Global Voices Information Sheet

Haiti – Cholera Epidemic

Courtesy of www.bbc.co.uk

Cholera

 Cholera is an intestinal infection caused by the bacterium, Vibrio cholerae, and

transmitted through contaminated supplies of food and drinking water.
 An outbreak of cholera can spread quickly in areas with poor sanitation and tainted
drinking water supplies, and usually through the faeces of patients.
 Symptoms include severe diarrhea and vomiting, and children and the elderly are
vulnerable to dehydration as well. Once a person is infected with cholera, the bacteria
can stay in their faeces for up to two weeks.
 Cholera is usually treated with antibiotics, although in severe dehydration cases patients
may need intravenous fluids.
Cholera in Haiti

 Ten months after the earthquake in Haiti, the country is now struggling to recover from an
outbreak of cholera.
 Since October, when the disease was first detected, the Haitian government has
confirmed that more than 15,00 people have died. At the moment, Haiti is facing a
shortage of nurses and doctors, and necessary supplies to stem the epidemic.
 Nearly 28,000 people have been treated in hospital with cholera symptoms, and the
epidemic is spreading twice as fast as had been estimated.
 The United Nations has appealed for $164 million in aid to help Haiti combat the
outbreak. In response, the World Bank has announced a grant of $10 million in
emergency aid to Haiti.
Key Terms

 microorganism – an organism that is too small to be seen by the unaided eye

 epidemic – a widespread outbreak of an infectious disease that affects a large number of
people at the same time
 contamination – introduction of an infectious organism, such as a bacterium or virus,
into food or water, which may then pass to a person
 antibiotics – a drug used to treat infections caused by bacteria and other
microorganisms
 sanitation – the process of keeping drinking water, foods, or anything else with which
people come into contact, free of microorganisms such as bacteria
Global Voices Elementary Educator Resources

Note to Educators:
The following activities are designed to stimulate a current events discussion. Generative in nature,
these questions can be a launching point for additional assignments or research projects.
Teachers are encouraged to adapt these activities to meet the contextual needs of their classroom.

In some cases, reading the article with students may be appropriate, coupled with reviewing the
information sheet to further explore the concepts and contexts being discussed. From here,
teachers can select from the questions provided below. Activities are structured to introduce
students to the issues, then allow them to explore and apply their learnings. Extension and
conclusion activities are included to challenge students and finally, encourage them to reflect on the
issues at hand.

Since these activities are designed as discussions rather than formal lessons, assessment
strategies are not included.

Themes and Course Connections

 Haiti, development, community, solidarity, sustainability, poverty, culture, natural
disasters, human needs, current events, rehabilitation, and change.
 Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, Science and Technology, Language, the Arts.

Materials
 Mural materials: brown craft paper, paint, paintbrushes, markers, glue, scissors, etc.
 Blackboard
 Writing utensils
 Paper
 Global Voices column

Specific Expectations and Learning Goals

Students will:
 Develop and express appropriate responses to issues and problems.
 Reassess their responses to issues on the basis of new information.
 Demonstrate appropriate research skills by compiling a range of data from a wide variety
of print and electronic resources.
 Participate in active group work and class discussions.
 Communicate effectively in written and spoken language or other forms of expression.
 Demonstrate the ability to think critically.
 Develop, express, and defend a position on an issue and explain how to put the ideas
into action.

Knowledge and Understanding

1. Haiti Commons (estimated time: 10 minutes)
a. Ask students to sit in a circle.
b. Explain that you will say a word and then each person will respond with the first
word or statement that comes to mind.
c. Say the word, “Haiti”. Go around the circle to give everyone a chance to respond.

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 d. When the sharing circle is complete, lead a more guided discussion about Haiti
using the following suggested questions:
i. Where is Haiti located?
ii. What language is spoken in Haiti?
iii. What are residents of Haiti called?
iv. What happened in Haiti on January 12, 2010?
v. Had you heard of Haiti before January 12, 2010? If so, what had you
heard about this country?
vi. What are some of the reasons why the damages of the earthquake were
so fatal?
vii. What have you heard about Haiti recently? Are the problems over?

