquake, and purified water will not be easy to obtain. It is possible that the normal supplies of water have been disrupted, and there could be a risk of cholera. The local environment will be a risk because of the putrid decay of all the bodies that are trapped in the rubble. Clean up is unlikely to happen for a long time.

In these circumstances, your friend needs a good water filter. Almost anything (virus, harmful organism) could be in the water down there. I would strongly recommend that he also boil ALL water before drinking ... if it has come from natural sources.

People in the USA tend to assume that water purification technology works well everywhere. But I've had a lot of headaches with water sterlization. None of the common solutions works well at all (except boiling). Water purifiers that are available off the shelf in places like REI and Sports Chalet (outdoors stores) can filter out viruses. But the filters tend to clog up rapidly if there is any dirt in the water. In the third world, there is ALWAYS dirt in the water!

Likewise, purification tablets can work (iodine and chlorine) but they make the water taste terrible. Then people won't drink it - so they start getting dehydrated. I am talking about volunteers from 1'st world countries, not people in the 3'rd world. Haitians will drink any clean water available - bad taste or not. But we have become very spoiled with the abundance of pure fresh-tasting water, so volunteers from the USA and the UK often won't drink enough water that is purified by iodine or chlorine. Eventually they get sick because of long-term dehydration.

Your friend probably needs a good small stove, fuel, and a pot for boiling water. Unfortunately, fuel for the stove cannot be shipped by conventional airlines and it may be hard to come by in Haiti. THERE'S the problem!!!

This particular subject - availability of clean drinking water in a large-scale disaster zone - is a major headache. It is a good "personal challenge" for all the members of this forum ... in terms of coming up with possible solutions.


other Pete