Marie's story
Marie was just 16 years-old when she brutally came face to face with sexual violence for the first time. As a result, she became pregnant. Her young age combined with the lack of proper health services lead to serious complications during her pregnancy, ending in a crisis of eclampsia during the seventh month.
Lacking the financial means to provide their daughter with the care she needed, Marie’s parents called on the human rights section of the MINUSTAH to support them.
Under the EC-funded project, “together against violence against children”, Plan International Haiti developed an “emergency care” plan which allowed them to fully support Marie and her parents.
3,000 gourdes were quickly disbursed to cover the costs of medicine during Marie’s hospitalisation. The quick reaction was enough to save Marie; but her baby, unfortunately, did not survive.
When Marie started to get better, Plan International Haiti’s staff visited her and her family at the hospital, providing them with psychological support.
"God bless the people who are doing this extraordinary work in the community. Without you and your help, I would have lost my daughter", said Marie’s mother, full of gratitude.
It’s really hard to imagine that I missed a whole year of school
When Marie finally got out of the hospital, Plan International Haiti’s staff visited her at home, joined by the Ministry for the Status and the Rights of Women (MCFDF) and the Service of the Judicial Police Directorate (SDPJ), in order to keep offering her and her family the medical, legal and psychological support they need.
‘It’s really hard to imagine that I missed a whole year of school”, said Marie when asked how she felt after all this.
For more information about Plan International's work in Haiti go to plan-international.org/haiti.
For more information about Plan International UK's work go to plan-uk.org
For more information about the work of the European Commission's International Cooperation and Development Directorate General, please click here.
