Brother Pierre: Powered by You
by Aljany Narcius. Originally published January 2024.
He was once just “Pierre” from Hinche, a semi-rural commune far to Haiti’s east: a place most famous for being hometown to Haitian guerillas who rebelled against occupying U.S. Marines in the early 20th century – and its proximity to the Dominican Republic.
Port-au-Prince seems more his speed. He’s been Brother Pierre for a while here. He and his five siblings lost their parents as children, and his grit and unshaking faith earned him the epithet, almost like a monk.
Brother Pierre had no intention of becoming handyman to the Heartline Maternity Center – but that’s been his position for ten years now. "Looking for a job as part of a professional retraining program, I never imagined myself coming to work in this maternity center, which I knew mainly thanks to my wife, who came here once for treatment during her first pregnancy."
The Maternity Center didn’t just need him tightening a leaky faucet or cleaning out gutters – they needed a guy who was ready for anything. That’s what sold him on the job. “I also make sure that the Maternity Center always has clean water, especially for cooking and for the new mothers who come for consultations. I wipe all the windows and clean all the rooms every day. If the staff need to shop for food, I'm their man. In short, I do all the odd jobs at the maternity center and I do it with pleasure."
You wouldn’t know how personal the work is to him if you didn’t know his story. He’s lost two wives – the first left him abruptly after years of marriage, leaving him alone in Port-au-Prince. A few years later, he met someone new, got married, and they delivered a first child – but her second pregnancy was difficult, and she died in labor.
It’s not an uncommon story in Haiti, but there is a sad poetry in it for Brother Pierre. He has suffered the way so many families have, but now he works every day for a place with the express goal to keep families together, to fight maternal mortality, to write brighter stories than the one he’s had.
He doesn’t struggle alone these days. This past April, he got hit by a car, broke his arm – and who was there for him now? "I had all the support of the Maternity Center during my recovery and I'm very grateful."
"I'm very happy to be working with this organization because, through my work, I can help thousands of women transform their lives. Initially, my goal was just to earn money to support my family, but this job has given me so much more."
Brother Pierre represents one of the lesser-seen but absolutely crucial aspects of the Maternity Center – the people behind the scenes, who keep that beacon of hope running every day so that the midwives and nurses can do what they do best. We hope meeting Brother Pierre helps you see that impact from a new angle.
As always, thank you for investing in Haitian families with Heartline. If you’d like to support Pierre and the Heartline Maternity Center, click here.
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About the Author
Aljany Narcius
Haitian journalist Aljany Narcius is currently pursuing a Master 2 in Media Management, online from France’s University of Lille. With ten years of experience in the fields of journalism and communication, Aljany is a linguist who uses the Creole language as her weapon in the fight against social inequalities, exploitation, and all kinds of violence.
Editorial and additional writing provided by the Heartline Haiti team.
