Promoting Human rigHts in - American Jewish World Service

Promoting
Human Rights in
HAITi
Inspired by the Jewish commitment to justice, American Jewish World Service
(AJWS) works to realize human rights and end poverty in the developing world.
AJWS advances the health and human rights of women, girls and LGBT* people;
promotes recovery from conflict, disasters and oppression; and defends access to food,
land and livelihoods. We pursue lasting change by supporting grassroots and global
human rights organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and by
mobilizing our community in the U.S. to advocate for global justice. Working together,
we strive to build a more just and equitable world.
AJWS has supported human rights efforts in Haiti since 1999. In 2010, after a
devastating earthquake ravaged the country, we intensified our work, focusing on
both immediate disaster relief and long-term recovery efforts.
Today, we fund 41 social change organizations that are working to promote
human rights as Haiti rebuilds. With AJWS’s support, they are striving to stop
violence and corruption, increase food production in rural areas, and empower local
people and communities to chart a new future for their country.
ABOVE Just after the 2010 earthquake, hundreds of thousands of Haitians seek basic shelter at tent camps like the one here, called Camp Benediction.
All photos by Evan Abramson for AJWS, except where noted.
FRONT COVER A girl waits near a free medical clinic run by AJWS grantee MUDHA in Léogâne, Haiti.
*LGBT
stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.
2
AJWS
GRANTEES
IN HAITI
CUBA
Atlantic Ocean
Cap-Haїtien
Gonaїves
Saint-Marc
HAITI
DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC
Port-au-Prince
Les Cayes
Léogâne
Pétionville
Jacmel
Caribbean Sea
Asosyasyon Tet Kole ti Peyizan Ayisyen
Association Femmes Soleil D’Haiti
Association Nationale de Protection des Femmes et
Enfants Haitiens
Ayiti Kale Je
Beyond Borders, Inc.
Brigad Dessalines
Centro Para la Educación y el Desarrollo
Défenseurs des Opprimées/Opprimés
Diaspora Community Services
Enstiti Kiltirel Kal Levek
Equitas - International Centre for Human Rights Education
Fanm Deside
Femme en Action contre la Stigmatisation et la
Discrimination Sexuelle
Fondation Haitienne pour le Maintien de la Paix Sociale
Partenariat pour le Developpement Local
Fondation SEROvie
Fos Refleksyon ak Aksyon sou Koze Kay
Groupe d’Appui aux Rapatries et aux Refugies
Groupe Medialternatif/Alterpresse
Gwoup Apui pou Devlopman Depatman Sid
Jenn Pwogresis Okay
Kòdinasyon pou Devlopman Solidè Sidès
Kolektif Jistis Min
Kouraj Pou Pwo Dwa Moun an Ayiti
Mouvement des Paysants de Melonniere
Mouvman Inite Pèp Okay
Mouvman Peyizan Bayone 2eme Section Communale des
Gonaives
Mouvman Peyizan Rankit
Movimiento De Mujeres Dominico Haitiana
Movimiento Social-Cultural de los Trabajadores Haitianos
Oganizasyon Gwoupman Peyizan pou Devlopman 8eme
Seksyon Kominal Akaye
Oganizasyon Gwoupman Peyizan pou Devlopman Laviktwa
Oganizasyon Peyizan 7e Seksyon Kominal Gwomon
Òganizasyon pou Devlòpman Vèrèt ak Pwoteksyon
Anviwònman
Plateforme Haïtienne de Plaidoyer pour un Développement
Alternatif
Platfòm Oganizasyon Ayisyen Dwa Moun yo
Reseau des Femmes Actives du Nord-Ouest
Reseau National de Defense des Droits Humains
Rezo Oganizasyon Peyizan Lwes-Latibonit
Rezo Oganizasyon Peyizan No Santa k Nodes
Sosyete Animasyon Kominikasyon Sosyal
Union des Personnes contre la Discrimination et la
Stigmatization
3
Displaced Haitians line up for water
just after the earthquake. Many people
struggled to get basic water and food
rations, despite a historic outpouring
of foreign aid.
