JEUNE OFEDA'S
GIRLS WRITE HAITI
2010-2014
Where
The Girls Lived
Routes des Freres, Port au Prince
The environment in which the girls lived was unimaginable, yet it was home for four years. Every day was a struggle. Similar to other internally displaced persons’ camps throughout the world, the tents were inadequate, overcrowded, too close together, often bleak and increasingly unsanitary. People did the best they could to make the tents into homes. Fresh water was scarce, and there was a constant rationing of foods. There was little to protect individuals from the elements. Women described having to hold up babies during severe rainstorms, and watching things wash away over and over. In the midst of the chaos and the strange stillness of life in the camp - a sense of waiting for something to change- the girls group meet in a tent set aside during the cholera outbreak, that housed the women's meetings and crafts as well. Their enthusiasm and commitment to better their lives through expression was impressive. It was a world within the world of the camp.
For adolescent girls, the risk of sexual violence and exploitation heightened the stress of their situation. Teenage boys came into the camp every evening to play soccor. They often harrassed the girls. At the same time, the girls wrote passionate love poems and described their dedication to not becoming victims of sexual abuse or inequality. Coming together increased their fortitude, discipline, confidence and self care. They empowered themselves through the arts and dialogue as they found pleasure and an outlet for all of their feelings.
In May, the girls felt bereft on hearing that the camp was closing. They worried that the consistent companionship they shared, even in the harshness of the camp, would end. I promised to return to meet with them and their mothers to facilitate their planning an ongoing program.
<poems about the camp>
Continuity
Our funding has come from private donations and small private foundations. On a visit in December 2013, the girls asked to become a more formal and stable organization. They want further leadership skills, fiscal literacy and more opportunities to dance, write, and meet with other girls in Haiti.
The outcome of their working with other girls is for form social enterprises that will support themselves and their families, now and in the future.
The Camp Closes
In June 2014 the process of evacuating the camp and rehoming all families was announced. I traveled to Haiti two times in order to meet with the girls and assure them of support. We engaged each time in four days of workshops, discussions, and council training with mentors. Day by day another family found somewhere to go (either temporarily or permanently). Following my last visit in June, the girls planned and implemented two events for the camp: They organized a day of performance and celebration for all families that included a DJ with music, and their performance of dances they had learned and readings of their poetry. On the last day of the camp they created a second event for the 86 children who had lived together in the camp since the earthquake. The girls taught games, and gathered small groups of children each to tell their stories and the folktales they had learned. This culminating hospitality and generosity was a sign of all they had accomplished. By the end of the month, the girls were scattered throughout the city after four years of living closely with deep bonds of friendship and daily support.