Lambi Fund Responds To Women's Needs In Port au Prince
NEWSLETTER SPRING 2010
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Recovering from the earthquake is particularly difficult for women in Haiti. Thousands have been relegated to tent cities in Port-au-Prince, using sheets and scrap wood as makeshift shelters. Under these harsh circumstances, women are more vulnerable to rape and violence, while the struggle to secure food for their families is never-ending.
Recognizing this immense need, The Lambi Fund of Haiti has partnered with two women's groups in Port-au-Prince to help ease the plight of women who are struggling to survive after the earthquake.
Members of KOFAVIV at a recent meeting
Photo: Roberto (Bear) Guerra
In the short term, Lambi Fund is providing emergency food and supplies to group members of FAMAB (The Organization of Brave Women) and KOFAVIV, (Coordination of Women Victims of Violence). While in the long run, Lambi Fund will help these organizations rebuild their programs, who lost nearly everything in the earthquake.
FAMAB focuses on providing micro-credit to poor women so that they can start their own small businesses. Most members are merchants with business enterprises in Port-au-Prince neighborhoods like Bel Air and Cite Soleil.
FAMAB lost many members, homes, and small businesses in the earthquake- leaving the organization with virtually no capacity to help its surviving members.
Following the earthquake, Lambi Fund staff visited members of FAMAB and saw the terrible conditions under which they were living. Members were staying in a refugee camp located in an old airport, and they had difficulty accessing even basic things like shelter, food, and water.
In spite of these abysmal living conditions, members continue to meet every Saturday to analyze their situation and work in solidarity with one another.
The other women's group, KOFAVIV provides services to women who have been victims of sexual abuse and other forms of violence. These women are also working hard to prevent newly orphaned children from becoming child slaves.
Every single member in KOFAVIV lost their homes and are now living in the crowded camps of Port-au-Prince. Their downtown office was destroyed and several members did not make it through the earthquake alive.
All projects that were started before the earthquake have been destroyed or disrupted: a safe center for women and children who were victims of violence, a health center, mental health counseling, and a place to help children.
