RSSKetlie's Story - A New Home, A New Outlook
Ketlie, 37, is a single mother with five children. Before the earthquake, she lived in a house made of bricks – it was her childhood home, which she inherited from her mother. After it collapsed in the quake, Ketlie pieced together wood, tin and plastic sheeting to make a 5 x 5 foot square shelter with a dirt floor, where she and her children lived. The family had neither a protected shower nor a latrine.
Ketlie was one of the first five recipients of a provisional home, with a raised foundation, reinforced wooden walls, and a tin roof to keep the rain out. The three youngest of her children live there with her now.
When asked about her new home, Ketlie quoted a Creole proverb that relates the difference in her life to that of the back and front doors of a house. Before she had her new home, she felt like the back door, which is old and broken and hidden from people’s eyes. Now, she feels like the front door, which is shiny and strong for the world to see.
