Being a girl in a Haitian camp

16 year old Marie’s life is already a struggle in post-quake Haiti, but it will become even more difficult in three months when she gives birth to her first child.

The child’s father is not around. Marie lives with her and her mum, cousin and sister. The women are living in a shelter of sheets that doesn’t really keep the rain out, in the middle of a huge tent city.

They sleep on a platform of stones covered with cardboard and a few blankets and pillows. The heat in the tent is stifling. Dust from all the rubble, and fumes from nearby burning garbage, fills the air.

Food is in very short supply. “The water we fetch from a nearby pump is not safe for drinking. I am really worried what will happen once the rains start.”

There are more than 1,000 survivors in the camp, and living conditions are extreme. It is one of hundreds that have sprung up around Port-au-Prince. But life is hardest for women and girls who face a particular set of challenges.

One of Marie’s biggest worries is giving birth in the cramped, unhygienic conditions of the camp – without any medical support.

One of her camp neighbours, Angele, 18, gave birth to a baby boy in her tent five days ago. The baby is healthy but Angele does not have what a breastfeeding mother desperately needs: clean water and a reliable source of nutritious food.

Lack of privacy

Personal hygiene is also a big issue. People have to wash in public – there is no privacy.

“I always wear a t-shirt when I wash myself, I am embarrassed”, says 20-year old Francoise, Marie’s sister.

Menstruation is a big worry for many girls and women. “I have no money for sanitary pads,” Francoise says. ”I am using torn-up t-shirts but it’s really unhygienic.”

Another challenge for girls and women is using the “toilet” -- a hole in the ground used by the whole camp. There is no privacy here either.

Solveig Routier, a child protection advisor with Plan, currently in Haiti, says that incidents of sexual violence are highest in camps where women have to walk a considerable distance from their tents to use the toilet or wash. “In post-disaster situations it is crucial that the special needs of children and women are addressed.”

When the sun goes down, the camps are pitch black. Francoise is worried about “young, noisy men” roaming around.

A younger girl, 11-year-old Michelle, has nightmares every night. Like many girls in the camp, she is scared of the lougarou – an evil spirit that, she says, steals away children at night and eats them. Mothers may tell those stories to their children to keep them from running around at night.

What do Michelle and her cousin Josephine, also 11, miss the most from life before? “Going to school,” they quickly respond.

Children in the camp not only suffer from thirst and hunger but also from boredom. There are no toys, no books, not even a pencil and paper.  A few boys have built simple kites out of plastic bags but many children just stay in their families’ tents all day.

“It is difficult to play outside,” says 13-year-old Marianne. “There is rubble everywhere and it hurts our feet – it is also too hot. We just tell each other stories and jokes to pass the time.”

Hope

But there is hope. A team of Plan child protection specialists has completed an assessment of camps in the area. The aim is to find out what children need most urgently and how best to support and protect them.

There are 15 documented cases of babies being snatched from hospitals, with many more unconfirmed incidents of trafficking and abduction. Girls in camps are particularly at risk because they are potential targets for sexual and domestic exploitation, abuse and trafficking.

Plan Haiti is taking a leading role in creating awareness campaigns preventing child trafficking aimed at children themselves, the general population and government, military, police and border officials.

Just as importantly Plan is setting up safe areas in the camps for children like Michelle, Josephine and Marianne to be able to play and laugh.