Dear Barry ,

Update: Fighting cholera in Zimbabwe

Photo: Mercy Corps staff

Plaxedes Kawocha (far right) contracted cholera along with two of her children. Her daughter required hospitalisation, but all three survived. Mercy Corps is helping contain the deadly disease.

Cholera is a painful disease — one that can turn deadly in just a few hours. Here's how Plaxedes Kawocha, a 39-year-old mother in Zimbabwe, describes her recent bout:

"I struggled to walk and could barely stand upright because of the severe stomach pain. I was vomiting, had no appetite and was weak in the bones. I had no strength."

Plaxedes and two of her children fell victim to this year's cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe, which infected more than 100,000 people and killed thousands. And today, with the rainy season fast approaching, "there are fears of yet another outbreak," according to UNICEF.

You can help us prevent the spread of cholera and other diseases around the world.

Today we're helping contain the spread of cholera in Zimbabwe by restoring clean water to schools and health clinics, rehabilitating public toilets and bathing facilities, getting municipal refuse trucks up and running, and distributing tens of thousands of water purification tablets to at-risk families.

It's part of our worldwide effort to ensure every community has access to clean water and proper sanitation to keep their children healthy.

In Zimbabwe, Mercy Corps and its partners also delivered monthly food packs of Maize meal, flour, cooking oil, peanut butter, beans, and salt to 7,000 families — including Plaxedes's. And we continue to help struggling farmers and refurbish schools in exchange for tuition vouchers for children, including thousands of AIDS orphans.

Please join us in making life safer for families in Zimbabwe and around the world. Give a gift today. Whatever you can send now will be hugely appreciated.

Thank you.