Interviewer: Enid Pagan
Interviewee: Ghislaine Brevil
Relationship: Mother
Date: October, 2001

She Has Her Only Friend Horribly Betray Her
and That is Only Part of Her Burden

What is your full name?

My name is Ghislaine Brevil.

What is your nationality?

My nationality is Haitian.

What is your date of birth?

My birthday is August 21, 1959.

Where were you born?

I was born in the capital of Port au Prince, Haiti.

When did you (move to the U.S./move from somewhere else in the U.S.) to Philadelphia?

I move out of Haiti to New York on December 5, 1970.

Why did you leave your country/State/former place of residence?

I left Haiti because it was poor. My family was poor. I didn't have any toys; baby dolls or anything like that. I remember I use to play with a mango seed and use it as a doll. I let the seed get dry outside and if it's dried enough (the way I wanted), I start playing. I also remember I use to use my mother's left over food and play with it. And I use the food to give it to my friends and play "house," I pretended that I was the mother and my friends were my children.

What did you like/dislike about your home/country?

I like Haiti because it was a nice place to live. I love looking at the ocean because it smells fresh. I dislike Haiti because it was poor and I didn't have toys to play with. Also I didn't like my father send money to my brother's godmother.

Why did you choose Philadelphia/U.S?

I choose New York to live because I wanted a new life; living the way I did in Haiti was too hard to live as a poor and N.Y.C. was interesting. And I choose Philadelphia because when I started living in my own in N.Y.C., renting a house or apartment was too much money.

How did you travel here?/What type of transportation did you use/take to travel here? How would you change that?

I travel to N.Y.C. by a plane. In light of the plane crash in N.Y.C., I would take a boat. I travel to Philadelphia with a U-Haul truck. I would not change it but if I had to I would use a moving company.

How did you find a place to live in Philly?

My father's brother was the one who send him to N.Y.C. in a street called LaSalle, so my father decide to bring us here when he's ready. My mother was living here in Philly, so she gives me the idea to live with her when I am ready to get my own house. But I left Philly again because my husband promise to change own marriage. So anyway, I came back to Philly for good and my husband stayed in N.Y.C.

With whom did you travel? [Who did you travel with?]

I travel with my sister and brother.

Give 1 thing you remember most about your home town and why?

I remember in Haiti that my brother's godmother use to make dresses for me, but the dress is too even or too small.

How did your life change when you moved and what were the differences between the two places?

My life changed by my language. I had all my language mix up with English. That's why now I can't speak some words - I forget things coming over here in the United States. The difference between the United States and Haiti is N.Y.C. have a lot of big buildings and there's a lot of different language I don't know. Haiti has a big land, small houses, and only one language (French).

What did you expect about the US/Philly?

The thing I expect about the United States is freedom.

What did you come here to accomplish and what else do you feel you still need to do?

I come here to New York to accomplish the life I lived in Haiti. In Haiti, the land was poor. Rich people lived in one side of the land and the poor lived the other side of the land. I feel good to accomplish my life in N.Y.C. because the United States has a freedom to live better.

What are the differences between when you came here and now?

Philadelphia is different because the house is cheaper, you could buy the house or rent them. N.Y.C. is too much money to buy or rent a house. Haiti is a free land to live, but you have to have money to visit.

What did you sacrifice/leave behind when you left?

From all the places I use to live (Haiti and N.Y.C.), Philadelphia is the best place. But I didn't leave behind anything.

Why did you leave your place of birth?

The problems in Haiti were... it was too poor and my mother couldn't take care of us that why I moved to the United States of the City of New York. And the problems in N.Y.C. were my husband and I didn't get along and was arguing too much so that's why I moved back and forth to Philadelphia.

How much money did you have and where did you get it when you came to Philly/US?

My father was working in N.Y.C. save the money; send it to Haiti and after that send us to the United States. To moved out of N.Y.C. to Philly, I saved up some money at the bank and hided some.

How did you adapt to your new environment?

In New York, it was very hard to live. But Philadelphia is better than any places I use to be. Both places have the some environment but a little bit different.

Why do you think it was worth all your changes?

I think it was worth all my changes because very indeed it helps my life in Haiti.

What education did you have before/after you arrived?

