THE HONEYBALL BUZZ

As the tragedy and horror of the earthquake in Haiti goes on, amid the loss of life and starvation conditions, it came to my attention that three leading members of the Haitian women’s movement were killed in the rubble. Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcelin and Anne Marie Coriolan founded three of Haiti’s leading women’s rights organizations and worked together for decades.

It is worth quoting the following from Ms Magazine Feminist Wire:

“Merlet fled Haiti in the 1970s, but returned in the 1980s because, as she once wrote, ‘as a Haitian woman, I must make an effort so that all together we can extricate ourselves from them.’ She worked for the country’s Ministry for Gender and the Rights of Women for years at Chief of Staff and more recently as an adviser. She also founded Enfofamn, which works to raise awareness of women and their achievements.

“Coriolan founded Solidarite Fanm Ayisyen (Solidarity with Haitian Women), which is a women’s advocacy organization.  Marcelin was a lawyer and actress who founded Kay Fanm, a women’s rights organization that focuses on domestic violence and making microloans to women business owners.”

These were three extraordinary women in a country which badly needs women fighting for their rights.  Amidst the suffering of the people of Haiti, I would hope we could all spare a thought for these three pioneering women who strove to make their country a better place. 

It will, inevitably, be many years before Haiti returns to anything like its former state.  In the meantime, our thoughts and practical help in as far as this is possible, go out to all those who have been caught up in this most massive and merciless of natural disasters.