Haitian women, left homeless by quake, fear rape
Issued on: 25/08/2021 -
Haitian women forced to live in makeshift camp after August's powerful earthquake are afraid for their safety Richard PIERRIN AFP
Les Cayes (Haiti) (AFP)
Vesta Guerrier survived Haiti's massive earthquake this month but it flattened her home and she has since been living at a makeshift camp with the fear she could be raped at any time.
"We're not safe," she told AFP, echoing the worry of other Haitian women all too aware of the sexual violence that has followed the disaster-plagued nation's previous calamities.
Home for Guerrier, her husband and three children was a flimsy shelter made of sticks and plastic sheets at a sports center in the hard-hit town of Les Cayes, on the peninsula southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince.
"Anything can happen to us," said Guerrier, 48. "Especially at night, anybody can enter the camp."
The 7.2-magnitude quake that struck on August 14 killed over 2,200 people but also destroyed or heavily damaged tens of thousands of homes in a nation still recovering from 2010's devastating quake.
After the tremor 11 years ago, which killed over 200,000 people, some survivors spent years in makeshift shelters where victims were assaulted by armed men and gangs of youths who roamed the poorly lit, overcrowded camps after dark.
More than 250 cases of rape were recorded in the roughly five months after the 2010 disaster, according to a 2011 Amnesty International report that noted many advocacy groups considered that a fraction of the true number.
About 200 people were living at the same camp as Guerrier, where privacy is next to impossible.
Because of her worries about being attacked, Guerrier does not entirely remove her clothing to bathe and always waits until dark to wash so that others cannot see her.
When light does fall on her in the darkness of the camp she is left wondering if it's just one of her neighbors, or if it's "someone who wants to do what he wants to do," she added.
There were no functioning toilets at the site, which makes Guerrier afraid and embarrassed because "people can see you from every direction."
Les Cayes (Haiti) (AFP)
Vesta Guerrier survived Haiti's massive earthquake this month but it flattened her home and she has since been living at a makeshift camp with the fear she could be raped at any time.
"We're not safe," she told AFP, echoing the worry of other Haitian women all too aware of the sexual violence that has followed the disaster-plagued nation's previous calamities.
Home for Guerrier, her husband and three children was a flimsy shelter made of sticks and plastic sheets at a sports center in the hard-hit town of Les Cayes, on the peninsula southwest of the capital Port-au-Prince.
"Anything can happen to us," said Guerrier, 48. "Especially at night, anybody can enter the camp."
The 7.2-magnitude quake that struck on August 14 killed over 2,200 people but also destroyed or heavily damaged tens of thousands of homes in a nation still recovering from 2010's devastating quake.
After the tremor 11 years ago, which killed over 200,000 people, some survivors spent years in makeshift shelters where victims were assaulted by armed men and gangs of youths who roamed the poorly lit, overcrowded camps after dark.
More than 250 cases of rape were recorded in the roughly five months after the 2010 disaster, according to a 2011 Amnesty International report that noted many advocacy groups considered that a fraction of the true number.
About 200 people were living at the same camp as Guerrier, where privacy is next to impossible.
Because of her worries about being attacked, Guerrier does not entirely remove her clothing to bathe and always waits until dark to wash so that others cannot see her.
When light does fall on her in the darkness of the camp she is left wondering if it's just one of her neighbors, or if it's "someone who wants to do what he wants to do," she added.
There were no functioning toilets at the site, which makes Guerrier afraid and embarrassed because "people can see you from every direction."
Vesta Guerrier lives in a makeshift camp where there are no working toilets and no privacy Richard Pierrin AFP
"Only the girls can understand what I'm telling you. We women and the little ones who are here, we suffer a lot," she said.
- 'Our souls are not here' -
Other evacuees at the camp also revealed their fears.
"We are afraid, we are really afraid for our children. We need tents so we can go back to living at home with our families," said Francise Dorismond, who is three months pregnant.
Another makeshift camp has popped up a short distance away from the main site due to the risks of attacks.
