COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: HAITI
AGE: 44
CHILDREN: NONE
ORIGINAL OCCUPATION: AT A SCHOOL
TIME ON THE ISLAND:3 YEARS

My husband has lived here for 16 years. He has his permit and three years ago he sent a plane ticket for me to come over. I have studied for four years at the university in Haiti, but now that I live here, I clean houses. It’s not easy for a foreigner to live here on the island. People don’t treat us with respect. Even our own people can be mean. For example, we used to rent a house somewhere else. The owner is from Haiti as well, but she would steal our food, so we had to find another place to live and get away from her. We work every day to pay our things and send some money home as well. I have two sisters and nieces and nephews back in Haiti.

During the lockdown I couldn’t work at all and now that the lockdown is over, I only work 1 day a week. It’s been hard. My husband is very, very sick. He hasn’t been able to work for some time now. The cancer has spread throughout his body and it’s too late for treatment. He’s in a lot of pain, some days he can’t even walk. We’re fortunate to receive these food packages and sometimes the lady where I used to work brings groceries too. She’s very nice and worries about us.

I wish people here in Curaçao would understand that we just want to live a normal, quiet life.

My message is that we never feel at peace here. We’re always alert. I wish people would understand that.

* in the meanwhile, her husband is passed away due to health issues