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Benin Activist Brings Health Kits to Haiti's Poor

Sandra Lemaire

   French Beninese writer and activist Kemi Seba is in Haiti this weekend
   on a humanitarian mission.

   Seba traveled to the Caribbean nation to show support for the
   PetroChallenger anti-corruption movement and for the residents of the
   poorest slums of the capital.

   VOA Creole spoke with the activist as he was distributing sanitary kits
   in Port-au-Prince.

   "We wanted to show that we are capable and that we don't have to wait
   for the government to act, we can take action ourselves to show our
   support," Seba said.

   "Although we have meager resources we only exist when we can share what
   we have with others in the context of this dimension, this dynamic," he
   added. "We have medical staff with us, midwives, specialists who are
   not only distributing the kits but also doing free consultations. They
   are volunteers who gave their time to make this happen."

     French Beninese writer and activist Kémi Seba is visiting [1]#Haiti
     this week where he distributed sanitary kits to people living in
     poor neighborhoods and who don't have access to healthcare. ð¹Wilner
     Bossou [2]@VOAKreyol [3]@VOAAfrica [4]@VOAAfrique [5]#Benin
     [6]pic.twitter.com/QBlxcG0yJ8
     -- Sandra Lemaire (@SandraDVOA) [7]November 17, 2019

   The sanitary kits contained items such as soap, toothpaste and
   medicine. Seba said his NGO bought the medicine, which it distributed
   with the help of local doctors who accompanied them. While the kits
   don't address everyone's needs, he said they do contain basic items
   that can help with some of the people's most urgent needs.

   "We wanted to do this because Haiti is a source of black pride
   worldwide, and because Haiti faces an extremely difficult situation now
   because of this crisis, which affects the social and economic sectors
   of the country," Seba said. "Many are unable to purchase medicine
   because they have not been paid for five months."

   Haiti's health sector has suffered during the anti-corruption and
   anti-government protests that intensified in February of this year. The
   country's health sector took to the streets in October, joining
   anti-corruption protesters to decry the deplorable conditions such as
   lack of water, electricity and sanitation, which has jeopardized health
   care workers' ability to care for the sick.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Haiti?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://twitter.com/VOAKreyol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   3. https://twitter.com/VOAAfrica?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   4. https://twitter.com/VOAAfrique?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   5. https://twitter.com/hashtag/Benin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   6. https://t.co/QBlxcG0yJ8
   7. https://twitter.com/SandraDVOA/status/1196119671130525698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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