Why We SUPPORT
Human Rights in HAITI
When Haiti’s slaves of African origin revolted against
French colonial control in the 19th century, the country
made history as the world’s first black-led republic. But
disasters—both natural and man-made—have plagued
the country. After many decades of dictatorship, political
instability, violence and environmental hazards, Haiti is
now one of the poorest nations in the Americas.1
The country’s history of political chaos has deep
roots dating back more than five centuries. Ever since
Christopher Columbus landed on the island in 1492,
various European and American leaders have tried to
control Haiti’s fate and exploit its people and natural
resources.2 The Spanish and the French colonized the
country in succession. And long after the country gained
its independence in 1804, the U.S. military occupied Haiti,
controlling it from 1915 to 1934—mostly to prevent
Germany, an enemy during World War I, from setting up
strategic naval bases in the Caribbean.
Haiti’s people have faced brutality from their
own leaders, as well. When François Duvalier, or “Papa
Doc,” was elected president in 1957, he quickly stifled all
dissent with the help of the Tonton Macoutes,3 a militia
that killed roughly 30,000 opponents of the regime and
raped and tortured civilians with impunity. 4 The U.S.
tolerated Duvalier’s reign of terror, in part because he
was anti-Communist—and thus not a Cold War threat.
Duvalier’s son Jean-Claude, “Baby Doc,” maintained this
dictatorship until he was ousted by a coup in 1986.
Political upheaval continued for another quarter
century. As author Mark Danner described it, the
country saw “coups and revolutions, a handful of
elections (aborted, rigged and, occasionally, fair),
1 BBC News. “Haiti Country Profile.” 17 Dec 2012.
2 Paul Farmer and Jonathan Kozol. “The Uses of Haiti.” Common Courage
Press. 2006.
3 Tonton Macoute translates to “Uncle Gunnysack,” a mythological Haitian villain
who kidnaps naughty children in a bag and literally eats them for breakfast.
4 Encyclopedia Britannica. “Francois Duvalier.” 1 Mar 2013.
Background: The Roots of Injustice
4
a second American occupation … and, all told, a
dozen Haitian rulers.”5 Following a coup that ousted
elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the Clinton
administration imposed an economic blockade on Haiti
from 1991 to 1994. This intensified Haiti’s economic
decline, and only ended when the U.S. military entered
Haiti and put Aristide back in power.
Haiti’s environment has suffered, too. French colonial
leaders logged the country’s forests, and in the 21st
century, Haiti’s growing poor population used tons of wood
and charcoal for fuel. Without environmental regulation,
Haiti’s forests were decimated. This robbed the country’s
vulnerable ecosystem of a critical resource that had helped
slow down storm winds and prevent soil erosion. In 2008,
tropical storms slammed Haiti again and again. Flood
waters surged down the country’s stripped hillsides, wiping
out 70 percent of crops and killing or injuring more than a
thousand people.6
Post-earthquake Haiti:
Poverty, violence and abuses of power
In 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook Haiti. It
killed more than 200,000 people and devastated the
capital city of Port-au-Prince. The world watched as the
country collapsed, and Haiti’s troubles suddenly drew
unprecedented international attention.
Four years after the 2010 earthquake, Haiti is still
recovering. Individuals and governments around the
world contributed billions of dollars in aid, but help has
not always reached those who need it most. More than
200,000 people still live in tent camps, with little or no
access to electricity, drinking water or basic health services.
Most of Haiti’s citizens struggle to find work, secure
enough food and support their families.
Since the earthquake, powerful global corporations
have entered Haiti with promises to create jobs. But
neither the government nor local media have closely
monitored their actions. Corporations are making big plans
for projects, from bolstering agribusiness to expanding
tourism, which will exploit what remains of Haiti’s natural
resources. Unfortunately, most of these projects have only
increased the wealth gap between the country’s very poor,
Creole-speaking black majority and the French-speaking,
mostly mixed-race minority.
