MADRE Statements

MADRE's Executive Director Yifat Susskind Blogs about her Trip to Haiti

Posted on: Thursday, February 3, 2011

Keywords: Haiti, Latin America and Caribbean, Combating Violence Against Women

Yifat Blog MADRE's Executive Director Yifat Susskind is keeping us informed about her first work trip to Haiti through the myMADRE Blog. She updates us on the current atmosphere in Port-au-Prince, and shares her experiences visiting with MADRE's sister organization KOFAVIV, meeting with women in the Champs de Mars displacement camp and inaugurating the newly built KOFAVIV Women's Center.

Touching Base from Port-au-Prince

"This trip has special meaning for me. I became the Executive Director of MADRE just a few weeks ago, and this is my first chance to visit one of our sister organizations in this new role."

Giving Girls a Chance to Laugh Again

"Today at the KOFAVIV Women’s Center that we’ve co-founded with our partners, I played with a three-year-old rape survivor. She smiled at me a few times, but her mother looked like she might never smile again."

When Rape Causes Political Disenfranchisement

"The women said they knew about the election, but had not been able to vote. Back in November, they also had more immediate concerns: they were too afraid to leave their children alone in the camp because the threat of rape is so grave."

Thinking about Cairo in Port-au-Prince

"A long-time Haitian human rights activist we meet with echoes these thoughts. "If you look at the situation here over the last 30 years, there’s a parallel. Port-au-Prince could become Cairo."

Saying Good-Bye from Port-au-Prince

"Because when I tell women in these countries about your stories and when they see what the women of Haiti are able to do, they say, “If they can be strong, we can be strong.”"

To learn more about Yifat's thoughts on current issues read her special blogging series Yifat's Take on the myMADRE blog.

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