Saint-Marc, Haiti has been isolated and surrounded by gang violence over the past months, but the team doesn’t quit, they pivot.
More than ever, the mountain communities surrounding Saint-Marc are what Renaud, Director of RSCH, calls a ‘red zone.’ Many of them, like Gilbert, Pinson, and Lagarene, are part of Rayjon programming, Women’s Federation communities and places that Friends of Rayjon have visited over the years. Being considered a “red zone” means gangs are active in the area. Unless you live there, travel in or out is unsafe and should be avoided at all costs. It also means many residents are displaced to safer ground, though some choose to stay. Red zones are often cyclical: a town can be a red zone this week, clear the next, and back to red the week after. That unpredictability makes planning from one day to the next harder than ever.
Programming doesn’t stop because of it. That’s the strength of being community-driven: community members know their own situation best, know what’s safe, what’s possible, and how to keep impact going, even when it can look impossible from the outside. Our partner communities don’t believe in giving up, so neither do we.
We wanted to share what not giving up looks like in practice. We often talk about pivoting, and it’s probably clear why it’s necessary, but less clear what it actually means. Sometimes it’s recognizing where certain activities aren’t possible right now, building in an area where gangs could destroy the new structure, or where it’s unsafe to move supplies and builders in, for example. Other times it’s building a Plan B, planning for the worst while still hoping for the best. Either way, it takes problem-solving and innovation from our partners on the ground, and trust from the team and supporters in Canada that those decisions are sound.
Here are a few of the ways our partners have put that into practice and kept impact going.
- Alpha exams. Exams were set to happen in three class locations (Jilbè, Pyè Savari, Lagarèn), but a central, safer site made more sense for learners and teachers. Because of that shift, 90% of students wrote their exams and passed the program. A Plan B for September is already in development, so learners can keep building their knowledge even if there would be a prolonged stretch without in-person classes.
- The mill in Lagarèn. Part of staying safe means making sure the Women’s Federation’s equipment never ends up in the wrong hands, but pulling all key infrastructure out of a village risks pulling out hope with it. FEFEH met with the community around the mill and breadfruit programs, and through that conversation reached a compromise: the rice mill stays, with extra fortification, since it’s central to agriculture in the region and losing it would devastate local farmers. The breadfruit factory and additional mills will move to a safer location. This reduces the risk of losing large amounts of costly, hard-to-source equipment, a loss that could derail the program entirely. A temporary site is being set up to house the equipment in the meantime.
- Pinson community school. Pinson, high in the mountains, has been one of the most unexpectedly hard-hit communities. Most residents have been displaced from their homes to other villages in the region. A new, temporary, more central site was built, but violence reached that location too. Pinson’s staff came together with a plan: until students can return home, the team is supporting the small village schools where displaced Pinson students have landed, strengthening those schools’ teaching with their own pedagogical training so students can keep learning wherever they’ve ended up.
None of these pivots would be possible without leadership, planning, and decision-making coming from the communities around Saint-Marc themselves. Building up the Women’s Federation’s leadership, and having strong, trusted leaders at Rayjon Share Care Haiti, is what makes it possible. In Canada, we support. In Haiti, they lead.