PORT-AU-PRINCE — At 16, Alexandrine Boivert is aware of what it means to lose a house, go away mates behind and start once more in a crowded displacement camp. She additionally is aware of what it means to find one thing of her personal.
After fleeing gang violence in Delmas 24, Boivert discovered a brand new outlet via pictures. She turned the excellent graduate of the primary version of “Limyè Sou Mwen” — Haitian Creole for “Shine a Gentle on Me” — a program created by the Affiliation of Ladies Photographers of Haiti (AFPHA) to show pictures to adolescent women displaced by violence.
Now, she is encouraging a brand new group of ladies to observe the identical path.
“The expertise was actually lovely, and I believe you’ll find it irresistible,” Boivert informed individuals on the Aug. 4 launch of this system’s second version. “Pictures is without doubt one of the most lovely issues. I used to suppose it was just for males, however when you become involved, you’ll perceive that this isn’t true.”
“Anybody, no matter age or gender, can apply it,” she added.
Boivert’s expertise displays the circumstances going through hundreds of women and girls displaced by Haiti’s escalating gang violence. Many have fled properties destroyed or seized by armed teams and now stay in overcrowded websites the place privateness, safety and entry to fundamental companies are restricted.
The pictures program can’t resolve these circumstances, organizers say. However, they concur, it can provide women a secure house to be taught, specific themselves and start creating a ability that might ultimately present an earnings.
From displacement to pictures
From Aug. 4 to 19, a gaggle of 25 women, ages 14 to 17, is taking part within the coaching workshop, a part of Pictures Fortnight— an annual exercise held by Haitian ladies photographers to have fun World Photography Day.
The individuals stay in displacement camps within the Port-au-Prince metropolitan space, together with websites managed or supported by Medical doctors With out Borders (MSF) and Haiti’s ministries of Public Works and Social Affairs.
Skilled photographers from AFPHA are instructing them the basics of pictures. The free program additionally contains psychosocial assist, leisure actions and visits to completely different areas.
The teenage women had been chosen by camp managers, with parental consent required for participation.
On the finish of the 15-day program, individuals will obtain certificates. In addition they will show their images in a showcase scheduled for World Pictures Day on Aug. 19.
One participant will obtain a full scholarship to attend a neighborhood pictures faculty primarily based on assessments carried out all through the coaching.
Sarah Mondésir Joseph, AFPHA’s president, stated this system is meant to provide displaced women greater than a short lived exercise.
“Though they’re dwelling in displacement camps and don’t but know when they are going to be capable of return dwelling, it is very important equip youngsters with a occupation from a really younger age,” Joseph stated. “What you give them as a occupation, they will use it to earn cash and to specific what they really feel.”
For Boivert, the primary version already offered proof that such a chance could make a distinction.
She arrived on the program as a displaced teenager unsure about her future. She left with a brand new ability, a certificates and recognition as this system’s excellent graduate.
Now she is passing the lesson to the subsequent era of ladies.
Her circumstances haven’t modified utterly. However neither has her dedication to create one thing from what stays.
Women going through heightened dangers
This system comes as Haiti’s gang violence has pressured tons of of hundreds of individuals from their properties and left displaced households dwelling in more and more tough circumstances.
For women and girls, displacement has introduced extra dangers. Crowded shelters and makeshift camps usually present restricted privateness and insufficient safety, whereas entry to well being care, schooling and different important companies stays constrained.
The United Nations has documented grave violations in opposition to youngsters— largely women— in Haiti, together with sexual violence. In 2025, the U.N. verified 166 instances of sexual violence in opposition to youngsters, 164 of them involving women.
These figures signify verified instances, not the total scale of abuse. Sexual violence is continuously underreported, significantly when survivors face stigma, insecurity or restricted entry to companies.
For women who’ve already witnessed or skilled violence, displacement can compound the psychological results of shedding their properties and communities.
Boivert is aware of that actuality firsthand.
She lives together with her mom and two sisters in a displacement camp after fleeing her neighborhood. The camp has turn out to be her dwelling, although the circumstances stay precarious.
The pictures program gave her a chance to look past these circumstances.
“It taught me to imagine in myself,” she stated.
For Joseph, that ingredient of this system is as essential because the technical coaching.
The women may have entry to psychologists and psychotherapists throughout this system, together with different psychosocial actions, the APHA president informed reporters.
The mixture of artistic work and psychosocial assist is meant to assist individuals course of tough experiences whereas creating confidence and sensible abilities.
“These 15 days might be full of studying, enjoyable actions and visits to completely different locations,” Joseph stated. “Because the coaching progresses, they may also have entry to remedy periods. We encourage them to make use of what they be taught.”
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