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A local graffiti artist has blown his cover and is spraying the walls of camps in Haiti to teach people about health and hygiene
Under the cover of darkness, with a mask and a cap hiding his face, a graffiti artist has been covering the walls of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. But Jerry Rosembert’s funny cartoons have a deeper meaning.
Today his forehead is covered in sweat in the blazing heat as he draws one grinning character after another on the wall of Nazon relief camp – now home to more than 5,000 people following the earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12.
“I am spraying for change. It is my mission to talk to the Haitian people,” says Jerry, his eyes serious under the peak of his cap.
“There are many problems in Haiti. I am not trying to get involved in politics saying “Vote for this person” or “Get rid of that candidate”. I create funny pictures about social topics to help people.”
Since the earthquake, Jerry believes it’s his obligation to do more for the people of Haiti. So he gave up his cover and started creating graffiti for a hygiene campaignrun by our partner, Caritas, in Port-au-Prince’s camps.
The message is simple, but essential. Jerry’s drawings depict characters with impeccably clean hands to encourage people in the camps to wash their hands regularly. The main objective is to prevent infectious diseases and other epidemics that could spread in the overcrowded camps during the rainy season.
In this remote camp on the edge of the capital, people are curious and enthusiastic about the artist’s work. Famous for his Michael Jackson portraits that appeared on the front page of the New York Times, he has become a local legend.
Families living in the camps have seen more and more of Jerry’s characters on the walls of toilets and washing facilities. With the help of characters like “Mr Fresh the rocker” and “Mrs Victor the cleaning lady“, the artist gets across the message “lavemen nou” (Let’s wash our hands) and insists on basic hygiene principles.
With an artist like Jerry, we can convey messages of primary importance in a simple, playful and much more effective way than with the usual posters or flyers. His funny and cheeky mischievous drawings appeal to everybody, above all young people and those who can’t read
“With an artist like Jerry, we can convey messages of primary importance in a simple, playful and much more effective way than with the usual posters or flyers. His funny and mischievous drawings appeal to everybody, above all young people and those who can’t read,” says Ross Tomlinson, in charge of water and sewage for Caritas.
And it works. The initiative has been received with great interest by people living in the camps. They are happy that someone cares about their situation and are glad that their walls are brightened up by the artist’s pictures.
“I like the way he works. I like the way he get his message across,” says Boby Lacroix, who lives in Bureau des mines, one of the three camps where Jerry has done his graffiti.
“With these pictures, we pay even more attention to washing our hands. Besides, if it’s Jerry who says so then we’ll do it.”
We are working as part of Caritas International in Haiti, a group of Catholic aid agencies from around the world providing essential relief including food, shelter, water and medical care to survivors of the earthquake.
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