Trauma, Mental Health, & Haiti Final Project - Katie Guidera April 2014 | Page 2

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Introduction

A
 brief
 reflection
 explaining
 why
 this
 project
 addresses
 the

same
 global
 health
 issue
 using
 three
 components
 –
 a

research
 brief,
 an
 op-­‐ed
 and
 a
 radio
 interview.

The
 following
 project
 explores
 the

same
 topic
 –
 HIV/AIDS
 and
 mental
 health
 care

in
 post-­‐earthquake
 Haiti
 –
 using
 three

different
 mediums
 of
 information
 sharing.

These
 mediums
 include
 a
 research
 brief,
 an

op-­‐ed,
 and
 a
 radio
 interview.
 I
 was
 inspired
 to

present
 my
 findings
 using
 different
 mediums

after
 attending
 a
 Haiti
 Lab
 event
 featuring

journalist
 and
 human
 rights
 activist
 Michéle

Montas,
 who
 was
 born
 and
 raised
 in
 Port-­‐au-­‐
Prince,
 Haiti.
 Michéle
 led
 Radio
 Haiti

beginning
 in
 1968.
 During
 her
 talk
 at
 Duke,

Michéle
 discussed
 the
 importance
 of

understanding
 the
 power
 that
 different
 forms

of
 communication
 have
 to
 reach
 different

groups
 of
 people.
 Radio
 Haiti
 was
 a
 means
 of

oral
 communication
 that
 had
 the
 capacity
 to

reach
 all
 corners
 of
 Haiti
 in
 the
 native

language
 of
 Creole,
 thus
 creating
 a
 means
 to

give
 a
 voice
 to
 those
 living
 in
 rural
 parts
 of
 the

country
 who
 were
 often
 silenced
 by
 an

inability
 to
 read,
 understand
 French
 or

English,
 or
 access
 communications
 that
 were

targeted
 to
 the
 country’s
 major
 cities.
 Radio

Haiti
 “gave
 a
 voice
 to
 the
 voiceless,”

constructing
 a
 platform
 for
 cross-­‐country
 and

even
 international
 communication
 regarding

culture
 and
 politics
 in
 Haiti
 throughout
 the

latter
 half
 of
 the
 1900s.

While
 this
 project
 does
 not
 necessarily

seek
 to
 give
 voice
 to
 the
 voiceless
 in
 the
 same

way
 that
 Radio
 Haiti
 did,
 it
 does
 seek
 to

examine
 how
 different
 methods
 of

information
 sharing
 can
 be
 tweaked
 to
 reach

different
 readerships.
 The
 research
 brief
 is
 a

short
 summary
 of
 the
 limited
 published

research
 literature
 available
 to
 date,
 meant
 to

serve
 as
 a
 call
 to
 research
 for
 academic

researchers
 and
 non-­‐profit
 organizations
 who

might
 have
 a
 stake
 or
 interest
 in
 building