By Toby Simon
Thirty-five young women sat rapt on pint-sized chairs in a daycare center in Petionville, Haiti, listening to Ann-Valerie Milfort, a tireless crusader for women's rights, economic opportunity and political participation.
An animated educator currently working for Haitian First Lady Sophia Martelly, Milfort knows how to reach the young women in her workshop on gender violence. Her preferred pedagogy is an interactive one that includes brainstorming exercises, role-plays and case studies. The young women ― ages 18 to 30 ― are part of the YWCA-Haiti's Leadership Academy, a 10-week seminar that provides training on gender violence, self- esteem, empowerment, financial literacy, women's health and entrepreneurship.
Milfort wrote the words "cycle of violence" on the whiteboard. The participants rattled off the various behaviors that characterize each phase. There was much agreement among the women ― and laughter, too. I was seated near a young woman, Marie France, who seemed particularly engaged. Her responses to the more probing questions showed a sophisticated grasp of the material.
I was spending a few days in Haiti to make a short film about the YWCA and its programs, beneficiaries and future directions. Following the workshop, we asked Marie France if we could visit her home and possibly take some footage of her house. She happily obliged.
She lives in a typical densely populated poor neighborhood, an area called "Koulwa 62" (Corridor 62). She led us down a long, narrow corridor and several winding paths to a 9-by-12-foot, one-room cement house. There she lives with her husband, three other adults and her four-year-old son. Their dwelling is in the middle of a larger cement building with households of equal size on both sides. With a curtain rather than a door at the entrance, there is little separating the other houses in the "lakou."
When it was time to leave, we asked if we could film her walking us back to the main road. The last leg of the short trip was down the long corridor. With camera rolling, Marie France made her way down the path, when suddenly we encountered a large man who had just entered the narrow passageway. Upon seeing the camera, he became outraged and agitated, waving his arms at us.
I couldn't understand all he was saying but I knew that he didn't like the pictures being taken. The videographer calmly put down the camera. We froze, fearful of what he might do next. Marie France broke the silence by explaining calmly and firmly that we were neither filming the neighborhood nor him. She explained that we were filming her because of her involvement at the YWCA and pointed to her YWCA T-shirt with the slogan "Change Starts with Me." This seemed to make him angrier, and even more threatening.
Just then, Marie France gathered her courage and in her newly empowered, I've-just-spent-the-day-learning-about-gender-violence voice, looked at the man and said, "So, you want to solve this problem with violence? You mean to tell me that's how you want to resolve this conflict? With violence? Really, sir?"
Suddenly the man stopped ranting. At least 30 seconds passed. Then he looked at Marie France and, flashing a big smile, said, "Well, at least take a picture of me!"
The mission of the YWCA in Haiti is to empower girls and young women by enhancing their self-esteem through education, leadership development and financial literacy. They are teaching girls and young women that their voices can and should be heard and respected. The new skills they acquire are transferable to their daily lives. The hope is that the new skills will enhance their negotiations at home, on the street, in school and in the tent cities.
Can one gender-violence workshop, as part of a leadership academy, empower a young woman to defuse a potentially volatile situation? Marie France's response to the angry young man ― as well as her decision three weeks later to leave her husband, who she said was jealous and violent ― provides a glimmer of hope that the work of the YWCA-Haiti, and specifically training on violence prevention, can make a difference.
Toby Simon directs the Gertrude Hochberg Women's Center at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I. The writer is also a columnist for the Providence Journal.
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