While Haiti’s residents desperately need economic
opportunities, they also must be consulted on new
projects, which are poised to push poor families off their
land and further devastate Haiti’s already distressed
environment.
Women, girls, LGBT people and sex workers in
Haiti suffer from an ongoing epidemic of sexual and
gender-based violence. Rape is common, especially in the
displacement camps that house earthquake survivors.
In downtown Port-au-Prince just after the 2010 earthquake, men
scavenge for anything they can exchange for food and water.
5 Mark Danner. “To Heal Haiti, Look to History, Not Nature.” The New York Times. 21 Jan 2010.
6 Jeffrey Masters. “Hurricanes and Haiti: A Tragic History.” Weather Underground. 15 Jan 2010.
5
Volunteers from Dominican Republic-based grantees MOSCTHA and MUDHA help an injured boy in the Marie Therese tent camp. Before the volunteers arrived on Jan. 23,
2010, the camp had not received any food, water or other aid.
Although a new law made rape a crime in 2005, sexual
violence often goes unpunished today. Many survivors do
not report attacks for fear that their community or the
police will blame them, rather than the perpetrators. LGBT
people also experience intense discrimination in their daily
lives. As a result, few LGBT people come out—and those
who openly and honestly express their gender identity or
sexual orientation face harsh consequences, ranging from
social isolation to violence.
To protect citizens from violence in the wake of
political chaos, the United Nations has deployed more
than 6,000 “peacekeeping” troops to patrol the streets of
Haiti since 2004. But the troops themselves have become
part of the problem in recent years. Some of the soldiers
stand accused of raping and assaulting Haitians, and a UN
peacekeepers’ encampment inadvertently introduced a
6
cholera outbreak that has killed more than 8,000 people
and sickened 600,000 more.
In Haiti, democracy and the rule of law remain elusive,
blocked by corruption and authoritarianism. Recently,
citizen activists have accused many government officials
of rampant corruption. The current president, Michel
Martelly, has physically assaulted journalists. In July 2013, a
judge investigating Martelly’s wife and son—who allegedly
stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from government
social programs—died suddenly, leading some watchdog
groups to suspect murder.7 The brutal combination of
natural disasters, political upheaval and corruption has
undermined human rights throughout the country.
7 Francklyn Geffrard. “Haiti: Political Assassination? Suspicious Death of Judge
Who Called for Prosecution of Presidential Family.” Centre for Research on
Globalization. 19 July 2013.
AJWS EARTHQUAKE RESPONSE
When a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck
Haiti in 2010, AJWS donors responded with
an outpouring of support. Many of the
organizations that AJWS funds in Haiti work
with communities on the margins of society,
beyond the reach of traditional international aid
efforts. We committed to helping these local
organizations address Haiti’s challenges—not
just in the aftermath of the earthquake, but in
the long-term struggle to achieve human rights
in the country.
Immediately after the earthquake, AJWS made
emergency grants to several organizations
based in the Dominican Republic, whose
proximity and knowledge of the Haitian
community enabled them to immediately
respond to unique needs on the ground.
A member of the MOSCTHA medical team evaluates a young patient at Camp Quistis. The team
provided medicine and patient services, both of which were urgently needed.
Grantees Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico
Haitiana and Movimiento Social-Cultural de
los Trabajadores Haitianos came to Haiti in a caravan of
mobile ambulances and provided medicine, food, water
In the U.S., AJWS leads a coalition of 30 organizations that
purification systems and temporary shelter. They remained
is the principal group of Haiti advocates in Washington
to help Haitian communities recover and address issues
today. With these allies, AJWS has helped secure $2.8
like violence against women in the displacement camps.
billion of additional relief funding from the U.S. and
cancellation of more than $700 million of Haiti’s debt.
