Summer Camp Changed My Life

“On the first day of summer camp, I made a bracelet…and it changed my whole life at home.”

When Leyla* returned from her first day of Summer Camp and showed her “aunty” and her aunty’s daughter, Darline, her new
bracelet, they wanted to know all about camp. Leyla told them about the dancing and singing, the jumping rope and art projects. Darline, enthralled, asked if she could go to camp too.

Children in the modern-day form of slavery known in Haiti as “restavek” have back – breaking work and increased abuse in the summer months when school is not in session. Restavek Freedom’s Summer Camp provides these children with a respite from their long days with crafts and playtime along with education, tutoring and meals (which are otherwise scarce). When possible, children from their host families are invited to attend alongside the children in restavek.

“It meant a lot to me that Darline would eat next to me at Summer Camp, because at home I have to eat alone on the ground outside,” said Leyla. The friendship they built by eating and playing together at camp began to change their lives together at home.

“A few weeks after camp I didn’t have time to do the dishes before school, and my ‘aunty’ was going to beat me. But Darline told her not to hit me, and that she would help me do the dishes instead. My aunty started to get angry, but Darline told her that she learned about the rights and duties of all children at Summer Camp, and that all children are equal. Everything started to change and get better at home after that.”

For only $60, you can help change the lives of children like Leyla. A gift to sponsor Summer Camp for a child means a full belly, rare time to play and sing and dance without fear, and the opportunity to change how generations of children respect and care for one another.

Will you give the gift of Summer Camp to a child in Haiti today?