“My name is Marie Jeanne Montrose. Married, but now a widow. I lost my husband in the insecurity. I have four children.”
This is how Marie Jeanne introduces herself, though her words carry a heavy weight. She is one of the many people who have been displaced by the worsening violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Gangs have turned the city into a dangerous battleground, and thousands of families have been forced to flee their homes, seeking refuge in temporary camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Marie Jeanne, like so many others, left everything behind to protect her family.
“I lived in the lower downtown, and the gangs killed people,” she says, remembering the horror of those final days before she fled. “We were obliged to give up where we were.” Life was impossible in the downtown area; constant violence claimed lives and shattered any sense of safety. Moving to an IDP site was not a choice Marie Jeanne ever imagined making, but it was the only option left for her family.
When they first arrived at the camp, however, the challenges were far from over. “At the beginning when we came to this site, we lived very bad because we could not find anything,” she explains. They lacked even the most basic necessities, from clean water to shelter, to ensure their survival. The IDP camp was overcrowded, disorganized, and unsafe. The threat of disease loomed as waste management was virtually nonexistent, and many families lacked access to safe drinking water. This only added to the immense trauma of displacement.
But Marie Jeanne’s story is one of resilience, and thanks to critical interventions made possible with World Bank support.
A Lifeline for Displaced Families
The Decentralized, Sustainable, and Resilient Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project, funded by the World Bank, supports the improvement of living conditions and well-being of displaced persons in Port-au-Prince through an agreement between the National Directorate of Potable Water and Sanitation (Direction Nationale de l’Eau Potable et de l’Assainissement - DINEPA) and UNICEF. This agreement aims to ensure adequate access to safe drinking water, improved basic sanitation, and proper hygiene conditions.
“With this project, we have water, toilets, and we’ve learned how to wash our hands and keep the site clean,” says Marie Jeanne as she recalls how dire the situation was before. “The issue of waste management was very bad when we first arrived on the IDP sites, but now everything is clean. We have water to drink and to do our day-to-day activities.”
The importance of these services cannot be overstated. Without clean water or access to sanitation facilities, IDPs were at a high risk of contracting waterborne diseases like cholera, which can spread quickly in densely populated areas.
Now, things have improved. The World Bank project has provided over one million liters of clean water to more than 22,000 people across 18 IDP sites in Port-au-Prince. Toilets have been built and rehabilitated, providing a safer, more dignified space for families. 400 people have been trained in chlorination of water storage and distribution points; separate showers for men and women have been constructed; handwashing stations with soap have been installed, and 3,665 people have received hygiene kits. Solid waste management has also been implemented to ensure the cleanliness of the sites.
“We were given buckets, water, and stuff, and the toilets were cleaned,” Marie Jeanne recalled. These simple things—a clean toilet, a bucket of water—may seem insignificant to some, but for families in crisis, they are a lifeline.
The Project’s support for a comprehensive Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) response—which ensures access to clean water, proper sanitation, and hygiene promotion— marks a critical step in addressing the urgent needs of affected communities.
Ultimately, contributing to the broader goal of sustainable development and stability in Haiti, reinforcing the World Bank Group's commitment to supporting vulnerable populations in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
A Future of Possibilities
One of the most significant outcomes of the project is the sense of security it has restored to the camp’s residents. “We now sleep well, and our kids are safe,” Marie Jeanne says, emphasizing that these improvements have brought peace of mind for families who were once living in fear.
For Marie Jeanne, this project represents a chance to rebuild her life, to find hope amidst the chaos. “Our children are safe, I can say now,” she says with relief.
Beyond the practical support, the project has also given displaced families something more: a sense of dignity and agency. “I count on this organization, and I will continue to put my hope on this project that gives us support in the IDP sites.”
