A Mother’s Strength: How Integrated Support Helped Jeanite’s Family Through Crisis

When one of Jeanite Vaval’s five children was screened by AVSI’s nutrition team, he was identified as suffering from severe acute malnutrition with edema. For Jeanite and her family, his illness came at an already difficult time, as their income was limited and unstable, and caring for her son meant Jeanite had to put her small business on hold. 

Jeanite, 40, lives in Mare-Rouge, in the second communal section of Môle-Saint-Nicolas in Haiti’s North-West Department. She and her husband are raising five children and supporting a household of seven. Before receiving assistance through AVSI’s project, Jeanite relied on a small income-generating activity to contribute to the household. 

“Because of my child’s health condition, I was forced to suspend my small business, which was my main income-generating activity”, she recounts.  

 
“I had to devote most of my time to caring for my child and providing the necessary care at home. As for my husband, he worked as a day laborer on construction sites. His income was very low and, above all, irregular. It was very difficult for us to meet the needs of our family.” 

Through the project, Jeanite’s household received support addressing several of the challenges the family was facing. AVSI’s nutrition activities enabled her son to be screened and his severe acute malnutrition to be identified. At the household level, the family also received food security and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) assistance. 

Through the food security component, Jeanite’s family received a combination of cash transfers and food vouchers that could be exchanged for a food basket with participating local vendors. “The arrival of this project really changed our situation,” she declares. “This support allowed us to feed our family better and to reduce the pressures of difficulties we faced on a daily basis”. 

The household also received a WASH kit through the project, providing additional support to address the family’s water, sanitation, and hygiene needs. 

Today, Jeanite reports: “My child has fully regained normal health thanks to the support we received” and adds: “I can also testify that many other families in the community have benefited from this food assistance. For many of us, this aid made it possible to meet essential needs and get through a particularly difficult period.” 

Looking ahead, Jeanite hopes that this support can continue and reach more vulnerable families in her community. She would also like to restart the small income-generating activity she had to suspend while caring for her son, allowing her to once again contribute to her family’s livelihood. 

Jeanite expressed her gratitude to AVSI, the donor, and the partners involved in supporting her family and community. 

About the project 

AVSI’s “Integrated Multisectoral Intervention in the North-West Department: Addressing Food Security, Nutrition, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Needs”, implemented with support from the U.S. Department of State, responds to the interconnected needs of vulnerable households in Haiti’s North-West Department. 

The project works to strengthen nutrition awareness and identify and refer cases of acute malnutrition, improve food security among households facing acute food insecurity, and reduce the risk of waterborne diseases through improved water, sanitation and hygiene practices and access to essential WASH items. 

Jeanite’s experience illustrates this integrated approach: her household was reached through the project’s nutrition, food security and WASH interventions, providing complementary forms of support at a time when her family was facing multiple challenges. 

This success story is made possible by the generous support of the United States Government through the U.S. Department of State. The contents are the responsibility of AVSI Foundation and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Government.