Woman - Haiti Observer Blog

Great writers write what they know, and to know one must have experienced. It is perhaps the wealth of experience to be had growing up with the flavorful culture of Haiti, combined with the inherent 'growing up female' narrative to mold them why women Haitian writers number so many and are so excitingly prolific in their works. This undeniably compelling group of ladies has received an honor even greater than the awards recently issued to 8 among their field with this further acknowledgement of the worth of their words.

The setting was the Municipal Palace of Delmas, the day, Monday April 1, 2013, our protagonists, 8 wonderful writers whose dedication to their various forms of writing, as poets, short-story and novel writers, art critics and educators, was honored by the Ministry of Culture in a ceremony alive with music from the Congolese 'Drums of Brazza'. Edith Lataillade, Marilisse Neptune Rouzier, Marianne Lehmann, Marie-Alice Théard, Evelyne Trouillot, Marie-Marthe Balin Paul, Charlotte Barlatier Cadet and Paula Clermont Péan were given plaques of merit honoring their literary contributions that have benefited the literature of Haiti by enriching it and giving voice to the issues faced by women in Haitian society.

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U.S. Agency for International Department (USAID) started a program that aimed towards boosting up the economy of Haiti through targeted loans to Haitian business units. It has been found in an audit that program failed as the intended targets did not receive the loans, workers were not trained properly and there was no systematic record maintenance. The Office of Inspector General of USAID released the audit report towards the end of February. The aim of this audit was to find out whether areas like waste management, handicrafts, tourism, construction and agriculture were benefited through the promotion of lending practices.

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Ornithologists study birds; but in the case of Haiti's most celebrated bird, the Madan Sara, a science of a different kind is needed. It has long been the view of anthropologists that the women who take their name from the birds purported to be quite boisterous in their noise-filled lives are critically involved in the Haitian system of marketing.

The statistics are glaring; 70% of the workers in the commercial sector and assembly industries are women. In the agricultural sector they're just shy of equaling men at 49%. As the responsible party in most households for the wellbeing and education of the children, women have a struggle to provide their families with life's necessities. As a Madan Sara (twin to the 'market mammy' of West Africa), some women find a foothold as the spoke in the agricultural industry that makes the whole sector work.

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The government of Haiti GOH) has passed almost as many constitutions as it has survived coup d'etats. Haiti's current Constitution, passed in 2012, is the 23rd one written into law.

The first Constitution of Saint-Domingue in 1801 appointed General Toussaint L'Ouverture as ruler for life. It also put an end to slavery, democratized hiring practices, and prohibited all religions except Catholicism. The 1805 Constitution allowed all forms of religious faith and approved reverse-race discrimination, calling all citizens black. The 1807 Constitution removed the reverse-race discrimination clause.

In 1816, the 1806 Constitution was revived, declaring President Alexandre Pétion President for Life. It also gave him unilateral power over Parliament. But under Jean-Baptiste Riché, the 1816 Constitution was put into effect again.

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Paul Magloire, Haiti's 35th president, was born in 1907, heir of a military father. He followed his father's career path, enlisting in the army and rising to Chief of Police in Port-au-Prince.

Paul Magloire played a pivotal role in overthrowing two Haitian presidents, Élie Lescot and his successor, Dumarsais Estimé. President Estimé, in a fruitless effort to draw out his time in office, attempted to amend the Constitution. The mulatto elite aided Magloire in deposing Estimé. Magloire then took the reins of power as President of Haiti.

During his term, Paul Magloire poured money into tourism, Haiti becoming known as a desirable vacation destination for foreign travelers. Imposing a tax on coffee-bean exports, he used the monies for development projects, raising living standards of the impoverished, as well as improving city services. Most notably, he gave the right-to-vote to women. In foreign policy, he forged stronger relations with the Dominican Republic, reversing the violent and unstable history they had shared in the past.

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The year 1990 -1991 saw a woman adorning the seat of the president of Haiti and this was the first time it was happening in the history of Haiti. Ertha Pascal Trouillot was the ninth child of a family of ten children. At the age of 10 she was sent to be mentored under Ernst Trouillot, along with one of her brothers.

Judge for Many Years

Though she wished to pursue a career in science she was directed by her mentor to law and later into politics. He wanted to be with and this later led to the marriage of the two, even though he was 21 years her senior.

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Haiti is a country struggling economically, politically, and socially. As the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, it has repeatedly been on the failed states index. To improve its standing among nations of the world, it must operate a stable and organized government, strengthen its infrastructure, and accord women equal and fair treatment in every aspect of their lives.

Women in Haiti are marginalized by their gender, considered inferior by males at every level of society. The brainwashing of women begins in childhood. Small girls quickly learn they are not valued, experiencing incest and watching their mothers being harassed and beaten.

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This is the latest I have heard so far on the Rape case of former Justice Minister Josue Pierre Louis and Danielle Marie Bernadin.

We have learned that the person who went and attempted to negotiate with the family of the rape victim is Ronald Gerard Demeza. According to "LeMatinHaiti", Ronald Gerard Demeza presented himself as a lawyer. However, he completely denied that he was hired by Mr. Josué Pierre-Louis to work a settlement with Danielle Marie Bernadin's family.

Ronald Gerard Demeza admitted that by a request coming from the father of the victim he had met with him to see how they could resolve the issue privately

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Despite the changing gender roles and the growing feminist movement, female presidents or heads of state are quite rare in Haiti. One of these very few powerful women in history is former Haitian president Ertha Pascal-Trouillot. Politics has always been said to be meant for males as power and control are often associated with being a man. But as time went by, women began competing with this notion and have been made leaders and politicians along with men.

Pascal-Trouillot was born in a suburb of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince in 1943. Her father was an iron worker while her mother was a seamstress and was the ninth child of their ten children. The future president acquired a law degree from the prestigious École de Droit des Gonaives and was a judge for federal courts for more than ten years. She then became the first woman justice of the country's Supreme Court. And in 1990, Pascal-Trouillot was proclaimed as Haiti's temporary president after the successful revolt against former president Prosper Avril which put him out of office.

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We have new information on the rape case of Josue Pierre-Louis.

New information coming from the father of the rape victim would suggest that the team working for Josue Pierre-Louis is willing to use cash and influence to keep the case from going any further.

It has been disclosed that the team defending former Justice Minister and actual President of the CEP, Losue Pierre-Louis, have been trying to buy the opposition. The father of the alleged rape victim said says that the Haitian government offered his daughter $300,000.00 and a job at a consul office outside of the country if she would drop her rape case against Josue Pierre-Louis.

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