AJWS’s Haiti-based grantees—such as Défenseurs des
Opprimées and Fos Refleksyon ak Aksyon sou Koze
AJWS staff helped write the U.S. House of Representatives’
Kay—also worked in the camps, fighting forced evictions,
Assessing Progress in Haiti Act of 2013. This legislation
documenting human rights violations and helping
directs the U.S. government’s response to the earthquake
residents advocate for their needs. A year after the
in a way that reflects the priorities of AJWS’s partners.
earthquake, Fanm Deside built a safe house for abused
AJWS worked with our grantees to influence U.S. policy
women and children in Jacmel, which was the first shelter
makers, ensuring that Haitian voices are heard in the halls
of its kind in Southeast Haiti.
of power.
Advocating for Haiti
Given the extensive destruction in Port-au-Prince, more
than 600,000 people moved to the countryside after
the earthquake, burdening already impoverished villages
well beyond their limits. AJWS grantee Partnership for
Local Development set up a cash-for-work program in
rural communities that were struggling to house and feed
displaced people. The program paid displaced families to
learn and implement new, environmentally friendly farming
techniques to help curb the growing food crisis. Fondation
SEROvie, which was the only LGBT organization in Haiti
in 2010, lost 14 members and staff during the earthquake.
AJWS helped SEROvie rebuild its office and provide critical
support to LGBT people who lost their homes.
AJWS Emergency Response
in Haiti
$6.4 million raised
$6.1 million spent, to date, in relief
and recovery efforts
66 grantees a nd global partners
over four years
7
Our Commitment IN Haiti
AJWS is committed to helping Haiti’s people recover from the earthquake and build
a society where all people can realize their human rights.
With AJWS’s support, our grantees are:
• Rebuilding communities and promoting human
rights, drawing on the $6.4 million contributed to
AJWS’s Haiti emergency fund after the 2010 earthquake
• Providing comprehensive services to meet the needs
of women, survivors of sexual violence, sex workers and
LGBT people
• Helping local communities develop disaster plans
and practices that will protect human rights and
reduce the loss of life and property when future natural
disasters occur
• Increasing local food production and promoting
sustainable farming techniques to combat Haiti’s
ongoing hunger crisis and reduce reliance on
foreign aid
• Investigating corruption among Haiti’s leaders and
spreading the word about government accountability
and the need for reform via radio and alternative media
• Training people in displacement camps, slums and
rural areas to increase their understanding of human
rights and democracy so that they can advocate for
their human rights
• Advocating for new policies to prevent violence and
end discrimination against women, LGBT people and
sex workers
• Collaborating with other human rights organizations
and helping local leaders build skills in community
mobilizing, advocacy and reporting human rights
abuses
A member of Fonkoze reaches out to community
members after the earthquake.
8
AJWS FUNDING IN HAITI
$1.75
$1.50
In Millions
$1.25
$1.00
$.75
$.50
$.25
2006
2007
2008
2009 2010
Past 8 Years
2011
2012
2013
$7.6 MILLION invested in Haiti since 1999
CURRENT GRANTmaking BY issue area
10%
Natural Resource Rights
& Economic Justice
36%
54%
Sexual Health and Rights
Civil and Political Rights
Woman and girl living in a Haitian tent camp for displaced earthquake survivors in
2010. Photo by Morgan Soloski
COUNTRY Snapshot
n Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas, with
an enormous disparity between rich and poor. Just
1 percent of Haiti’s population owns nearly half of the
country’s wealth. For many years, money and power have
been concentrated in the hands of lighter skinned, elite
Haitians. 8
nC
orruption is rife in Haiti. Transparency International’s
2006 annual survey—which analyzes people’s perceptions
of government dishonesty and criminal activity—ranked
Haiti as the most corrupt country on earth.9
Civil and Political Rights
Sexual Health and Rights
Natural Resource Rights
nH
aiti’s environment has been ravaged. Forests covered
almost 60 percent of the country in 1923; in 2006, they
covered less than 2 percent.10 Without trees, the country
is more vulnerable to the impact of tropical storms and
other disasters.
n Disasters have amplified Haiti’s poverty and injustice.
