Cholera Woes

Never again do I want to experience the throws of cholera. The fateful time was right after my first trip to Sudan.

When the U.N. flight accidentally misplaced our food for four days and we had to live off of the local food, I had been totally fine. But we traveled to another region where, unbeknownst to us, there was an outbreak of cholera I was toast.

In an effort to be polite, I broke a cardinal rule of traveling. I ate some "intestine soup" with little floating macaronis in it that had been sitting out all day while we were at church. A few bites were enough to do me in...

I'll spare you the gory details, but the ensuing few days were some of the roughest I've ever experienced in a foreign country. By then, I was in Kenya with access to medical care.

And, so, it is with absolute empathy that I can say that we need to pray for the people of Zimbabwe. They are undergoing a horrendous outbreak of cholera.

More than 300 have died.

Thousands more are varying degrees of sick.

And with the rainy season on the way, the outbreak could easily become an epidemic.

With reports coming out about people forced to eat bugs and undigested grain out of cow dung, it's no wonder people are getting sick. Minus proper nutrition and medication, there's little hope of breaking the cholera cycle.

There's a very good story by Ofeibea Quist-Arcton on National Public Radio this morning. Take a few minutes to listen to it. You'll be glad you did.   Click here to listen to her story.