Gilmene’s unshakable determination

“I was in the courtyard next to my small business. [With] soap in hand, I was getting ready to do laundry. Chama, my two-year-old daughter, was still sleeping on that Saturday,” explains Gilmène, a mother of six, with deep emotions swelling. All the other children were [outside]. All of a sudden, everything started shaking violently. The children panicked and ran in all directions. Thanks to the experience of January 12, 2010, I knew it was an earthquake. Only one thing came to my mind: to run into the house to save Chama.

Unfortunately, I was not faster than that wall that was knocked down by the strength of the earthquake. I didn’t think of anything wrong [when I first saw Chama] since the wall wasn’t found on her but rather shattered into pieces at her side.

I picked her up, she was not breathing and bent over in my hands. I burst into tears but still couldn’t believe it. I was compelled to urgently go to the hospital in Petit-Trou, but no one was there to help me. When I returned home, I could see blood coming out of her mouth and nose. I finally understood that she had been mortally struck by the wall,” concluded Gilmène still in shock.

Gilmène lives in Raymond, first communal section of Petit-Trou de Nippes in the locality named “Carrefour Fourjin”. She has dedicated her entire life in pursuing two main objectives with her partner Leo: to provide the basic needs for her children for whom she feels nothing but love and to complete the building of a small house she started three years ago.

“My partner and I could no longer afford renting. We made huge sacrifices to purchase a lot of land. We had done then even the impossible to save, even if only by pennies, in order to reach by small steps this dream which we holds dear”, confessed the 42-year-old, now mother of 5 children following the earthquake.

“This year, we had hoped to be able to start with the latrine which is fundamental for the house, but the situation ended up being worse for us because of the earthquake,” she added, still enveloped by the trauma and loss.

The August 14-earthquake left the “Paillant” family in a state of unparalleled sadness. This destructive event not only ruined their efforts but also claimed the life of Chama, their last daughter who was only 2 year old at the time.

In the immediate aftermath of the August 14-earthquake, World Vision sent a team to assess the extent of the damages and needs and decided to intervene in the southern part of the country, particularly in the most affected departments, namely Nippes, South and Grand’Anse, to address the needs of selected beneficiaries as part of its relief programme.

Emergency kits and food vouchers handed out to affected families

World Vision and its partners in the field organized distributions of food and essential items to address the most urgent needs in the aftermath of the earthquake to relieve the victims as quickly as possible.

Following a rapid survey conducted in the main communes of the targeted departments, including the first communal section of Raymond, where Gilmene lives, the name of Leo, her partner, appeared on the list of thousands of disaster victims and most vulnerable people selected to be beneficiaries. This was a relieving moment for the whole family.

“I am both happy and grateful to World Vision”, says Gilmene after receiving a food voucher – enabling them to buy US$ 50 of food, Non Food Items (NFI) and hygiene kits. “I received kitchen utensils and hygiene items. In addition, I received a mattress that I needed so much and a tarpaulin of very good quality,” she added with great satisfaction. “I will be able to return the other tarp that I borrowed to cover the damaged part of the house.”

“What I like the most about World Vision is that when this organization selects beneficiaries to support, it never gives up on them until they are able to get back on their feet”. I am so grateful for the help provided to my family. Now I won’t have to spend as much as I used to on food. My family and I will be able to eat better and at the same time have the opportunity to save a little more to pay off some debts and continue our construction project,” said Gilmene.

Seeking for a better life…

“Every morning, from very early on, I stand up in the courtyard in front of my business. After getting the little ones ready for school, I brew coffee and sell it with bread and mamba (peanut butter). That’s all I can do. And I have no choice but to keep doing it to get by.”

To help her partner Leo afford family expenses, Gilmène sells hot coffee with bread to her neighbors and passers mostly in the morning. To keep her small business alive, she proceeds with serial loans. She borrows the ingredients offered by other merchants in her area, she also buys bread, coffee powder, pistachios and many other products. She buys everything on credit and resells in order to make a profit. This is the operation on which the survival of her whole family and her dreams depend.