In 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the country,
killing more than 200,000 people and displacing
2 million from their homes.11 Four years after the disaster,
more than 200,000 people still live in tent camps, and
corruption, violence and hunger have escalated.
A beneficiary of AJWS grantee Fonkoze’s cash-for-work program outside the
town of Sodo. Participants earned money in exchange for working on community
recovery projects.
8 BBC News. “Haiti Country Profile.” 17 Dec 2012.
9 Transparency International. “Corruption Perceptions Index.” 2006.
10 Library of Congress – Federal Research Division. “Country Profile: Haiti.”
May 2006.
11 Paul Farmer. “Key Statistics.” United Nations Office of the Special Envoy for
Haiti. 2013.
9
On the Ground with
AJWS Grantees
“I have many dreams for Haiti, dreams
that we can make a reality with much
will and with support … We are betting
on these dreams.”
–Sonia Pierre, late founder of MUDHA
AJWS’s grantees in Haiti are making substantial progress against
tremendous odds. Each grantee’s story shows how grassroots solutions are
bringing about change in the country.
ABOVE AND FAR RIGHT MUDHA offers a self-esteem workshop to support women earthquake survivors living in a displacement camp.
1010
Movimiento De Mujeres Dominico Haitiana
(Movement of Dominican-Haitian Women)
Dominican-Haitian communities help earthquake survivors.
In the wake of the 2010 earthquake, AJWS grantee Movimiento de
Mujeres Dominico Haitiana (MUDHA) organized Haitian communities
in the Dominican Republic to rapidly respond to the immediate needs
of disaster victims across the border. Just 48 hours after the disaster,
MUDHA mobilized Dominican-Haitian communities to assist people in
some of the most remote and devastated areas of Haiti.
With ties to communities in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic,
MUDHA was uniquely positioned to coordinate this kind of communityorganized, local aid. “Our response was to get aid down there
immediately, because a lot of times, these bigger organizations spend
more time raising money and tend to cluster in places that are not
the hardest hit,” said Ninaj Raoul, one of MUDHA’s partners in the
earthquake response.12
MUDHA mobilized its members to quickly provide survivors in Haiti with the medical care, food and water that they
urgently needed. MUDHA also took care to address the needs of women and children—providing feminine hygiene
products, undergarments and diapers—which are often overlooked by emergency aid.
Organizing Dominican-Haitian women and families to defend their rights
Before MUDHA began its earthquake relief efforts, the organization had a long history of defending the rights of Haitian
people and serving those in need. Sonia Pierre, the organization’s late founder, was the child of Haitian migrants. She was
born in a Dominican batey—a poor district designated for laborers, where she slept on the dirt floor with her 11 siblings.
Sonia organized her first rally against discrimination and the poor conditions in the bateyes when she was just 13.
As an adult, Sonia founded MUDHA to fight for the rights of all Dominicans of Haitian descent—with a focus on
battling both gender and ethnic inequality. In 2010, Sonia won the International Women of Courage Award from the U.S.
Department of State.
Creating short- and long-term solutions after the quake
In Haiti’s earthquake displacement camps, MUDHA brought many years of experience organizing communities to solve
their most pressing challenges. When sexual violence became a terrifyingly common threat to women and girls living
in the camps, MUDHA immediately organized camp committees to develop strategies to prevent assaults and support
survivors. Staff and volunteers distributed whistles and flashlights to women and set up an alert system. This allowed tent
camp communities to intervene if a woman blew the whistle, signaling that they felt intimidated or threatened.
MUDHA also opened a community center for women in the
camps, where women could receive training on sexual health
and ways to reduce their risk of sexual and gender-based
violence. The center provides essential services for women,
including a health clinic, counseling services and specialized
care for survivors of gender-based violence. While many
displacement camp residents have found new places to stay,
the MUDHA community center is still thriving. Local women
seek services at the clinic and learn valuable skills from the
center’s new job training programs.
