Four-month-old twins and a two-year-old; three children under three sums it up for me. On May 10th of this year, I gave birth to twin girls in the Dominican Republic. YES, the Dominican Republic. This is also where I gave birth to my oldest daughter. Such excitement, joy, and happiness were created from growing my family.
After three months of parental leave, I have returned to my new normal life, home in Haiti, and back at work. Lately, I have been reflecting quite a bit on how fortunate I am to be able to travel 150 miles in the comfort of my air-conditioned SUV, to another country, simply to give birth in a modern health facility. This reality is a luxury in northern Haiti. This is also why I was so looking forward to coming back and continuing the various projects we have going on at C2C so that someday we can make my luxury a norm in Haiti.
Unfortunately, it is easier said than done. Today, the country is currently going through severe civil unrest. The people are frustrated.
Frustrated that there is a constant lack of fuel.
Frustrated that the cost of living is continuously increasing.
Frustrated that some foods have surpassed a 50% increase in price.
Frustrated that the reopening of schools has been delayed until October.
Frustrated that the government is not doing anything to lessen this burden on its people.
Source: Reuters
For the past two weeks, we have had protests, roadblocks, and barricades all over the country as people demand change and improvement to the current situation. We had to, unfortunately, close some of our clinics for several days due to a lack of security. It is often unsafe for employees and patients to travel to our clinics. We have had to be very vigilant with fuel since there has not been any in the gas stations for weeks. We have had to pay transportation stipends to our employees because they were struggling to afford to come to work due to the high inflation of public transportation prices.
I see and understand the struggle that the vast majority of the population is going through. I agree there needs to be change, but unfortunately, voices are only heard when violence, vandalism, and riots are part of the equation.
Source: Reuters
I was looking forward to coming back home to Haiti, getting back to work, and being part of a system of change: a system focused on improving health care for the Haitian population. At C2C, we make it an obligation to provide every patient that enters our clinics with the highest quality of care and every person we meet in the community with the resources they need to better their health.
As we pass through this difficult period in Haiti, I am working toward the vision that one day all women will feel secure and comfortable giving birth in Haiti. We will work tirelessly to accomplish getting over 85% of all children fully vaccinated and to reduce the burden of the most common communicable and noncommunicable diseases.
Thank you for supporting C2C’s work no matter what is going on in Haiti.
Without our loyal donors, we would not be able to provide quality care to thousands of people.
Two years ago, life in Haiti seemed normal yet still consisted of many struggles, from poverty and lack of education & healthcare, to political uprisings and a continuously crashing economy. Fast forward to 2020, and still the same struggles endured amid a global pandemic. The unknown loomed in a country with clustered public transportation, where pickup trucks are often filled with 20+ people packed together. How do people practice social distancing in such an environment? Well, they simply cannot. Out of necessity, life had to continue without the possibility of precautions for the masses. A lucky few could afford social distancing—which remains a luxury.
Today, one year since the first cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Haiti and the first wave began, the country has somehow been spared the worst. In a population of almost 12 million people, less than 13,000 positive cases have been confirmed and 250 deaths. In contrast, Haiti’s neighbor, the Dominican Republic, has faced 247,000 positive cases and more than 3,000 deaths. The reason for this drastic difference remains unknown. We can speculate that it is due to Haiti’s very young population, where fifty percent are under 23 years of age. We can make guesses that herbal medicine has treated unknown cases or we rapidly reached herd immunity. We can continue to speculate but the truth is that we still do not know.
Luckily for us at C2C, we do have the resources to keep our staff and patients safe. We are able to provide an environment where social distancing is practiced, hand-washing stations are available, and educational material on prevention and mitigation of COVID-19 are shared. Within the past year, behavior towards the virus has gone from people instigating violence or harm towards individuals who admitted to having symptoms and institutions trying to protect the population from the spread of the virus, to people believing that there is no more COVID-19 in Haiti. All of these thoughts and ideas were driven by lack of knowledge about the virus. From day one, C2C has worked to bring awareness to the issue and educate our patient population on the precautions that should be taken to reduce the spread. We know that health education plays an important role in fighting the COVID-19 myths that erode trust in healthcare. For that reason, we continue to educate our patients and the communities we serve until this day.
During the summer of 2020, the government lifted all restrictions related to the virus and the country got back to ‘normal’ life. However, at C2C we felt that we needed to continue to provide the necessary resources to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Together, we worked with our community leaders to create a safer environment for our patient population when it came to their daily routines. We provided more than 50 buckets to be used as washing stations that were placed at churches, school entrances, and in areas with a high population density. As part of our continued campaign to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we are currently still installing more than 100 tippy taps in the communities we serve.
The reality is that we are still going through a global pandemic and no matter what the data says, precautions still need to be taken daily. We have come a long way since the first case was reported in the country exactly a year ago and we are proud to have kept all our clinic doors open to serve the communities that need it the most.
As we continue to fight COVID-19, our mission remains unchanged. We will continue to ensure that vulnerable communities in Haiti have access to high-quality care to safeguard the health of themselves and their families.
Thank you to everyone who has supported C2C during this difficult time. Our work would not be possible without your generosity! To learn more about how your donations are protecting our communities against the threat of COVID-19 and to continue to help us do this necessary work, click here!
March 8th is International Women’s Day, and all month long we are celebrating the contributions that women have made, both in our clinics and throughout Haiti’s history. This week gives us a chance to reflect on the ways that all of our lives have been shaped by the actions of women, as well as an opportunity to expand our knowledge. Women have been at the forefront of countless struggles for hundreds of years, but their contributions are not often proportionally recognized. We’d like to take this opportunity to celebrate the women shaping Haiti’s history and invite further engagement with the wealth of wisdom that Haitian women have to offer.