“We integrated a [savings group] in our neighborhood with the hope of repairing our damaged house this year,” reveals Gilmene. “We don’t really have much money. That’s how we can only manage to do it. We still want to build the latrine, but first of all we desperately want to get out of the tarpaulin-made shelter.”

Strengthless. Mourning. Haunted by the last images of her daughter Chama, she feels even heavier under the weight of all the challenges she has to face. After the earthquake, things seemed to be worsening but she managed to continue to live and therefore to fight. She had no other choice. Because she still has to care for her family as before, without forgetting about her commitments.

While the earthquake destroyed her daughter’s life and knocked down much of her home, Gilmene’s courage is unwavering and remarkable. She girds herself with strength and arms herself with determination to continue the fight and offer hope to her children.

World Vision nurtures Gilmene’s resilience

More directly targeting children, the organization has also set up “Child Friendly Spaces” throughout the southern region. Through these structures, it offers psychosocial support to thousands of children. Schneider and Marie-Raphael, the youngest of Gilmene’s children, attend the (CFS) Child Friendly Space of Ste-Therese, not far from their home in Petit-Trou de Nippes. These spaces, meant to be an extension of the school but with a more entertaining scope, help to de-stress and chase away the trauma in the children.

“In addition to games and songs, today I learned with the instructor Cindy to make pretty bracelets. I made them with leftover pens that had no ink left. It’s very easy,” Marie-Raphael said after a CFS activity. “I feel very comfortable here with other children,” she added happily.

Marie-Raphael and Schneider greatly enjoy the CFS sessions. This has made their parents, Gilmène and Leo, happy as well. Thanks to St. Therese’s CFS, Schneider, 6 years old and now the youngest of the family, will soon get over his lack of focus since his little sister, Chama, left. At least that’s what his mother expects.

Gilmene finds a booster from World Vision as the aid provided by the organization supports the local economy and help fight against hunger in affected-communities. Beyond the distribution of food, school and NFI kits already reaching thousands of households, World Vision’s efforts currently go much further.

World Vision has been conveying to the population of the South awareness messages on hygiene, health, COVID-19 and positive discipline.  Moreover, a vast deworming and malnutrition screening campaign for children has been launched. These efforts have helped train teachers, community leaders, church leaders, community agents, among others with the aim of having a powerful impact in educating people to adopt a behavior that protects the most vulnerable.

In Nippes Department alone, more than 27 schools have received trainings on sanitation and hygiene. A focus was put on hand washing since we live in a COVID-19 context, a theme on which 4,977 children, 64 teachers, 971 parents and 75 animators were taught about. They were also trained on child protection and positive discipline as an alternative way to better educate children. In addition, 5,000 school kits and 6,000 water filters have been distributed in community and national schools. 2,962 children have been dewormed to date and also sensitized on the method of prevention against diseases. 1088 parents and caregivers were trained on the same themes for a positive and indirect impact on them.

Thanks to this complete package of services in the context of the emergency, Gilmene’s family and many other victims living in the five communes of intervention of the organization have hope to recover their normal lives.

“World Vision was also present here after Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and I definitely like the fact that it provides high quality assistance to its beneficiaries. The organization respects the dignity of people above all; it’s proven on many occasions that it is truly sensitive and gives high priority to people’s pain,” said Ronald Jerome, CASEC coordinator of the first communal section of Raymond, (part of the commune of Petit-Trou de Nippes) who reported a number of five dead, 2,200 affected households, 600 houses heavily damaged including 200 completely destroyed in his communal section.

World Vision International-Haiti renews its commitment to child survival in particular, but is emboldened to provide emergency relief to disaster-affected people in general. The case of Gilmene, this model of exceptional courage, is a vibrant testimony of this.