Everywhere in Port-au-Prince, small makeshift shelters are packed one against the other. Most of these camps have forced people that did not know each other to live a harsh life together. Seven months after the earthquake these shelters and way of existence have become routine, complete with temporary markets and street life. But a multitude of problems are hiding behind it and this is what Madame Lamercie’s GBV programme is endeavouring to vocalise.

Near the entrance of Camp Acra in Delmas 30, a wooden readymade shelter welcomes women every day to the GBV’s workshops in sewing, cosmetics and painting. Launched by Madame Lamercie and aided by a small team, they use these workshops to encourage women to share their experiences and problems. She explained to us that many women in the camps are in unsafe situations and several of them have been subject to violence and abuse. Her objective is to find solution, one by one, to resolve some of the problems.

The workshops are designed to encourage communication, yet several women find it hard to express their feelings openly so a box sits in the middle of the room. Mme Lamercie encourages women to write and submit their experiences anonymously so they can be addressed.

Every Friday at 11am, she opens the “box of grief” and reads out all messages to the group. The atmosphere gets rather tense, and face expressions reveal the concealed anguish. Small weeps and moans are heard during the reading of these terrible stories. In the audio portfolio that follows, everybody can listen to the stories and share in this hard but necessary moment of revelation.

As it often happens in Haiti, all activities end in music and cheerfulness. And just like a therapy, once these women have found the strength to speak out and listen to each other’s stories, joy and laughs burst out more vigorously than ever.

On the 12 January 2010, thousands of children witnessed unimaginable scenes, that no kid of that age could possibly comprehend. Traumatised and then displaced to temporary camps, it is difficult for them to get over their hidden traumas without external help.

The First Lady of the country, Mme Préval, with the support of a group of Haitian artists, and especially the painter and sculptor Philippe Dodard, set up in February a project named “Plas Timoun“, which means “children’s square” in analogy with the public squares which have been turned into huge camps.

The concept of this project lies on art therapy and a socio-cultural programme that allows the children to express what they have lived during and after the catastrophe. Different art workshops, set up inside buses and assisted by local artists and counselors, encourage children to express their feelings while playing. The director of the Plas Timoun centre in Petion-Ville explained to us that many of them were closed off from the world and that after the opening of the centre considerable progress has been noticed. There are currently two centres in Port-au-Prince: one in Champs de Mars (next to the presidential palace) and the other one in Petion-Ville. A third centre is about to be opened.

In the video report that follows, you will learn about the activities at Plas Timoun in Petion-Ville, and the effect on the children who attend it. This centre has received about 1200 children since its opening on the 24 February.

Michaëlle Léger, the centre’s director, is concerned about the future of this project. What will happen after the elections and the change of president in November? At the moment, this centre is the only alternative for all those children which cannot attend school and have no activities in the camp where they live. In fact, the school system in Haiti is too expensive for the majority of parents, which are forced to go to work leaving their kids alone all day at the camp.

Will the new government take its responsibilities and look after these children in the camps, who are marked forever and currently do not have any perspective of improvement of their conditions?