Thinking
1. Guided Reading: Global Voices column (estimated time: 20 minutes)
a. Have students sit in a circle and distribute one copy of the Global Voices column
to each student.
b. Pre-reading steps:
i. Make predictions: ask students to read the title of the column and view
the pictures. After doing so, ask them to make predictions over what the
column is going to be about.
ii. Introduce vocabulary: skim the column finding key vocabulary as well as
difficult words. Ask students to predict the meaning of each word before
explaining it to them.
iii. Prior knowledge: ask students to discuss what they already know about
these topics.
c. Reading steps:
i. Go around the circle and have each student read a section of the column
to the class, giving everyone a turn to read.
ii. As students are reading, offer guidance and coaching by providing
prompts, asking questions, and encouraging attempts at reading strategy
application.
d. Post reading steps:
i. Encourage students to provide a summary of the column in order to
ensure they have understood the series of events.
ii. Ask questions about the text to judge comprehension.

Communication
1. Media Literacy (estimated time: 15 minutes)
a. Divide the class into small groups and distribute chart paper to each group.
b. On the chart paper, ask each group to write the heading of the column in the
center of the page.
c. Creating a word web, ask each group to write all the words that come to mind
after reading the column around the center title.
d. When students have completed their word webs ask them to answer the
following questions in their groups:
i. What is the title of this column?
ii. What is the message of the column?
iii. Who created this message?
iv. What creative techniques are used by the writer to attract my attention?
v. How might other people understand this message differently than me?
vi. What values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in this
message? Which ones are left out?
vii. What statistics or facts are listed in the column?
viii. Why has this message been created?
ix. Do you agree with this message?

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 x. What do you know? What are you unsure of? What would you like to
know?
e. As a class, discuss the students’ word webs as well as their answers to the
above questions. Address the reasons why it is important to understand the
source and potential bias of a website or print resource that offers news
information.

Application
1. Haiti Mural (estimated time: continuous project)
a. Ask students to volunteer details they know about Haitian culture. Write
suggestions on the board.
b. Explain to students that through the tragedy and destruction caused by the
earthquake, Haitian culture still managed to shine through, bringing hope to the
desolate situation. Tell the class that they are going to work together to celebrate
Haitian culture by building a creative visual mural of this culture.
c. Before moving on with the project, ask students the following suggested
questions about their class mural:
i. What is a mural?
ii. What makes a good mural?
iii. What are some of the important components we must include in our
mural? For example, is a title important?
iv. What materials would you like to see used on this mural? For example,
paint, markers, printed pictures, etc?
v. What would you like the mural to tell others in the school?
d. List the following topics on the board: food, language, art, traditional dress, urban
population and lifestyle, rural population and lifestyle, employment, traditional
celebrations, and government.
e. Allow students to choose an area of interest and write their name beside the
topics.
f. Students must begin by researching their chosen topic. When this research is
complete, they must determine how to represent their findings on the class mural
(e.g. if a student is researching language, they may want to paint important
phrases in Haitian mother tongue on the mural).
g. Book library time and encourage students to use the resources available to find
information on their chosen topic.
h. When students have compiled the information they would like to include in their
Haitian culture mural, return to the classroom and lay out the brown craft paper.
i. Encourage the class to work together and let their creativity flow.
j. When the mural is complete ask each student to write a written reflection about
what the mural means to them and what they hope the rest of the school will
learn by viewing the mural.
k. Display the competed mural in a hallway in the school.

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Additional Resources

In addition to the above lesson plans, you may want to share some additional resources with your
students. Listed below are some links to useful online resources:

 Free The Children in Haiti http://www.freethechildren.com/donate/haiti-earthquake-relief-

fund/
 Adopt-A-Village in Haiti
http://www.freethechildren.com/whatwedo/international/countries/haiti/
 Craig’s Haiti Blog:
- Crisis in Haiti written January 17, 2010
- Haitians are True Heroes written January 18, 2010
- The Voice of Haiti written January 19, 2010
- A Network of Hope written January 19, 2010
- The Road to Help written January 20, 2010
- Aftershock Causes More Uncertainty written January 20, 2010
- No End in Sight written January 21, 2010
- We Are All Haitian written January 22, 2010
 CIA World Fact Book: Haiti - https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/ha.html
 Partners In Health http://www.pih.org/pages/haiti/
 UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti.html

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