Location: Haiti and the Dominican Republic
Website: www.kiskeya-alternative.org/mudha/
Organizational Budget: $362,000
AJWS Funding History: $40,000 annually since 2003
12 Judith De Los Santos. “Aid beyond Port-au-Prince.” SocialistWorker.org. 2 Mar 2010.
11
Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen
(Heads Together, Haitian Small Farmers)
Haiti’s oldest organization of peasant farmers defends land and food rights.
When Monsanto—a multinational chemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation—tried to donate genetically
modified (GMO) seeds to Haiti after the earthquake, AJWS grantee Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen was watching. Monsanto’s
move willfully ignored the preferences of Haitian farmers, who have consistently and publically rejected GMO seeds.
The farmers, most of them poor, say that the seeds mix with local crops and, in time, force all farmers in the area to pay
Monsanto for their expensive, patented seeds. The GMO seeds also contain pesticides that threaten the health of those
who handle them.
To resist GMO seeds, Tèt Kole worked with other Haitian peasant
groups to organize local farmers and protest Monsanto’s selfinterested “donation.” They gathered more than 10,000 people, who
spoke out and pledged to burn the GMO seeds. Soon after, Haiti’s
minister of agriculture rejected Monsanto’s offer.13
Tèt Kole has enabled Haiti’s peasants
to wield power in a system in which
farmers had long been powerless.
Growing a movement for sustainable farming
Tèt Kole is a grassroots organization run by and for Haiti’s peyizan, or peasant farmers. The group’s 80,000 members work
together to collectively advocate for their rights. Since its founding in 1970, Tèt Kole has enabled Haiti’s peasants to wield
power in a system in which farmers had long been powerless. Only a few, very wealthy families own land in the country,
and the majority of people support themselves as sharecroppers, giving a sizable share of everything they produce back to
the owners.
Although Haiti once produced plenty of food for its people, the last two decades of free trade agreements and foreign
food donations have upset the local market. This alarming trend has created a food crisis in Haiti and threatened the
economic prospects of long-time farming communities.
Today, Tèt Kole farmers work to ensure that Haiti can
Location: Throughout Haiti
produce enough food for its people in the future, and
protect the delicate natural resources that the people
Organizational Budget: $192,600
depend on. Tèt Kole even runs an agro-ecology research
center, complete with a system to catch rainwater for
AJWS Funding History: $50,000 annually since 2012
irrigating crops. Its staff train members in traditional
and modern techniques for cultivating crops and raising
animals, enabling them to increase their yields. In areas
vulnerable to dangerous mud slides and soil erosion, Tèt Kole has started reversing decades of destruction by launching
reforestation projects—protecting both the land and the people who depend on it.
Advocating for the rights of farmers
The organization also advocates against development projects that threaten to evict farmers from the land they depend
on for survival. Recently, Tèt Kole has joined the Mining Justice Collective, a newly-formed NGO network that also receives
funding from AJWS. The group’s goal is to fight corporate mining interests that threaten to displace communities and ruin
Haiti’s environment.
Tèt Kole continues to evolve with Haiti and the needs of its members. When members expressed concern that the voices
of women farmers weren’t being heard, the group instituted new rules for including women in Tèt Kole’s leadership. Of Tèt
Kole’s three elected leaders, at least one will always be a woman.
13 Michelle Greenhalgh. “Haitian Farmers Reject Monsanto Donation.” Food Safety News. 7 Jun 2010.
12
Ayiti Kale Je
(Haiti Grassroots Watch)
Investigative journalists keep Haiti’s officials accountable for responsible reconstruction.
Billions of dollars in foreign aid and reconstruction projects have flooded into Haiti since the earthquake, but the
process for deciding how the money will be spent is not transparent. While displaced earthquake survivors languish in
tent camps, U.S. government funds have sometimes been directed toward building upscale hotels instead of housing for
homeless Haitians.
