Six months after the earthquake, the mothers of Chardonnières are fighting for the health of their children – Haiti

After the earthquake, the families of Chardonnières are barely recovering.

By Moliere Adely

Six months after the earthquake that shook Haiti on August 14, 2021 – killing nearly 2,200 people, injuring 12,700 and affecting around half a million children – UNICEF continues to help families, and by especially children, who were the main victims. In Chardonnières, with the support of UNICEF, dozens of families are receiving training in health and nutrition to improve the care of their children.

Chardonnières, Haiti, February 14, 2022 – At only nine months old, Syndia Célestin experienced the greatest pain: her mother died after fighting for her life for several months. The August 14, 2021 earthquake found her bedridden in her mother’s house in Chardonnières unable to move to seek shelter. Debris fell on his legs and his health deteriorated despite receiving medical attention. Her newborn daughter needed urgent help to survive. Her grandmother, Vita Lubin, 53, welcomed her into her home to offer her food, a home and a loving embrace.

The girl’s mother was ill for months before she died in late December. “I took her to several hospitals. I sold almost everything I had to get the money for her medical treatment. Unfortunately, we couldn’t save her,” says Vita, sitting on the terrace of his house, visibly damaged by the earthquake. , as desolation permeates its history.

In addition to being motherless, Syndia Célestin suffers from severe acute malnutrition. Despite her best efforts, Vita lacks the resources to meet her granddaughter’s food and care needs. “I feed him whenever I can. Some days I just give him bread and peanut butter, but that’s not enough,” she laments. Her job as a food vendor is not enough to make ends meet and her savings disappeared between the earthquake and her daughter’s illness. She now lives in a poor neighborhood of Chardonnières with the baby and other family members.

As in the rest of the municipalities of southern Haiti, the earthquake destroyed or damaged a large part of the houses and buildings of Chardonnières. Many families have been left homeless, facing uncertainty, food shortages and lack of access to the most basic services, including drinking water.

Changing habits and increasing child malnutrition

Eveline Dominique Chery, health officer for UNICEF in Les Cayes, believes that the earthquake has completely changed the lives of the inhabitants of the southern coast of Haiti. Families have been forced to change their diet: “It has become very difficult for people to access the food they used to eat. Some families even reduced the number of daily meals they gave their children; others have changed the way they cook. very strong impact on the nutrition of children in Chardonnières,” she explains. Six months later, the situation has hardly changed.

UNICEF estimates that nearly half a million children have been affected by the earthquake, with little or no access to shelter, clean water, medical care and nutrition. “The overall rate of acute malnutrition at the national level is 6%. In the south it is 4.7%, but this figure probably increased after the earthquake,” says Eveline.

The Communion of Mothers

Odena Michel, 46, is a mother of two children and a volunteer collaborator (Col-vol) at the Club des Parents de la Bousquette – a village in the Chardonnières – which meets once a month in a church. “In 2011, I started training mothers and organized several groups. I prepare hygiene and nutrition training activities, cooking demonstrations, and also examine girls and boys in the club” , explains Odena, who trained as a community health worker. Vita Lubin is one of the club’s members and a committed grandmother who regularly attends club meetings to improve the present and future life of her granddaughter, Syndia Célestin.

Mantoute Marie Rolande is a nurse at the Sainte Anne Health Center in Chardonnières, and one of the people who manages the nutrition and vaccination services for children. “In recent months, we have detected malnutrition in more than ten children,” she says. On February 1, 2022, she welcomed Syndia Célestin to the hospital, who passed a health check for the first time since her birth. After examining her, Mantoute provided the baby with several doses of vaccines and gave her grandmother Plumpy’Nut to continue feeding her at home. Plumpy’Nut is a ready-to-use therapeutic food based on peanut paste and easy to administer for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition.

The Parenting Club had ceased operations after the earthquake, but slowly resumed meetings. The objective is to mobilize women to improve the nutritional situation of children in the area. “Thanks to the Parenting Club, in recent years there have been fewer malnourished children in the region,” explains Col-vol Odena.

There are currently 179 clubs operating in the Grand Sud region and although these groups have been around for years, they are proliferating thanks to UNICEF support to the Ministry of Health.

“UNICEF, through the Integrated Health Services for Adolescents and Women (SSIAF) project, cooperated with the Ministry in the training of ASCPs (Multipurpose Community Health Workers). It also helps us with the clubs, by supporting the activities that the mothers organize each month”, indicates Céline Percy Élysée, Child Health Coordinator at the Direction de la Santé du Sud. The SSIAF project is funded by Canada and implemented by UNFPA, UNAIDS, PAHO, WHO and UNICEF.

Wilnèse Mogène, 31, lives with her daughter in Lapas 2, a village in the Chardonnières. In 2016, she was invited by Odena to join the club. “Thanks to the Parenting Club, I learned a lot of things. They taught me the principles of hygiene and nutrition. I learned to balance what you eat at home,” she says. The training she received at the club enabled her to better feed her 10-year-old daughter. “Before, my daughter often had headaches. She did not understand what she was studying. Since I started serving her balanced meals, she no longer has headaches. Now she is studying well and remembers all the lessons,” says Wilnèse.

Her daughter, Wiltana-Beaudier St-Cyr, a CM2 student, lives with her, but was on vacation with her father when the earth shook on August 14. “I immediately thought of my mother. I was scared,” Wiltana recalls. She says she is always scared when there are earthquakes because she knows that when the earth shakes she might be one of the victims. This underlying fear does not, however, prevent her from dreaming about her future: “When I grow up, I want to be a nurse to care for the sick.

Since the earthquake, UNICEF and the Ministry of Health have tested 21,800 children under five for acute malnutrition. More than 1,100 children among them were treated for acute malnutrition and 3,700 for moderate acute malnutrition. UNICEF has pre-positioned emergency nutritional supplies to care for 27,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition in Nippes, Sud and Grand’Anse affected by the earthquake.