(November 19, 2010 - by Ralph Kurtenbach) A medical team from Ecuador is traveling to the besieged Caribbean country of Haiti amid a death toll from cholera that is careening ever higher.

Up to 200,000 Haitians could contract cholera as the waterborne illness spreads, the U.N. reported on Nov. 12. Haiti's Ministry of Public Health had put the death toll at more than 1,100 deaths earlier this week with nearly 18,400 hospitalizations. But, U.N. aid agencies noted that these statistics are several days old. The true number of deaths and hospitalizations could be even higher.

Earl Hartwig, a Canadian, is leading an HCJB Global Hands team that leaves Quito on Saturday, Nov. 20. He asks that people pray the seven-person team would flex to do whatever they're assigned to by their host, Samaritan's Purse (SP).

Hartwig also desires that "in whatever we do in the long hours and possibly in the disappointing moments when someone dies, that we will shine the light of Jesus to everyone who comes in contact with us."

Two people have died in riots that erupted in the north, as protesters accused U.N. peacekeepers of bringing in the disease. The assertion has been denied by the U.N., but Haiti's health experts have requested an investigation into whether Nepalese peacekeepers introduced a strain of cholera to Haiti which had documented no cases of cholera before October.

Luggage brought in by the HCJB Global Hands team was tightly packed with medicines, but even at nearly 500 pounds of pharmaceuticals they're not able to transport everything requested by SP. They've packed some extra clothing or personal effects into carry-on bags; medicines occupy the rest of their suitcases. Team members with Hartwig include Juanita Buáay, Dr. Manuel Catani, Dr. Mauricio Coronel, Dr. Evelyn Hidalgo, and Ruth Telenchana.

Four previous HCJB Global Hands teams have traveled from Ecuador in 2010. This marks the first trip to Haiti for Telenchana, a French-speaking Ecuadorian nurse. Her prior mission trips to Impfondo, Republic of Congo, for medical work saw her French put to good use. The team represents a cross-section of Ecuador's society: Buáay, a nurse, is Quichua, and Catani, a physician in residency at Hospital Vozandes-Quito (HVQ), is Shuar.

Another HVQ residency physician, Hidalgo, will serve on the team along with Coronel who was mentored in medical missions by HCJB Global family physicians. In addition, Buáay is being mentored through Corrientes, a Latin American missions mobilization initiative directed by Hartwig.

Since January 2010 SP has been involved in different aspects of Haiti's recovery following a devastating earthquake. With the cholera outbreak, SP has shifted its medical efforts to focus solely on treatment of cholera patients and control of the waterborne disease. More than 10,000 SP shelters have been set up across the earthquake-affected areas. The mission has also provided sanitary latrines, water and nutritional training.

Sources: HCJB Global, VOA News, CNN, Samaritan's Purse