Haiti is a Caribbean island with a humanitarian medical center providing healthcare services to 90,000 residents. Pregnant women visiting the medical clinic for prenatal care often do not return for delivery; instead, they return home to deliver alone or with the assistance of a traditional matron. Home-birth practices increase maternal-child health morbidity and mortality in an already fragile country. The purpose of this project was to gain a deeper understanding of Haitian pregnant women's preferences to deliver at home or at the healthcare clinic. The transtheoretical model for behavior change and the Johns Hopkins nursing evidence-based practice model guided the project. Two focus groups of 10 pregnant women total were recruited in the community of Delmas 32, Haiti. Group 1 was comprised of 5 women who delivered at home with matrons and Group 2 was comprised of 5 women who delivered at the clinic. Structured questions were asked to identify themes related to delivery location preferences. Focus group transcripts were analyzed guided by the Krueger and Casey strategy model. The thematic analysis was aligned with the peer-reviewed literature. Findings revealed that lack of access to care, lack of education and sensitization, and the attitude of healthcare personnel impacted women's preference for delivery at the clinic. Findings also supported a need to educate staff and the community in the best options for maternal-child care. A workshop was developed, based on the project findings, to share the recommendations with the clinic staff. The clinical leadership have indicated that they will implement the project recommendations. This project has the potential to support social change by reducing maternal-child deaths in Delmas 32 and across the Caribbean.

Women represent more than 50% of the population of Haiti and embody the poorest group due to their lack of socioeconomic development. Numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) including diaspora NGOs (DINGOs) have engaged in the fight to reduce poverty in Haiti by enabling empowerment programs to help women become self-reliant. The programs appear to be ineffective because the level of poverty remains high and there has been little research on the relative effectiveness and sustainability of the programs implemented by the DINGOs. Using the feminist theories of DeBeauvoir and Friedan in conjunction with the empowerment theory of AlMaseb and Julia as the foundation, the purpose of this research was to assess the role of DINGOs in empowering Haitian women and to determine the effectiveness and sustainability of their programs. Research questions focused on the perception of participants of the notion of empowerment and strategies implemented by DINGOs. Data were collected from a purposive sample of 17 participants utilizing e-mail interviews. Interview data were coded using Rubin and Rubin's seven steps for analysis of responsive interviews. Findings indicated that (a) all participants shared similar views that the empowerment of Haitian women is a winning strategy for poverty reduction; (b) Participants believe that DINGOs' programs are effective, but they lack government involvement, partnerships with larger NGOs, and necessary resources to remain sustainable. Implications for social change include using the findings to inform policy creation and implementation of more women-friendly empowerment strategies capable of reducing the level of poverty in Haiti. Policy makers, the country, and Haitian women would benefit from the reduced poverty.

My dissertation titled "Mambos, Priestesses, and Goddesses: Spiritual Healing Through Vodou in Black Women's Narratives of Haiti and New Orleans" reclaims the practice of Vodou as an integral African spiritual tradition through fiction by black women writers. I discuss how the examination of Vodou necessitates the revision of colonial history, serves as an impetus for reevaluating the literary representation of the black female migrant subject, and gives voice to communities silenced by systemic oppression. I parallel novels by contemporary women writers such as Erna Brodber, Jewell Parker Rhodes and Edwidge Danticat with Zora Neale Hurston's ethnographic research in the early twentieth century in order to examine how Vodou is utilized as a literary trope that challenges racist, stereotypical representations of African spirituality in American popular culture. It is also an examination of the shared socio-cultural history between Haiti and New Orleans that coincides with political and environmental changes. Although Vodou has been disparaged as primitive magic, my work demonstrates its profound social, cultural, and political significance; and its important transformations from a nineteenth-century practice to a twenty-first century strategy of survival.

Background: In 2010, a massive earthquake left the capitol Port-au-Prince in ruins and destroyed infrastructure providing electricity, piped clean water, and waste removal to the region. Water, sanitation, and hygiene intervention programs attempt to reduce the burden of water-related disease in earthquake-affected regions. However, there are few evaluations of these programs, especially following natural disasters. Methods: Data provided by Samaritan’s Purse Canada’s WASH program were examined. The data set included a household (N=1198) and a latrine (N=167) survey that recorded household use of laundry pads, bath houses, hand-pumped drilled wells, health and hygiene education sessions, and latrines as well as demographic data. Data analysis was conducted in IBM SPSS Version 20.0. Descriptive statistics were computed, and statistical relationships were analyzed for 1.) Health and hygiene education session attendance and program outcomes and 2.) Household diarrheal disease and program interventions Results:This study found that households attending any of four health and hygiene sessions were significantly more likely to use program-provided bath houses and hand-pumped wells (p Discussion: This study concluded that health and hygiene session attendance is positively associated with the utilization of program interventions. However, further improvements in data collection methodology are needed to fully understand the effects of this multi-intervention WASH program on target communities.

