A lot of people
consider slavery to be a thing of the past.
It’s nice to believe that, overall,
our treatment of people has improved dramatically in the last couple hundred
years. Unfortunately, slavery is very much a modern day problem. It exists in many forms,
one being child slavery. In Haiti, there is a specific word for children living
in poverty who are forced to work as domestic servants: It’s called restavek.
There are more
than 300,000 children in restavek in Haiti. While this is a staggering and discouraging
number, there are many ways you can get involved that will bring hope to
children who are living in a seemingly hopeless situation.
1. Reading our
children’s books
Several girls
from our transitional homes in Haiti, whom we have dubbed our “Freedom
Writers,” teamed up with Shout Mouse Press to create two illustrated children’s
books that depict the harsh reality of child slavery in Haiti. But the books
don’t end with the day-to-day life that is true of many children living in
slavery. Instead, the Freedom Writers
took their own personal experiences and created different endings to their
stories. Redemptive endings. The children’s books they wrote show the hope
these girls have that children currently in restavek in Haiti can have the hope
of freedom. What a great reminder that
our stories are not yet finished! By using these children’s books to raise
awareness of the issue of restavek, the girls are inviting more people like you
to take a stand to end child slavery in Haiti. Order
our books today and start sharing the stories with those around you.
Let’s build a team of passionate people eager to put an end to the restavek
system in Haiti.
2. Sponsoring
children
Most children
living in slavery have little hope of a future. Their opportunity to gain a
formal education is lost. Education provides children a space to grow and
develop, and become more aware of and confident in their identities. They learn
just how precious and worthy of investment they are. When in school, children
have teachers that are rooting for them, who are on their side. Simply put,
education opens up possibilities and, for children living in restavek, that is
something they never could have afforded to hope for. Sponsoring
a child for $360/year, or $30/month, gives a child the gift of
imagining a future apart from slavery.
3. Learn more
about our child advocacy program
Again, it comes down to our goal of
providing an education for children in slavery in Haiti. Our child
advocates partner with over 25 schools in Haiti in order to give children in
restavek a break from their never ending list of chores and hope for their
future. The work that children in restavek complete on a daily basis
is exhausting, so these children are eager for a break, especially one that is
aimed at ending their cycle of poverty.
We want to end child slavery in
Haiti in our lifetime. Restavek Freedom believes we can accomplish it. Do you?
If you are interested in learning more about how
you can partner with us to end child slavery, contact us or visit our
website today!
