HAITI: No More Trembling

As I finally sit down to post here my thoughts and experiences during my recent project in Haiti, I realize I ought to include what I had written previously in an email missive before our departure, describing our project and our mission and what compelled us to go.  It will serve as an introduction to what we did in Haiti and my further writing about it.  Stay tuned to hear about the outcome!

BOND STREET THEATRE -- PROJECT HAITI: NO MORE TREMBLING

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"Our Bodies Are Still Trembling:" Rape, a Major Crisis in Haiti

We are focusing our efforts on helping to address the situation of gender-based violence, which has long been a problem in Haiti, and has now become even more dire.  Hundreds of thousands of people are crowded together as refugees in massive tent camps with little to no security.  In the general chaos and disorder, rape and violence against women and girls has seen an alarming increase. This, horrifically, includes girls as young as three and women as old as 60.  Current circumstances in Haiti do not provide for adequate care and support for rape victims, and this includes psychological support.  These women and girls have no one to turn to nor little opportunity to express and process their experience.  As one woman expressed: "The way you saw the earth shake, that is how our bodes are shaking now."*

"Get Up Stand Up:" Two Inspiring Women's Groups

We will be working with two Haitian women's organizations, KOFAVIV and FAVILEK, formed by women who are themselves survivors of rape and who are determined to help other women and girls who are at risk or have been victims of gender-based violence.  When they first started, the women of Favilek (which, in Creole, stands for “Fanm Viktim Leve Kanpe,” i.e., Women Victims Get Up Stand Up) banded together to create a dramatic show about their painful experiences, which they toured around the country.

Kofaviv and Favilek are eager to have us come and do workshops with their members in order to provide them with an opportunity for self-expression, creative play and inspiration as part of a process to help them cope with their circumstances.  Favilek is keen to create a new theatrical piece as a means to give the women a voice.  They have asked for our help. They are eager to share their work and their experiences with us, and to have us assist them in the development of a creative performance, which will then be presented to the community.

"We Want a Voice:" Favilek Reaches Out

In New York, on January 12 of this year (the first anniversary of the earthquake) I met one of the founders of Favilek.   Maricia came to speak about her experience and that of so many women in the camps.  She told us how she had first been raped during the 1990s upheaval, when rape was used as a political weapon.  Now, her daughter had been raped in the camps.  This is not uncommon -- that grandmothers, mothers and daughters all become victims. She solemnly told us the women in Haiti feel that they have no voice and no avenue for speaking out, and no access to the powers-that-be to express their terrible circumstances.  She wants to create a theater piece to address all of this, but lacks the means.  I asked her, what do you need?  Her answer took me by surprise.  I expected her to simply ask for money.  But she said what they need is a theater director, and help with how to go about creating a show. We said to her, we of Bond Street Theatre can be of assistance with this.  We are committed to help.  Hearing this, Maricia’s face lit up and she broke out in a big smile.  It was the first time she smiled all evening.

Here is a woman who has been traumatized many times over and survived unimaginable horrors  -- and what she asks for is the means to create theater.  She understands the transformative power and purpose of theater, its capacity to heal, to promote recovery and social change.

Our mission in Haiti is to help Haitian women and girls find their voice and be heard.

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*  See the report from the Institute of Justice & Democracy, "Our Bodies Are Still Trembling: Haitian Women's Fight Against Rape" http://ijdh.org/archives/13361