The education I had before in Haiti was math and learn how to reading in my language. The education I had after I moved out of Haiti to New York was math, English, gym, sewing, and cooking. But my favorite subject was sewing, cooking, and English.

Do you [ever] regret moving? Why or why not?

I never regret living out of Haiti or N.Y.C. I feel happier in Philadelphia because my life changed.

What would make you go back to your place of birth?

I have to have money to go back to Haiti because it's the amount of transportation.

Describe your first job here. If you didn't have one, where did you get money?

My first job was working in Mac Donald, Burger, and KFC. And my last job was working in a factory. The things I did in the factory is taking thread, fold them up, count them, and put it in a box. Then, when I had my own kids, I was a babysitter take care of other kids.

Is there anything that you would like to add?

When my father moved here by his brother, he gotten a job, save money for buying things. He sends money for us to move out of Haiti with my sister and brother. When I came here, everything was new to me. Big buildings, public parks, everything was new to me. When my father started drinking, he started to beat us up. So when I started school, I go to class with bruise on my face. Every time my father hurts me the teacher see me with bruise on my face. The teacher use to go out with my father. She was a good teacher. Most of the time, when I go to my class, my classmates use to call me bad names like "stinker" because my father didn't buy us the things I needed (panties, deodorant, bras, and other thing). Every night my teacher sees my father.

One day my teacher came up to my father and told him to get some panties, deodorant, bras, and other things - things that girls suppose to get. So instead of my father getting the things my teacher got them. She shows and told me what to wear for me. I know this is embarrass to say, but I use to wear my brother's underwear because my father was rising us by himself and also he didn't know nothing about these things (remember Haiti was a poor country). But until I meet my teacher my life changed, she helped me a lot. She was a Haitian teacher. The subject I took in school was Bilingual French and English classes. When I came here I didn't have any friends at all, but only one. My friend name is Patricia. One day my friend, Patricia and me played hooky. On that day I went to Patricia's friend's house. I didn't know where I was. Suddenly a boy took me to in a room. He wanted me to have sex with him. But I didn't wanted to. So he said to me this is a free country. He forces me to have sex with him. I was rape by someone I didn't know. I felt upset and so much afraid. I was scared. After that I went home. I didn't want to tell nobody what happen or what I did during school. I entrance my house and saw my brother. I didn't want to tell him. I can't believe what happen, I trust Patricia. I thought she was a good friend. She was the only friend I had. My brother asks me where I was. I came home late. The time was 4 o' clock, I entrance my house. At that time my father was working. Then my brother told me that he was going to tell on me. I was afraid. I said to my father got home, I knew that I was going to get in trouble. I didn't want to tell him what I was doing. So he start to beat me up again and again. I was feeling so hurt when I was living with my father because mom wasn't there for me, she was still at Haiti. I couldn't go outside, I always stayed with my father in the house. I use to cook and cleaned for him. I couldn't do anything.

Then one day my father use to let my sister and me wash the wall. I woke up at midnight when my father was drank and made me cook soup. My father use to wake me up beating me up while my sister stayed sleeping in her bed. Then when I'm up he uses to argue with me for no reason. When I'm finish making him soup, t hen he ate it. He got sick, then he was drank. Then I went back to bed. Then he said to me, "Why you went back to bed?" Then he came in my room and start beating me up. Then I get up around 7 o'clock by beating me up. Then I have to stay with him all night watching T.V. because I loved my father, I wanted to make sure he was all right. At that time I was pregnancy by the boy who raped me and I didn't know nothing about it. So the beating and the bruise continue. When I was 17 years old, I felt sick, slight nausea, and discomfort. I went to the doctor and told me I was pregnancy. I didn't know what to do.

Still I was getting beat up and still bruise on my face. The teacher saw me in the hall wall crying. I couldn't take it. I was pregnancy, my father beating me up. So the teacher took me to a home. The home I lived at a church that help me a lot. They took all three of us. When I had my baby girl, she was in a home. But this home, she stays there until I was ready living in my own. I see her every Wednesday and she left 3 years later.

After all I been through, I suddenly saw my "so call" friend, Patricia. I told her I was rape and had the guy baby. Then she told me that she got rape. But I think she was lying about the whole rape thing. I trust her; she was my only friend.