Addressing the Evolving Needs of Haiti’s Women and Children Two Years After the Earthquake
abrush — January 31, 2012 – 1:46 pm By Andrea Brush, ACTION intern
January 12, 2010 is one of those days that I will never forget. I remember exactly where I was and the moments after the news broke of the devastating earthquake that shook the island nation of Haiti to its core. I was sitting in my office gathering my things to head home for the day and talking with my boss, who is Haitian, about the meetings we were preparing for the following day. Her phone began ringing, everything fell silent and the mood in the room instantly changed. I have never felt so helpless in my life. Fast-forward two years and I am weeks away from earning a Master’s degree in Public Health; a decision that was made before January 2010, but was cemented as the correct one after that day in my office.
During my coursework, I have laid out a focus area of displaced and vulnerable populations; the humanitarian side of public health has always intrigued me. Therefore, when the opportunity to attend a talk entitled, “Addressing the Evolving Needs of Haiti’s Women and Children Two Years After the Earthquake,” I knew I had to attend. I am firm believer in “The Girl Effect”, micro-credit loans (especially for women), and involving women in community decisions. If a woman is in charge of a family’s finances, more money is put towards the health and welfare of her children, the same is true for education. As the saying goes, “If you educate a woman, you educate an entire village.”
A panel of experts gave the talk on Haiti’s women and children. They were from Management Sciences for Health, the Haitian Ministry of Health, USAID, PSI, and UNFPA. The panel discussed how NGO’s in Haiti (pre- and post-earthquake) can, and should, align their work with the Ministry of Health in order to achieve better outcomes in maternal and child health, emergency obstetrics, and decrease the amount of gender-based violence. The points that were really driven home were the need for more trained, skilled birth attendants and a strengthening of family planning services.
A larger cadre of birth attendants, a strengthening in health services and coordination between NGOs and the Ministry of Health would lead to a more stabilized Haiti. Putting women and children first would lead to a more stabilized Haiti. Educating girls and young women would lead to a more stabilized Haiti. In my future as a public health professional, I hope to advocate that “change starts with a twelve-year-old girl” and that I can be a part of something as grand as collaborating with a ministry of health in order to provide better access to and quality health care for all. Throughout it all, however, I will never forget the silence that hit my office on January 12, 2010.
