A Haitian mother opens up about her child’s repeat rapes in a camp

Self portrait: 10-year-old rape victim, Flore (not her real name)

This past Friday, one of nine remaining tents in one of Port-au-Prince’s better camps went to a 33-year-old mother of five whose 10-year-old daughter had been raped and molested by at least three different men on three separate occasions in another camp.  I happened to be there reporting another story so after, I went to find this woman.  I’ll call her Marie.

My translator’s face froze at a few points during the interview, which lasted about 45 minutes. Marie’s daughter was bright and cheery, giggling while taking pictures of her younger brothers and sisters with my digicam (it was upside down most of the time) while us four adults sat cross-legged on the ground.  After a bit of chit-chat I asked the fourth adult, a male member of the camp committee who showed us to the tent, to leave.  No fuss displayed but I’d basically come into someone’s house, his camp, and asked him to scram.  My translator went outside to smooth that over.  On his return, alone, Marie sat up and started talking like I’d flipped a switch.

In my mind, her story is a stand-in for those of the mothers of another camp, Tapis Rouge, where a woman leader said in reply to my direct question, “There’s no rape but a lot of our teen girls are pregnant.”

DH is reading…

Huascar Robles, change.org

Haiti – Putting NGOs in their Place

… the fact that financial aid has been channeled directly through NGOs, bypassing government institutions, has (over time) led to the substantial weakening of national government structures.

In Haiti’s Tent Cities, Unusual Schools Thrive

… educators can learn a few tips from some unlikely role models: the temporary schools erected in Port-au-Prince’s tent cities.

VIDEO: Debating reconstruction in Haiti

Some Haitians warn that reconstruction should not begin until further seismic studies are done.

The Great Aid Debate: Does Aid Work?

… what does aid failure really look like? Has aid failed when a child in [Haiti] gets to eat three times a day instead of just once? Has it failed when it enables that child to attend a school that has just been built by an international fund? … Do we really think people will just suck it up and start picking themselves up by their own boot-straps when they don’t even have boots? It’s not likely the free market is going to set up a school or a health post in a far-flung village.

Haitian Women Demand Role in Rebuilding their Country

“We can’t build a country on aid. We can’t run our lives by projects. The women of Haiti suffer disproportionately in the policy environment, and so we must have a policy shift,” she said. “We can’t afford to have a business-as-usual attitude. We must ensure that in all rebuilding and reconstruction efforts, women’s needs, expertise and contributions are recognized.”

RANDOM: dang. these guys are probably raking in the dough