Pastor Milfort Roosevelt said "the most vulnerable" have been placed there.
"We protect the young girls. In the evening, we have set up a security team that patrols throughout the night and ensures that no young men commit violence against these women," explained the 31-year-old.
"Only the girls can understand what I'm telling you. We women and the little ones who are here, we suffer a lot," she said.
- 'Our souls are not here' -
Other evacuees at the camp also revealed their fears.
"We are afraid, we are really afraid for our children. We need tents so we can go back to living at home with our families," said Francise Dorismond, who is three months pregnant.
Another makeshift camp has popped up a short distance away from the main site due to the risks of attacks.
Pastor Milfort Roosevelt said "the most vulnerable" have been placed there.
"We protect the young girls. In the evening, we have set up a security team that patrols throughout the night and ensures that no young men commit violence against these women," explained the 31-year-old.
Survivors of Haiti's deadly August quake are left wondering if they will be attacked in the camps where they have taken shelter Richard Pierrin AFP
In the ruins of a former nightclub destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, dozens of people were taking shelter in a tangle of sheets and tarps strung between walls.
In the middle of this maze, young mother Jasmine Noel tried to make make a bed for her 22-day-old baby to sleep in.
"The night of the earthquake, I was going to sleep on the field next door but they told me that with my baby, it was not right so they welcomed me here," said Noel.
"Some people always try to take advantage of these kind of moments to do wrong," she said, adding that her suffering makes it feel like she is no longer "really living."
"Our bodies are here, yes, but our souls are not," said Noel, hoping her mother, a street vendor, would have made enough that day to buy food for them.
© 2021 AFP
In the ruins of a former nightclub destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, dozens of people were taking shelter in a tangle of sheets and tarps strung between walls.
In the middle of this maze, young mother Jasmine Noel tried to make make a bed for her 22-day-old baby to sleep in.
"The night of the earthquake, I was going to sleep on the field next door but they told me that with my baby, it was not right so they welcomed me here," said Noel.
"Some people always try to take advantage of these kind of moments to do wrong," she said, adding that her suffering makes it feel like she is no longer "really living."
"Our bodies are here, yes, but our souls are not," said Noel, hoping her mother, a street vendor, would have made enough that day to buy food for them.
© 2021 AFP
Earthquake aid flowing after Haiti gang truce opens up highway
For the first time in months, traffic is moving on a key road through a gang-ravaged neighbourhood near Port-au-Prince.
Police prepare to secure an area in order to distribute humanitarian aid, in Maniche, Haiti, August 24, 2021 [Matias Delacroix/AP Photo]
By Lister Lim
25 Aug 2021
Aid trucks movements are safer this week from the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince to areas destroyed by last week’s earthquake thanks to a gang leader calling a truce to help relief efforts.
The death toll from the August 14, 7.2-magnitude quake surpassed 2,200, with more than 340 still missing.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
By Lister Lim
25 Aug 2021
Aid trucks movements are safer this week from the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince to areas destroyed by last week’s earthquake thanks to a gang leader calling a truce to help relief efforts.
The death toll from the August 14, 7.2-magnitude quake surpassed 2,200, with more than 340 still missing.
‘We need help’: Haiti earthquake survivors lack food, shelter
Aid to the earthquake-battered communities in the island’s Southwest has mostly been transported by air due to security concerns as gang violence has flared in the outskirts of Haiti’s capital and prevented national and international efforts to transport essential supplies.
All ground transport seeking to reach the affected areas must travel along a highway that passes through the gang-ravaged Martissant neighbourhood west of Port-au-Prince.
Jimmy Cherizier, who goes by the name “Barbecue” and is a leader of the G9 Revolutionary Forces gang, told Al Jazeera peace had broken out in Martissant and aid was being allowed to flow.
“We know actually that the victims need water, need food, that they need sanitary kits.”
“Do your best to help. Your help will be very appreciated. What we want is to help our brothers and sisters that are in a very difficult situation after the earthquake, that’s why we say, ‘better to give little than nothing,’” he said.
