Hit by a catastrophic earthquake in January 2010, the people of Haiti are now being confronted with new threat. The BBC has reported that cholera, a water-borne disease that affects mainly children and elderly, has taken the lives of nearly 300 people and infected more than 3,600. Transmitted by infected water and food, health experts link the outbreak to poor sanitary conditions. Bad sanitation and hygiene make the camps, set up for those 1.3 million quake survivors, much more susceptible to the disease.
Six months following the devastating quake, Klinge has donated a refrigerated container system and an external generator set to an orphanage in Haiti for the storage of medicine and food. With the cholera outbreak spreading, the need for more aid is critical.
Klinge is reviving their partnership with Astrotech Space Operations to donate a second refrigerated container system and a second external generator set to the orphanage in Haiti. The 20ft refrigerated container system will be used to store uncontaminated food and water as well as medical supplies. Klinge’s picture frame model refrigeration unit offers maximum cargo space for food and medicine. The external generator set will be used to power the refrigeration unit in case of loss of power during a hurricane or other emergency situations.
Air Mobile Ministries, a non-profit relief organization, is offering to transport the refrigerated container system and generator set from Klinge’s facility in Pennsylvania to Astrotech in Florida free of charge. The equipment will be delivered to Haiti from this location.
Henrik Klinge, company president and owner, said: “The cholera outbreak in Haiti has made an already terrible situation worse. It is our hope that this donation will provide relief to the orphanage.”