By: Dr. Jeff Cadichon | Nadege Clinical Director
COVID-19 has changed all of our plans at Nadege. On March 19, 2020, I came back from a visit to Nadege’s Safe House in Haiti after a trip to prepare to welcome survivors of sexual violence. Early that evening, the President of Haiti announced the first two cases of COVID-19 in the country, and everything changed. Our plans turned upside down.
We still had to wait before the grand opening of the safe house, not knowing for how long. In the meantime, the need for assistance for female survivors of sexual violence was growing. Thus, for several months, our clinical team has been serving survivors remotely.
Through regular clinical meetings, we discuss the best strategies to help survivors, taking into account both the COVID-19 pandemic and the socio-political crisis in Haiti as well as the precarious economic conditions.
In addition, during the COVID-19 crisis, we become a valuable referral source for our partners in order to offer appropriate assistance to survivors of sexual violence in Haiti. We try to do our best to restore hope to the survivors, directly or indirectly, despite the adversity. The COVID-19 crisis has enabled us to strengthen our partnerships with organizations in Haiti.
Furthermore, as a prelude to Nadege 5th annual Restored gala, which will take place on October 17th at 7pm EST, a few members of the Nadege staff in Haiti, including me, visited our safe house last Sunday. We are almost ready to receive our first residents in this facility where they will feel safe and comfortable.
Hopefully, we will open the safe house soon. We've never been so close, and we continue to work very hard and keep the faith!