AJWS grantee Ayiti Kale Je (AKJ) believes people should be
asking questions about these kinds of decisions. But in Haiti,
the government itself is often corrupt—and the local media
often fails to investigate dishonest deeds. Many reporters
receive limited training and very low salaries, which is
perhaps what leads some to accept gifts from powerful
people and to report whatever they are told, without
checking their facts.
Location: Based in Port-au-Prince, investigations
throughout Haiti
Website: www.ayitikaleje.org
Organizational Budget: $131,500
AJWS Funding History: $35,000 annually since 2011
AKJ is an investigative news network formed in 2010 to keep a closer watch on Haiti’s reconstruction process—and to make
sure Haitian communities have a say in how foreign aid gets spent. Their goal is to give average citizens the information
they need to demand a fair distribution of relief funds and to hold Haiti’s leaders accountable for their actions.
Revealing corruption through breaking news
AKJ reports stories that reveal corruption to the public. Lately, international media outlets have been picking up the
groundbreaking stories. The network was the first to uncover the story that 15 percent of the country’s land was already
under contract to mining companies.14 This came as a shock to the public and non-corrupt lawmakers, who did not realize
that certain government officials had struck deals with mining companies behind closed doors.
As a result of the story, the Haitian Senate demanded that mining activities cease, allowing for analysis of the existing
contracts and a national debate. This is exactly the kind of impact to which AKJ is dedicated.
Reaching Haiti’s most marginalized people through alternative media
The majority of Haiti’s people are poor rural farmers. This population is largely beyond the reach of news reports and
excluded from political participation. Many Haitians can’t read newspapers and lack reliable electricity or televisions.
Others have opted to stay out of political affairs, due to lack of information and deep frustration over years of corruption
and political unrest. AKJ works to bridge this gap, recognizing that without the participation of informed citizens in shaping
their government and its policies, it will be difficult for Haiti to become a true democracy.
To engage Haiti’s population in civic affairs, AKJ reporters work closely with radio stations run by youth and women and
with other grassroots organizations, identifying news topics about which communities want to learn and crafting stories
that make the impact of politics understandable. AKJ uses radio, a medium that is accessible to low-income people, and
organizes community screenings of video news documentaries.
In addition to training its own reporters to provide well-researched news stories that matter, AKJ also trains reporters
from other news outlets throughout the country on investigative journalism ethics and skills. In the long run, AKJ hopes
to inspire more watchdog reporting—and to get citizens asking the kinds of questions that will keep Haiti’s officials
accountable.
14 Ayiti Kale Je. “Gold Rush in Haiti! Who will get rich?” 30 May 2012.
13
KOURAJ
(Courage)
Activists with grit stand up to Haiti’s anti-LGBT extremists.
Homophobic hatred sizzled in Haiti’s streets last summer. Religious leaders marched throughout the country to protest
same-sex relationships and stir up anti-LGBT sentiment. As these extremists launched a vicious campaign, Haiti’s small,
but growing number of advocates for LGBT rights—like the aptly named AJWS grantee Kouraj (Courage)—spoke out.
Kouraj’s members reached out to news media to draw attention to the crisis, calling for equality and an end to the
attacks and hatred.
Location: Based in Port-au-Prince, with outreach to
Anti-gay extremists responded to Kouraj’s actions with
Léogâne, Cap-Haïtien, Saint-Marc, Goniaves and Les Cayes
a litany of threats and harrassment. In November of
Website: kouraj.org/en/
2013, their threats turned violent: A group of men armed
with guns and machetes broke into the Kouraj office,
Organizational Budget: $21,000
assaulted two of the organization’s members and robbed
them while hurling anti-LGBT slurs.15
AJWS Funding History: $15,000 annually since 2012
When Kouraj’s founding members formed their nonprofit
group in 2011, they knew they would be facing serious risks. It takes grit to come out as LGBT in Haiti, let alone to
publicly respond to homophobia. The group aims to empower gay and transgender Haitians to insist on acceptance in
their own society and stand up for their rights.