Women are the backbone of Haitian society and the lifeblood of its economy. Two-thirds of Haitian women participate in the workforce, working hard to build better lives for their families and their communities. The work that women do is integral to the Haitian economy, both for farmers producing goods and consumers buying food. Women involved in the agricultural supply chain, called madan saras, purchase food from farmers and sell it in markets. Madan saras work cooperatively with family members and distribute their earnings for the betterment of their community. Their work is not supported or protected in any official capacity. But without them, Haiti’s agricultural supply chain would not function.
Photo source: Madan Sara (film), https://www.madansarafilm.com/
In addition to their central position in the economy, women have spearheaded movements for the betterment of Haiti since its inception. Adbaraya Toya (later known as Victoria Montou) was a member of an all-women military regimen in Benin before she was abducted and enslaved in Saint-Domingue, now Haiti. She lived on the same plantation as Jean-Jacques Dessalines (leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first ruler of Haiti), and she taught him and many others combat skills and commanded her own brigade in the Revolution. Countless other women played important roles in the Haitian Revolution, a revolt that had rippling impacts throughout the world, weakening the global system of slavery.
As women were so central to Haiti’s foundation, it makes sense that the country would later have a strong feminist movement. This movement began in the 1930s and was shaped by brilliant writers, suffragists, and activists. Alice Garoutte was a suffragist and women’s rights advocate who formed a book club that became a political organization. The group fought against the United States’ soldiers’ use of gender-based violence as a weapon of terror against Haitian women. Yvonne-Hakim Rimpel founded Haiti’s first feminist organization and first feminist newspaper.
Women are trailblazers across sectors of Haitian society, entering new spaces to advocate for their rights and communities. Ertha Pascal-Trouillot was the first woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice in Haiti before serving as the country’s first woman as provisional president in 1990. Haiti has also had two women serve as prime minister. In the medical field, Yvonne Sylvain was the first woman in Haiti to become a medical doctor in 1940. Driven by her desire to serve her country, she studied obstetrics and gynecology and delivered healthcare to Haitian women throughout her life.
Magalie Marcelin, Haitian feminist, lawyer, and actress. Image source.
Women’s movements in Haiti have experienced disruptions and destabilization, both from natural disasters and political opponents. Many feminist writers and scholars were exiled during the Duvalier dictatorship or endured retaliatory brutality for their criticism of the dynasty, including Yvonne Hakim-Rimpel and Maryse Vieux-Chauvet. The 2010 earthquake in Haiti claimed the lives of prominent women’s rights activists, including Magalie Marcelin, Myriam Merlet, and Anne Marie Coriolan. Any catastrophe will reveal and exacerbate the inequities that are already present in a society, and the earthquake was a prime example of this. The earthquake jeopardized women’s financial security, as many women are involved in the formal economy and experience greater economic instability than men. Women were also more likely to seek refuge in internally displaced person camps, where they are at risk for gender-based violence.
Still, Haitian women continue to organize for justice and collective liberation in Haiti. The #PetroCaribeChallenge, a social media movement, is a great example of this. Countless Haitians, including women, stood against corruption and misappropriation of aid funding. It is important to remember, especially as political turmoil continues in Haiti, that what outsiders may see as unending unrest is an organized rebellion by Haitian people for self-determination and a better future.
In addition to being activists, scholars, and businesswomen, women are the foundation of public health in Haiti. We’ve long understood a mother’s health as one of the primary influences on a child’s health. Mothers in Haiti face high rates of maternal and infant mortality due in large part to the inaccessibility of perinatal care. The impacts of poor maternal health ripples throughout populations and generations, influencing public health outcomes and economic potential.
We focus on women’s health at C2C to improve life and generational health outcomes in the communities we serve. Our community clinics directly address the needs of women and their families through our vaccination, malnutrition, and maternal health programs. Often, mothers are the ones bringing their children to our clinics and taking an active role in protecting their child’s health. We are also committed to women’s empowerment through our community and reproductive health education programs. These programs give women the tools to make empowered, informed choices about their life and health outcomes. We strive to provide holistic healthcare and health education to women in Haiti to improve their lives and the lives of their families in the long term.
As an organization operating in Haiti, it’s important we learn this history and acknowledge the ways in which Haitian women set the groundwork for our organization and continue to make our work possible. Haitian women are the backbone of our organization. They are the midwives caring for pregnant women, the community health workers educating their communities, and the medical professionals who make our daily operations possible. The women who give care in our clinics save lives every day with their unique contributions to our organization. Our work stands on the shoulders of the countless women who have fought and organized, won and lost.
Edelie Jean-Pierre joined C2C in 2016, when she managed the malnutrition program and was later promoted to community health supervisor. Due to her leadership and dedication, she was promoted to clinic manager, allowing her to put years of experience and knowledge to use supporting and growing the clinic network.
We honor the contributions that women make to C2C by engaging women in leadership at all levels of our organization. Our clinics create stable, well-paying jobs for women in rural areas. A number of our leaders began at C2C as nurses or staff members and advanced to leadership positions in clinic management with their initiative, talent, and passion. We facilitate professional development whenever possible and encourage the talented women on our staff to advance their skills and careers.
Our celebration of women’s history and contributions will not end this week or this month. We are working to expand our maternal health program to other clinics this year so that Haitian mothers can get the prenatal and infant care that they deserve. We are promoting women to leadership positions and working with our staff and communities to better serve women and children. Our goal is not just to create representation but to facilitate meaningful involvement from those most closely impacted by health disparities in Haiti, and those so often on the frontlines fighting for a brighter future.
Click here to learn more about our plan to support even more women in our communities by expanding our maternal healthcare program.
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