Child-Friendly Space provides some normalcy

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

At a World Vision Child-Friendly Space in Lycee Petionville, Haiti, children affected by the massive 7.0 earthquake sing, dance, and play games in one of their few opportunities to return to normalcy.

“I was in my house, doing my homework after school when the quake hit,” says 10-year-old Jousena. “I jumped from the bed and tried to run.” Now, she says, “everything is gone.”

Jousena talks while her eight-year-old brother Alain clings to her hand. “I want to continue to study my lessons,” she says, but her house was crushed in the quake and her family is now living in a makeshift camp across the street where blankets and tarps are strung together to provide shelter for the displaced.

Alain is timid as he recounts the moment the earthquake hit. “I ran out when I heard the quake. I saw something fall on my house, then someone grabbed my hand and pulled me away. I could feel my heart beating.”

He says that some people have given him clothes, but he has been unable to recover what was in their house and now needs shirts, pants and underwear.

Up to 140 children aged 6-12 have been attending the Child-Friendly Space. World Vision came alongside volunteers and provided materials, staff and training. Most of the volunteers have even lost their houses, but having a Child-Friendly Space in place across from the displacement camp provides stability for both children and parents.

Ten year-old Mertilus lost her father in the earthquake and says life in the camp is hard. “There is trash everywhere. It is not a nice place.”

She comes to the Child-Friendly Space for the schooling and the opportunity to sing and dance with other kids. She has no clothes other than the ones she wears, and depends on daily food distributions in order to eat. As the girls get up and begin to dance, with loud beating of drums and joyful singing, it’s difficult to believe they have experienced such a terrible tragedy.