Growing Communities of Justice for Children

By Nick Lyndon, Chief Operating Officer

Over the last three years, Restavek Freedom has taken its
innovative Justice Curriculum trainings to churches and communities throughout
Haiti. We believe that by engaging families who are hosting children in their
homes or who know others hosting children in their homes, we can begin to
change the way children are treated.

We trained more than 250 influential community leaders in
2015 from the Artibonite, North-West, Grand-Anse and West departments of
Haiti.  Those leaders then went back to
their communities and trained members of their churches, schools, social groups,
and cultural clubs.  More than 7,000
people were reached as a result!

Haiti is a very religious country, and many of the leaders
we engage through the Justice Curriculum are pastors and church members.  These community members often play a large
role in shaping the social life of their communities.  The Justice Curriculum examines God’s heart
for children and for justice, and covers topics such as:

• God’s character

• God’s plan for each person

• The plight of children in restavek

• The rights of children and the responsibility of
  parents

• The responsibility of churches in helping
  children in restavek

• Standing up for freedom

Pastor Lemet Zefi, who collaborated with us in creating the
curriculum, shared, “The question of children in restavek is something that has
been on my mind for a long time… This injustice in Haiti is something that has
kept me from falling asleep during many nights. I am certain that as Christians
who love God, we cannot stay with our arms crossed. From experience and the
Bible we see that the love God has for us through Jesus Christ is deep, and he
demands justice for those who cannot defend themselves. “

The issue of restavek is a deep and complex one.  Many pastors unwittingly participate in
trafficking children as they “help” poor families in rural communities who do
not believe they can care for their own children, bringing those children to
families in urban communities to live as restavek. Many involved have no idea
how disparaging and psychologically taxing the conditions may be for the child,
and they are unaware how terribly the child may be treated.

However, with our concerted efforts through the Justice
Curriculum, we are seeing real change. Networks of religious leaders and
communities permeate the country of Haiti, and as they are captured by God’s
heart for justice, we see changes both in the way adults treat children in their
homes, and in the unwillingness of communities to participate in trafficking
children.

One training participant shared, “I have a boy in my home
that I usually wake up early to work, while my biological children are
sleeping. After I attended the training, my wife and I were so moved that we
quickly understood the best thing we could do is to change our behavior toward
him. So when we got home, we gave him a bed and more time to sleep, and supported
him as a child. We were happy about that because we could see the change that
took place in our home – that young boy felt a part of our family. Thank you so
much for the training!”

In another instance, our Director of Church Mobilization,
Pastor Bilda, shared the horrors of the restavek system with a group of pastors
who were going out to visit their rural church communities. Together, the group
of pastors committed that they would not return with children from those
communities who would then be placed into restavek. This was a monumental
agreement!

As we continue to engage church and faith communities
throughout Haiti, we are very excited to be seeing such transformation.
Haitians across the country are standing up for freedom, and we are honored to
support them and stand with them for the sake of the children who hope and long
for a future where they are free.

For children currently toiling away in slavery, this future
cannot come soon enough.  Join us in
bringing hope to these children by becoming a sponsor or getting
involved today!