Haiti: puppets fighting cholera
We’ve teamed up with the creators of the Muppets and Fraggle Rock to help fight cholera in Haiti.
Please pray for the people of Haiti>>
Since the 2010 earthquake, almost 8,000 Haitians have died of cholera, and hundreds of thousands more have contracted the disease.
We’ve joined forces with our partner Catholic Relief Services and with No Strings – a UK charity working with the creators of The Muppets and Fraggle Rock – to teach children in Haiti about the importance of water and sanitation.
In hard-to-reach neighbourhoods like Solino, an area of Port-au-Prince that the Haitian government considers too dangerous to work in, children are shown a specially made animation called The Amazing Machine, which explains how clean water and good hygiene can prevent the spread of disease.
The children then act out what they’ve learned, using puppets made from rubbish or everyday items.
CAFOD’s Catherine Cowley says: “It is a real privilege to see groups of children watching the film with their mouths agape, then creating their own version of the characters with old socks, twigs and coke bottles, before belting out the ridiculously catchy theme song. It’s inspiring to see children learning about a serious issue in such an engaging way.”
“I have never had cholera,” said 12-year-old Bazil after watching the film, “but I have been sick and I think it was because of bad water. Now I understand I must wash my hands and drink clean water. I’m going to teach everyone at home about what I’ve learned today in class.”
Preventing the spread of disease has been a major part of our emergency response programme since the earthquake struck in 2010. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, we helped build shower-blocks, latrines and safe water supplies for more than 50,000 people living in camps. As people returned to more permanent housing, we ensured that they had latrines and safe water alongside their shelters. We have also provided new cholera units and specialist water systems in seven hospitals.