The neighbourhood has been a bloody battleground between two rivals, the Ti Lapli and the Krisla gangs. But last Friday, Prime Minister Ariel Henry told Al Jazeera the situation had improved after the gangs called a truce to let aid pass through. Al Jazeera producer Jeremy Dupin confirmed this development when he spoke to Cherizier.
At the same time, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other organisations partners are urgently working to distribute aid to people in need of assistance. The UN World Food Program (WFP) is transporting 830 metric tonnes of USAID food supplies – enough to feed more than 62,000 people for one month – from Port-au-Prince and distributing it to affected areas.
Tim Callaghan, USAID Assistance Response Team leader, told Al Jazeera planning, coordination and the ‘last mile distribution’ of aid into the earthquake zone were currently underway. This last step in getting aid to affected people can prove to be difficult.
“If you show up with a truckload of food and you don’t have a plan; you haven’t coordinated that with the local authorities and the local police, you can see some things where people will surround the truck, because again, what I’ve seen so far is that most people just want help. They want it quickly,” said Callaghan.
Al Jazeera was on hand to witness as aid trucks travelled through Martissant, and traffic began to flow in a way the area hasn’t seen in months.
Those trucks are bringing aid that is desperately needed by earthquake survivors living in the small towns nestled deep in the mountains of the Tiburon peninsula.
In the department of Grand’Anse, near the town of Duchity, about 100 farmers are living alongside a highway in slender tents constructed with wooden poles and bedsheets. The devastating quake destroyed their homes, crops, and the deep concrete-lined holes used to collect and store rainwater.
Evelya Michele, a mother of five living in the encampment, said, “we are here with our children; I don’t know how many, but we need to feed them, we need food, water, dress. They are crying because they are hungry and thirsty. We need medication, and now we use this place as a shelter, then we really need help to feed our children ourselves.”
Aid to the earthquake-battered communities in the island’s Southwest has mostly been transported by air due to security concerns as gang violence has flared in the outskirts of Haiti’s capital and prevented national and international efforts to transport essential supplies.
All ground transport seeking to reach the affected areas must travel along a highway that passes through the gang-ravaged Martissant neighbourhood west of Port-au-Prince.
Jimmy Cherizier, who goes by the name “Barbecue” and is a leader of the G9 Revolutionary Forces gang, told Al Jazeera peace had broken out in Martissant and aid was being allowed to flow.
“We know actually that the victims need water, need food, that they need sanitary kits.”
“Do your best to help. Your help will be very appreciated. What we want is to help our brothers and sisters that are in a very difficult situation after the earthquake, that’s why we say, ‘better to give little than nothing,’” he said.
The neighbourhood has been a bloody battleground between two rivals, the Ti Lapli and the Krisla gangs. But last Friday, Prime Minister Ariel Henry told Al Jazeera the situation had improved after the gangs called a truce to let aid pass through. Al Jazeera producer Jeremy Dupin confirmed this development when he spoke to Cherizier.
At the same time, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other organisations partners are urgently working to distribute aid to people in need of assistance. The UN World Food Program (WFP) is transporting 830 metric tonnes of USAID food supplies – enough to feed more than 62,000 people for one month – from Port-au-Prince and distributing it to affected areas.
Tim Callaghan, USAID Assistance Response Team leader, told Al Jazeera planning, coordination and the ‘last mile distribution’ of aid into the earthquake zone were currently underway. This last step in getting aid to affected people can prove to be difficult.
“If you show up with a truckload of food and you don’t have a plan; you haven’t coordinated that with the local authorities and the local police, you can see some things where people will surround the truck, because again, what I’ve seen so far is that most people just want help. They want it quickly,” said Callaghan.
Al Jazeera was on hand to witness as aid trucks travelled through Martissant, and traffic began to flow in a way the area hasn’t seen in months.
Those trucks are bringing aid that is desperately needed by earthquake survivors living in the small towns nestled deep in the mountains of the Tiburon peninsula.
