20903: Blanchet: Spotlight interview with Viviane Pierre, a nurse and assistant coordinator of t (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <MaxBlanchet@worldnet.att.net>

Spotlight interview with Viviane Pierre, a nurse and assistant coordinator of the national women's network, RENAFANM (ICFTU Website)
            Spotlight interview with Viviane Pierre, a nurse and assistant coordinator of the national women's network, RENAFANM

       For more
            Spotlight interviews
      8 March, International Women's Day - Haiti

      The daily struggle of Viviane, nurse and activist for Haitian Women's Rights

      Brussels, 9 March 2004 (ICFTU OnLine): On 8 March, in connection with its Unions for Women, Women for Unions campaign, the Global Unions group - comprising the ICFTU and the Global Unions Federations and the OECD_TUAC - will launch a season of actions focusing on women in the informal economy and women in export processing zones.
      The objective is to give non-protected women workers a chance to assert their rights for the sake of solidarity and the future of the trade union movement as a whole.


      A mission to Haiti, involving the ICFTU, its regional organisation for the Americas, ICFTU-ORIT and other trade unionists recently returned having witnessed a troubling climate of instability and flagrant abuses of trade union rights in the Caribbean country. Spotlight interview with Viviane Pierre, a nurse and assistant coordinator of the national women's network, RENAFANM. RENAFANM is an affiliate of the Haitian Trade Union Coordination and campaigns against discrimination and violence against Haitian women and for improvement of their socio-economic situation, as part of the broader struggle for a change of government in Haiti.

      Unless you come from a wealthy background, how can you manage in today's Haiti to combine work, family life and the very demanding activities of a feminist activist?

      It's a daily struggle. I'm 40 and have been married since 18. I have 4 children, one of whom was adopted. I live and work as a community health nurse in the Carrefour district of Port-au-Prince. My husband is a security guard and earns 3000 'gourdes' a month (author's note: one euro = approx. 42 gourdes). I have set up my own health clinic with a colleague. My income varies considerably: some days I have no patients, whilst on others I have 20 consultations and can earn up to 1000 gourdes, but that is the absolute maximum. However, despite all the problems I really can't complain compared to the majority of the population.

      In the past, with 100 gourdes I could go shopping and feed my family for a whole week. Nowadays, with galloping inflation, that sum of money is worth nothing. My husband spends 30 to 50 gourdes per day just on the 'tap tap' (a little van used for public transport). Some days he does not manage to get home before 11pm. I don't like that as the city gets very dangerous after dark. Our 4 children's school fees together cost a basic 9,350 gourdes a year, plus an extra 1,500 every month. My adopted daughter is 13 but had never been to school before the adoption and has a lot of ground to make up. We adopted her 5 years ago during a vaccination campaign by RENAFANM in the Furcy region, south of Port-au-Prince. Her mother had just died and her father, a poor peasant farmer, had no money. Everything keeps going up in price, including food and health care. It's no coincidence that people come to my clinic rather than consulting a doctor.

      We hear a lot about the 'zinglindos', a group of gangsters who steal and kill remorselessly, and the 'chimères', who carry out dirty deeds for the government. But aren't they victims themselves, in a way?

      Yes of course, they are nearly all from difficult backgrounds. The poverty is so intense that it leads to huge problems: child labour, prostitution, juvenile delinquency and even murder are all related the scourge of poverty.

      Tell us about RENAFANM and its work please.

      RENAFANM was started up 5 years ago by a small group of women. We now have 2,300 members. One of the main aims is to fight against the discrimination and violence that Haitian women too often suffer, including in local union branches. We also want to change the socio-economic situation of women living in slum and rural areas. We have achieved some results through a combination of listening to the problems and raising awareness at grass roots level. We have committees in all 9 'departments' in the country. We carry out a range of education activities, e.g. on literacy, health, the environment, cooking, sewing, etc. We also try to get women to contribute to self-help and solidarity funds and to understand the value of micro credit systems. We provide information sessions on bringing up children - of all types - and stress the rights of young domestic staff to benefit from education, health and leisure services. Above all, we want our members to avoid using children as domestic helpers. This is no easy task. In towns, women are working in the informal sector. In order to do these jobs they are away from home for many hours a day and may be tempted to use free labour. So we are basically fighting for change, which will itself depend on politics and the departure of Aristide. RENAFANM belongs to the Group of 184 - a group of civil society organisations that want a new social contract for the country - and take part in all its demonstrations.

      To read the Trade Union World Briefing "The informal economy: women on the frontline"

      The ICFTU represents over 150 million workers in 233 affiliated organisations in 152 countries and territories. ICFTU is also a member of Global Unions: http://www.global-unions.org

      For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2 224 0206 or +32 476 621 018.


      Written by
      Interview by Jacky Delorme


Back to Web version