Creating a culture that embraces LGBT people
Kouraj’s members are up against formidable opponents. Most Haitians affiliate with the Roman Catholic Church—and,
despite recent LGBT-friendly comments from Pope Francis, local church leaders have vociferously denounced LGBT
people as immoral. In the wake of the 2010 earthquake, some church leaders even accused LGBT Haitians of causing the
disaster—bringing divine punishment to the country as a result of their “sins.” Fearing isolation and discrimination, LGBT
people in Haiti are rarely open about their sexual orientiation or gender identities.
Discrimination against LGBT people in Haiti plays out in
less obvious ways, as well. After the earthquake, some of the
international aid agencies operating displacement camps
distributed food exclusively to women, assuming that they
would distribute the food to their male partners and children.
While this plan admirably intended to empower women, its
architects never considered that it would exclude gay men
and others who did not have wives or girlfriends to share
food with them. For reasons like this, LGBT people often face
challenges accessing resources in the camps.
Kouraj members organize a public demonstration to denounce violence against
Kouraj is trying to shift Haitian cultural attitudes on LGBT
LGBT people in Jacmel. Photo from Kouraj.
issues. It brings LGBT people together to discuss their
concerns, raises awareness about LGBT rights in the wider
community and sparks public debate about the stigma surrounding same-sex relationships. The organization is even
working to neutralize the impact of derogatory terms lobbed against LGBT people. For example, Kouraj members have
reclaimed masisi, a Haitian Creole slur for LGBT people, to “transform this insult into pride.”
Despite the risks they face, Kouraj’s members continue to speak up for their rights. Their movement is slowly but surely
gaining momentum. Just a few years ago, the organization received only limited support from international funders. But
today they have broad support. In November of 2013, they brought together six major NGO allies to publically respond to
Haiti’s LGBT rights crisis.
15 Amnesty International. “Haiti: LGBTI Organization’s Office Attacked in Haiti.” 26 Nov 2013.
14
Travel And
ACTIVISM
AJWS sends groups of Jewish leaders, rabbis, activists, philanthropists and young professionals on
delegations and activist trips to meet our grantees and support their work in action. After these powerful
experiences in Haiti and around the world, they return home to become ever stronger advocates for global
justice and tikkun olam—the Hebrew phrase for “repairing the world.”
Today, AJWS’s trips are designed to prepare American Jewish leaders and activists to become strong
advocates for U.S. policies that will benefit people living in developing countries. For more information
about opportunities to travel with AJWS, visit www.ajws.org/travel.
Learn more about Haiti.
For a list of suggested books, articles and resources about human rights in
Haiti, visit www.ajws.org/haitiresources.
ABOVE Residents of the Cité de Soleil slum clap as United Nations troops
announce that they will protect them.
BACK COVER Looking out over Port-au-Prince on the way to the suburb of
Pétionville. Photo by Stefanie Rubin
Join Us
We hope you’ll support AJWS’s work in Haiti
and around the world. Here’s how:
Donate
Your contribution helps AJWS pursue global justice
worldwide.
Visit www.ajws.org/donate, call 800.889.7146
or send your contribution to:
American Jewish World Service
45 west 36th Street
New York, NY 10018
Take Action
Add your voice to AJWS’s campaigns for human rights.
Visit www.ajws.org/action or e-mail [email protected]
Travel
Join an AJWS Study Tour or international activism opportunity
to witness the power of grassroots change first hand.
Visit www.ajws.org/travel
Connect
Join our social networks to become a part of our community
of changemakers.
 /americanjewishworldservice
 /ajws
 /ajwsinamericas
Our Commitment to Excellence
Since 2004 AJWS has received an “A” rating from the American
Institute of Philanthropy and a top rating of four-stars from Charity
Navigator. AJWS also meets all 20 of Better Business Bureau’s
standards for charity accountability.
American Jewish World Service
45 West 36th Street
New York, NY 10018
t: 212.792.2900
800.889.7146
f: 212.792.2930
ajws.org
[email protected]