HWC EARTHQUAKE Response and Restoration: One Month Later
Our overall response is to support HWC members by continuing to provide technical assistance, addressing immediate needs and providing programming support. We understand the importance of having a “a seat at the table” and participate in various coalitions and task forces. We recently signed The Pledge for Standards to ensure equitable implementation of programming in Haiti and a better response to the recent earthquake as well as short and long term projects.
We believe the Haitian people know what they want and need. With the strength of our network in Haiti, within one week of the earthquake we identified and/or provided support to women led organizations with cash assistance. The support allowed access to food, clean water, a bridge for payment of salaries or stipends and for some local merchants to start up their businesses again.
As we build our network of members in Haiti we are happy to have provided support to the following organizations:
- Foundation for Advancement of Haitian Midwives
- Community 2 Community, Petite Goave
- Fleur de Vie, Anse A Veau
- Haiti Diaspora Resource Group
- Fondation Julia et Jade, Jeremie
- Organizasyon Fanm Jabrun, Chantal
- Fondation Toya, Acquin
- Haiti Adolescent Girls Network, Grand Anse
- Radikal, Les Cayes
WHAT’S NEXT:
Addressing the Immediate Sexual and Reproductive Needs of Women
We understand the needs during this time of crisis and know the unmet needs of women’s sexual and reproductive health. As such, we will partner with PROFAMIL and FONDATION TOYA to provide these services as well as GBV screening and support through a “pop up” medical clinic during the month of October.
NANCY DORSINVILLE,
HWC Advisor
April 1, 1956 – April 11, 2021
In Memoriam
NANCY DORSINVILLE,
HWC Advisor
April 1, 1956 – April 11, 2021
Forever in our Minds and in our Hearts
As an anthropologist Nancy Dorsinville lectured on women’s health and violence at the Harvard School of Public Health, her research covering domestic violence as a public health concern among Haitian women. She was the Director of Academic Advisement in Global Health at the Harvard Initiative for Global Health, was an affiliate at the Harvard Program in International Analysis and Conflict Resolution, and a faculty advisor for the Harvard Haitian Students Alliance. Her most recent project at Columbia focused on a “new narrative” amplifying the voices of Hatian-Americans, including highlighting enduring contributions from Haitian culture to the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, and Black Identity. May she rest in eternal peace.
HWC Intern
Spotlight
MARTHA JULEMIS
Cellular Molecular Biology Candidate, Kean University
The list of independent and resilient women that I’ve been surrounded by who were and still are determined to provide a better lifestyle for myself than the ones they’ve lived continues to grow. Approaching the age of 86, my grandmother was unable to read and write. To her, my writings were of alien scripts, and I spoke of a foreign language unknown to her mother tongue. As ethnic grandmothers do, she eventually diversified my vocabulary and, in a way, we became each other’s translators. Not known to many but, a small village in Haiti by the name of Ti Berard is where her story began. She grew up in a time and place where she was subjected to a way of life that only prepared her to handle domestic duties but most importantly raise her thirteen children. The roles of men and women were fixed, and she was left powerless unable to challenge those societal and cultural norms. The decisions that determined her future were made disregarding her needs and the dreams she wanted to pursue in life. This is a commonly seen pattern, that I have observed in young women in Haiti. To this day, a couple family members of mine reside in the village my grandmother always knew as home which continues to be prominently nurtured by women.
I decided to become an intern for The Haitian Women’s Collective because of their continuous efforts to break the barriers that my grandmother once faced. The HWC have established a mission and set initiatives to provide resources for women/girls of all ages to ensure they are given opportunities to reach their greatest potential. Apart from the tasks and projects they manage every day, the collective is proactively seeking out ways to improve areas that could better serve communities in Haiti that are in need. I’ve witnessed leadership, development, and excellence amongst the members of the collective.
My list of strong women continues to grow with them, and I aspire to share their vision with others throughout all encounters of my life. — MARTHA JULEMIS
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