In the department of Grand’Anse, near the town of Duchity, about 100 farmers are living alongside a highway in slender tents constructed with wooden poles and bedsheets. The devastating quake destroyed their homes, crops, and the deep concrete-lined holes used to collect and store rainwater.
Evelya Michele, a mother of five living in the encampment, said, “we are here with our children; I don’t know how many, but we need to feed them, we need food, water, dress. They are crying because they are hungry and thirsty. We need medication, and now we use this place as a shelter, then we really need help to feed our children ourselves.”
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
VIDEOS Earthquake aid flowing after Haiti gang truce opens up highway | Earthquakes News | Al Jazeera
Cleanup begins of Haiti town’s earthquake-crumbled homes
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN and EVENS MARY
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN and EVENS MARY
yesterday
1 of 14
1 of 14
A woman finishing washing clothes in the Cavaillon River in Maniche, Haiti, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, a week after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the area.
MANICHE, Haiti (AP) — At the edge of a pile of rubble, Michael Jules plunged an iron bar over and over into the crumbling concrete of his grandmother’s home. A younger cousin squatted at his feet, pulling away debris with a trowel.
It was Jules’ third day working the spot like an archaeologist, removing layer upon layer of rock. He had established more or less the perimeter of his room. On Tuesday morning he uncovered a corner of his mattress.
While Jules, 21, toiled with hand tools, and at times his bare hands, just down the street heavy-duty earthmovers cleared lots, depositing entire homes into dump trucks or scraping collapsed dwellings into neat piles. For some victims of Haiti’s Aug. 14 earthquake, the necessary prelude to rebuilding has begun.
Joseph Gervain, another of Jules’ cousins, watched from the street. He lived in a house behind that was also damaged. He wondered how the earthmovers decide which lots to clear and which to pass.
“I see people removing debris, but I don’t know what the conditions are,” Gervain said. “Maybe they pay to have the debris removed. I see they skip houses. Someone is giving orders about which house to remove debris from.”
The machines bore the logos of nongovernmental organizations, but who they helped appeared to be guided by Maniche’s mayor.
Jean Favard watched one of the large yellow machines push away the rubble of his vacation home just up the street from Jules’ grandmother’s house. No one had been living at Favard’s home and he said he planned to rebuild once it was cleared.
Meanwhile, Gervain said he had no idea what his family would do on the lot where a two-story house with eight bedrooms — home to 12 people — had been reduced to a one-story pile of concrete and twisted rebar.
Jules kept digging. His goal was twofold: his clothes — he was wearing only borrowed Spider-Man boxers — and his passport.
“I have not found anything yet,” Jules said.
Maniche is a teeth-rattling hour’s drive from paved road, over a mountain pass and settled in a wide, green valley. The town lost 80% to 90% of its homes, according to preliminary estimates. Piles of rubble like Jules’ grandmother’s house dot every street.
Even most of those houses still standing will have to be torn down.
Relatively undisturbed appeared to be Maniche’s riverside market. Even on a Tuesday — market day is Saturday — farmers from surrounding areas crossed the river carrying sacks of beans and peanuts atop their heads. Mules splashed through the water, their woven panniers laden with heavy bunches of plantains.
Gervain, Jules’ cousin, said it was lucky the earthquake occurred on a Saturday because most people were outdoors, at the market.
Jules was not. He had to run out of the house when the magnitude 7.2 quake struck. Now he was desperate to find his passport because he is a professional soccer player for the Haitian League club America des Cayes.
“I need to have my passport if I need to travel with the club for a tournament to the Dominican Republic or Cuba,” Jules said, though such games will have to wait: The current season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Well out of uniform and standing atop a rubble pile, the right fullback was still immediately recognized by a fan.
“You’re from here?” the man, a motorcycle taxi driver from Les Cayes, asked in disbelief. “I didn’t know you were from Maniche.”
Help was slowly arriving to in the town of about 20,000 people.
Philemon Charles, a carpenter, said the top necessity was shelter. His family had been sleeping outside their damaged home for more than a week.