Background: In 2010, a massive earthquake left the capitol Port-au-Prince in ruins and destroyed infrastructure providing electricity, piped clean water, and waste removal to the region. Water, sanitation, and hygiene intervention programs attempt to reduce the burden of water-related disease in earthquake-affected regions. However, there are few evaluations of these programs, especially following natural disasters. Methods: Data provided by Samaritan’s Purse Canada’s WASH program were examined. The data set included a household (N=1198) and a latrine (N=167) survey that recorded household use of laundry pads, bath houses, hand-pumped drilled wells, health and hygiene education sessions, and latrines as well as demographic data. Data analysis was conducted in IBM SPSS Version 20.0. Descriptive statistics were computed, and statistical relationships were analyzed for 1.) Health and hygiene education session attendance and program outcomes and 2.) Household diarrheal disease and program interventions Results: This study found that households attending any of four health and hygiene sessions were significantly more likely to use program-provided bath houses and hand-pumped wells (p<0.05). Attendance was also significantly associated with increased knowledge of diarrheal disease prevention and hand washing technique. Households using the program-provided hand pump reported lower rates of diarrhea in children under five years old. Discussion: This study concluded that health and hygiene session attendance is positively associated with the utilization of program interventions. However, further improvements in data collection methodology are needed to fully understand the effects of this multi-intervention WASH program on target communities.

Uppsatsen tittar på hur förhållandet mellan akademisk - och tillämpad antropologi ser ut i en biståndskontext. Med hjälp av en antropologs personliga berättelse belyser den biståndsproblematiken på Haiti, där ett flertal olika intressen finns i frågan hur biståndet ska användas för att fungera på bästa sätt. Antropologens olika roller på fältet diskuteras då i frågan hurvida antropologi är ett ämne som aktivt ska vara med på fältet eller ta avstånd från detta. Activist Research-metoden diskuteras som en form av en fusion mellan akademisk - och tillämpad antropologi.

<p>This dissertation examines Haiti's crucial role in the re-making of the Atlantic World in the early 19th century. The point of departure for this work is Haiti's Declaration of Independence in 1804 and my research explores how events in Haiti raised profound questions about revolutionary legitimacy and national sovereignty. The emergence of Haiti as an independent nation fueled unprecedented international debates about racial hierarchy, the connections between freedom and sovereignty, and the intertwining of ideological and political relationships among nations and empires. While these debates came to be resolved in part during the next two centuries, they remain alive today both for specific nations and for the international community.</p> / Dissertation

Thesis--School of Advanced Airpower Studies, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., 1994-95. / Title from title screen (viewed Nov. 7, 2003). "February 1996." Includes bibliographical references.

In this thesis, we present the outcomes of a research conducted on children's domestic labor in Haiti. In addition to being engaged in housekeeping work -- which has a negative impact on access to basic education -- children in domesticity are generally victims of harmful disciplinary measures as well. Consequently, our main objective is to expose the actual norms and practices regarding the education and the physical treatment of young domestic workers. / Based on legal pluralism, the approach undertaken during this research combines both theoretical and empirical research, and focuses on law and norms existing at multiple levels. / First, we present the information gathered from our theoretical approach. After exploring the notion of "Haitian child domestic servant", sketching social profiles of actors engaged in the practice of domesticity, and identifying the most significant contingent factors, we underline the principal national and international norms guaranteeing children the right to education as well as to physical integrity. / Second, we explore the local norms related to the education and to physical treatment of young domestic servants through the results of empirical research carried out in Haiti in the form of observation and interviews with relevant actors. / We conclude by identifying the framework of norms that govern the behaviour of families that host domestic children. Understanding that framework allows jurists and other actors to identify and implement the actions more likely to improve the quality of life of child domestic workers.

BACKGROUND: HIV-related stigmatizing attitudes are persistent concerns in developing countries and have been shown to fuel the spread of the epidemics. The purpose of this study is to provide a comparative analysis between Haiti and the Dominican Republic in regards to the population’s attitude towards People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). METHODS: Cross-sectional data from the Demographic Health Surveys involving 15,715 Haitians and 55,170 Dominicans from 2005 to 2007 were used. A score of attitudes was established from six items such as the willingness to care for infected relatives, the willingness to buy vegetables from an HIV infected vendor, the perception that HIV patients should be ashamed of themselves, the agreement to blame and force them to keep their serostatus secret and finally the agreement to allow infected teachers to continue their jobs. Descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate analyses of selected socio-demographic variables were obtained by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). RESULTS: Logistic regression models showed that female Dominicans and male Haitians, respondents of higher socio-economic status and with more accurate HIV-related beliefs were significantly more tolerant towards PLWHA (p<.001). Furthermore, the Dominican Republic’s data analysis suggested that those aged between 30 and 44 years old, living in urban areas and married expressed more tolerance for the HIV- infected individuals. Overall, the attitudes and beliefs of the Haitians adjusted for socio-demographic variables did not differ markedly from the Dominicans. CONCLUSION: The attitudes towards PLWHA seem to be associated with the nature of the HIV-related beliefs in some vulnerable groups. The findings of this study should guide the design of appropriate programs aimed at the education of targeted populations.