When we talk about our reconstruction programme in Haiti, we don’t just mean building new houses, there’s much more to it than that.
We’re talking about transforming people’s lives in Delmas 19, a suburb of the capital Port-au-Prince.
Together with the community, the British Red Cross has repaired the canal, installed new drainage to stop flooding, created new pathways, built a new market and carried out other general infrastructure improvements.
We’ve been training local people to work on the projects so they have the skills and knowledge to get jobs after we leave. And not just men.
Social exclusion
Women, who have traditionally been excluded from certain jobs in Haiti, make up a large part of our workforce. This has helped break down some myths about what jobs women can and cannot do.
Construction is one of those jobs that they supposedly “cannot” do because some people here class women as weak. Parents won’t support young girls who want to become a mason.
And when the British Red Cross encouraged women to apply for construction jobs in the community, a lot of Haitian men complained.
They said the British Red Cross didn’t really want to build houses in the community or that we were trying to slow down construction by using women.
Sometimes, I even asked myself why there were so many women involved in a construction programme. Could they really become construction trainees? I had my doubts, but I’ve been proved wrong.
Many women applied for construction jobs back in October. Several months later at the beginning of the construction programme, I spent some time talking to them about their experiences.
Building a career
I arrived at the construction site early one morning and came across a lady, trowel in hand, plastering walls in a house.
I’ve become accustomed to listening to male workers complaining about how difficult it is to plaster.
Yet here was this lady plastering a house with perfect technique. I picked up my camera to take a photo.
Smiling, Micheline Richard, a mum of four, told me that she used to regard construction work as “dangerous and dirty” and that she’d only applied to earn some money.
But after a few weeks on the job, the 41-year-old said the skills she has acquired will enable her to support her family in the long-term.
“I realise the chance I now have to learn good quality construction,” she said.
“I grew up with no profession because my parents couldn’t help me go to university, but now, I can plan to have a job to feed my children in the future.”
Changing perceptions
The British Red Cross employs more than 20 women – trainees and labourers – to work on construction projects in Delmas 19.
They know that through this apprentice programme they have a chance to build a future for themselves. It’s not just a job; this experience has changed their mentality about work.
Juslene Mesadieux, a 23-year-old trainee, told me that she studies in the evening and works for the Red Cross during the day. She’d like to study construction and architecture at university.
“Before I had no plan for my future, but now it’s different. It is also an honour for me to participate in the improvement of this community,” she said.
When we first started out with the construction programme, people thought, myself included, that women wouldn’t be able to cope with working in construction. But they are as skilled and as strong as men. They also complain far less.
I think that our female employees have shown that construction can provide an enjoyable and long career for women.
They’ve also inspired me to learn as much about construction during this programme as possible. That will also help me in the future.
This post was written by Jethro Sereme, British Red Cross communications coordinator in Haiti. It is the second in a series of blog posts looking at the final stages of our recovery programme.