On Tuesday, U.S.-based relief organization Samaritan’s Purse handed out big blue tarps for temporary shelters and small solar lights that also allow people to charge their cell phones. Actor Sean Penn’s Haiti relief outfit, Community Organized Relief Effort, had brought in the heavy machinery. And convoys of various United Nations agencies rumbled into town.
By the time the punishing sun chased Jules from the rock pile Tuesday, he had managed to remove his twin mattress. More crumbling concrete immediately fell into the temporary void he’d just created.
MANICHE, Haiti (AP) — At the edge of a pile of rubble, Michael Jules plunged an iron bar over and over into the crumbling concrete of his grandmother’s home. A younger cousin squatted at his feet, pulling away debris with a trowel.
It was Jules’ third day working the spot like an archaeologist, removing layer upon layer of rock. He had established more or less the perimeter of his room. On Tuesday morning he uncovered a corner of his mattress.
While Jules, 21, toiled with hand tools, and at times his bare hands, just down the street heavy-duty earthmovers cleared lots, depositing entire homes into dump trucks or scraping collapsed dwellings into neat piles. For some victims of Haiti’s Aug. 14 earthquake, the necessary prelude to rebuilding has begun.
Joseph Gervain, another of Jules’ cousins, watched from the street. He lived in a house behind that was also damaged. He wondered how the earthmovers decide which lots to clear and which to pass.
“I see people removing debris, but I don’t know what the conditions are,” Gervain said. “Maybe they pay to have the debris removed. I see they skip houses. Someone is giving orders about which house to remove debris from.”
The machines bore the logos of nongovernmental organizations, but who they helped appeared to be guided by Maniche’s mayor.
Jean Favard watched one of the large yellow machines push away the rubble of his vacation home just up the street from Jules’ grandmother’s house. No one had been living at Favard’s home and he said he planned to rebuild once it was cleared.
Meanwhile, Gervain said he had no idea what his family would do on the lot where a two-story house with eight bedrooms — home to 12 people — had been reduced to a one-story pile of concrete and twisted rebar.
Jules kept digging. His goal was twofold: his clothes — he was wearing only borrowed Spider-Man boxers — and his passport.
“I have not found anything yet,” Jules said.
Maniche is a teeth-rattling hour’s drive from paved road, over a mountain pass and settled in a wide, green valley. The town lost 80% to 90% of its homes, according to preliminary estimates. Piles of rubble like Jules’ grandmother’s house dot every street.
Even most of those houses still standing will have to be torn down.
Relatively undisturbed appeared to be Maniche’s riverside market. Even on a Tuesday — market day is Saturday — farmers from surrounding areas crossed the river carrying sacks of beans and peanuts atop their heads. Mules splashed through the water, their woven panniers laden with heavy bunches of plantains.
Gervain, Jules’ cousin, said it was lucky the earthquake occurred on a Saturday because most people were outdoors, at the market.
Jules was not. He had to run out of the house when the magnitude 7.2 quake struck. Now he was desperate to find his passport because he is a professional soccer player for the Haitian League club America des Cayes.
“I need to have my passport if I need to travel with the club for a tournament to the Dominican Republic or Cuba,” Jules said, though such games will have to wait: The current season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Well out of uniform and standing atop a rubble pile, the right fullback was still immediately recognized by a fan.
“You’re from here?” the man, a motorcycle taxi driver from Les Cayes, asked in disbelief. “I didn’t know you were from Maniche.”
Help was slowly arriving to in the town of about 20,000 people.
Philemon Charles, a carpenter, said the top necessity was shelter. His family had been sleeping outside their damaged home for more than a week.
On Tuesday, U.S.-based relief organization Samaritan’s Purse handed out big blue tarps for temporary shelters and small solar lights that also allow people to charge their cell phones. Actor Sean Penn’s Haiti relief outfit, Community Organized Relief Effort, had brought in the heavy machinery. And convoys of various United Nations agencies rumbled into town.
By the time the punishing sun chased Jules from the rock pile Tuesday, he had managed to remove his twin mattress. More crumbling concrete immediately fell into the temporary void he’d just created.
No comments:
Post a Comment