Haiti: Theatre provides an escape for the young

For 12-year-old Juliana St. Vill and her classmates at a local theatre school – screaming is therapy.

Acting is an escape for her and other children who have been driven out of their homes in Haiti and live in the constant threat of gang violence.

Juliana says, “I play whatever role they ask me to play,” but she knows she wants to grow up to be a policewoman. She says, “I like the way they dress, but I would be afraid of dying.”

Just a few blocks away from where Juliana and others rehearse, a female officer with Haiti’s National Police was fatally shot on May 8 as…