"Life is Hard for Us": Drinking Water at the Epicenter of Cholera in Haiti

Abstract

Guillene, along with her husband and young son, returned to Meye, Haiti from the Dominican Republic shortly before the cholera epidemic began, the origin of which lay just down the road: the United Nations military base. Cholera, a waterborne disease, would spread rapidly throughout the country, hitting poor rural communities like Meye especially hard. I am creating a short ethnographic film that follows the lives and stories of Guillene and her family, whom I met this past summer while conducting fieldwork in Central Haiti, following their daily struggle to access safe water. Through their narrative, I will also tell the story of the cholera epidemic and its injustices and advocate for the human right to water. The film will not only be screened to raise awareness about this global issue, but also to raise money that would go toward improving water access in Meye, Haiti—specifically, partnering with a local organization to drill a pump or build a water catchment at the spring.