With our line
of work, we hear a lot of stories.
We hear stories of heartache and brokenness
as we work daily with children in need and stories of child slavery. However,
we also hear stories of hope, healing, and redemption. Those are our favorite
stories, because they encourage us to continue fighting every day to end slavery.
Here are some
of our favorite stories, a couple of them from our own team members in Haiti,
that leave us encouraged every time we hear them.
1. Mirielle (name has been changed to protect the child’s
privacy.)
Mirielle started living in restavek when she was 10 years old, shortly after
the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. One of our child advocates encountered Mirielle, noting
that she was being mistreated, sleeping on the floor, responsible for cooking
and cleaning, and very lonely. Mirielle did not know how to read or write, and
had to repeat 2nd grade twice. Mirielle is now in the 4th grade, is receiving
better treatment at home, has close friends at school, loves math, and has
developed self-confidence. It truly is amazing what having an advocate can do
for a child living in restavek!
2. Joseph
Joseph was sold to the Egyptians and into slavery by his brothers. He could
have easily been dismayed and lost hope in the situation. However, Joseph
eventually rose to become the second most powerful man in Egypt, second only to
Pharaoh himself. Not only was Joseph released from slavery, but several years
down the road was reconciled to the very brothers who sold him to the Egyptians
in the first place.
3. Saint Patrick
Before he had a holiday named after him, Patrick was captured by Irish
pirates and taken into slavery as a teenager. Fortunately, he was able to
escape and return again to his family in Britain. However, Patrick’s experience
did not deter him from returning to Ireland a few years after his escape as a
missionary to establish the Christian Church in Ireland.
4. Jean-Daniel (name
has been changed to protect the child’s privacy.)
Jean-Daniel is another one of our kids we have worked with over the
years. A Restavek Freedom Child Advocate found Jean-Daniel in 2009; we had no
idea how old he was, but our best guess was that he was around 8 years old. His
mother died when he was young, and shortly after she died, his aunt came to get
him and his older brother. He has been living in restavek ever since.
Jean-Daniel had to stay at home to complete chores while the other kids in his
household went to school, and he, like Mirielle, did not know how to read or
write. He had no bed to rest in at night, apart from the floor, and “playtime”
was a foreign concept to Jean-Daniel. Thanks to the intervention of a Restavek
Freedom Child Advocate, Jean-Daniel was able to begin going to school. He has
been learning, making friends, and gaining confidence in his self-worth ever
since. This year his advocate proudly shared with us that he is at the head of
his 6th grade class! Although
Jean-Daniel still has a life at home that is more difficult than many of us
will ever know, he now has something he didn’t have before: Hope.
Some of you may
be familiar with a few or all of these stories, but we hope that you are still
as encouraged by these stories of renewal as we are.
We believe that
we can end modern day slavery in our lifetime, and those
of us at Restavek Freedom intend to do just that.
We would love for you to join our fight to end
slavery. Reach out to us or visit our website if you are interested in
hearing more about what we do and want to learn more about how you can help.
