European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 21, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Rwandan refugees wait for water at coma s Camp Kib Umba where red Cross or. Michael Pelly said it s the water that s saving  death and Hope from the cover water cleaning and delivery system to carry it to the Camps they were surrounded with death. At Lake Kiva three dozen americans from task Force 51 set up their water purification site sur rounded by piles of the dead soldiers said. Bodies Lay in piles at the Edge of the american base Camp next to Goma Airport. Countless More Lay with the life dried out of them As american soldiers rushed the first of hundreds of thousands of Gallons of water to Camp Kib Umba. One Driver spec. Richard Hanson said he counted 60 bodies before he stopped counting. By the second week the dying from dehydration and disease dropped from nearly 2,000 to several Hundred a Day. Relief workers attributed the decline to the arrival of lifesaving water. I Don t care who the hell brings it. It s the water that s saving lives said red Cross or. Michael Pelly at Kib Umba. Moving into the third week his colleague or. John Parker added a cautious note of optimism. We be got body boys now he said referring to the teams of locals hired to pick up bodies off the Roadside. Relief agents have told the refugees to take their dead to the Edge of the Road and leave them for pickup. American soldiers of the 94th engr in used their heavy equipment to break into lava Rock or loaned Earth movers to the French forces who buried the. Dead in mass Graves. Advances in an Avalanche of adversity Are measured by such Small improvements Parker said about the body disposal. They won t Lay there More than a Day or two  Parker an australian described the first Days at Kib Umba As  some 350,000 people pressed onto a four mile stretch of Jungle Roadside with at least one falling ill every minute. Parker and half a dozen nurses changed their gloves once in a while just on general principle he said. A week later his workers were falling ill. Most take a few Days off sick and then return they worked in 12 hours of Daylight in roped off areas called dispensaries. The Camp has a food distribution Point two dispensaries and a third being built and a water Point where american soldiers truck water to storage tanks. The tanks hold about 30,000 Gallons of water. The soldiers pump in water on one Side and the refugees crowd around dozens of spigots on the other Side and fill plastic containers. The storage tanks Are never filled one Relief worker said. At the end of the second week since the Ameri cans joined Relief efforts Parker s dispensary was treating 2,500 dehydrated people a Day. Most were offered an electrolyte fluid that they could take orally to stabilize them. With plenty of water even Chol Era victims could be saved within a few Days. The cholera epidemic waned shortly after the americans arrived. Doctors braced themselves for the flood of dysentery that would inevitably accompany the Rainy season in a few weeks. The deadly disease is spread by flies and focal contamination of food and water. Two cases of meningitis were confirmed and eight More were suspected according to . Medical officials. This High fever illness is transmitted by air borne droplets but would be More Likely to spread in the wet season. After a few Days of rain Relief workers predicted the Camps would become swimming pools of  the spread of disease was so prevalent that some officials feared the epidemics could spread to the Gray backed Mountain gorillas native to the Region. At Parker s dispensary meanwhile humans too ill to speak Lay on the ground on a Green plastic Sheet the size of a backyard Patio. His nurses worked with plastic tubes and adjusted in bottles dozens of patients with uncontrollable diarrhoea Lay in their own waste. ".-. By 10 o clock the nurses Are kneeling in it Par Ker said. But there is no smell for those who Are focused on saving people the doctor rolled Over a Small girl who was dehydrated and comatose. Her big White Teeth once part of a smile poked out of her Mouth. Her eyes were open but saw nothing. The Black of her african skin was Gray from the volcanic dust that covers the lava Mounds. He was Able to tend to her for Only a moment be fore he was called to a woman holding her 7-year-old in line for water at Camp Kib Umba. Parker took the Limp child in his arms. I have a 4 year old who weighs More than this he said. He was interrupted by a Man who pulling at his Arm. My wife he said. My  ill be with you in two minutes Parker said  Hack. The Man pained by the delay looked into his eyes. And waited. Page 4 sunday August 21. 1994