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Host a Freedom Sunday

Join Restavek Freedom in observing Freedom Sunday and build pathways out of restavek, one child at a time!

WHAT IS FREEDOM SUNDAY?
Freedom Sunday is an opportunity for your church or faith group to learn more about the issue of restavek and join believers across the US in bringing freedom and hope to enslaved and at-risk children in Haiti.

HOW CAN MY CONGREGATION PARTICIPATE? 

  1. Host a Freedom Sunday service:
    Join the movement to end child slavery in Haiti by participating in Freedom Sunday at your church! We will equip you with all the resources you need to observe Freedom Sunday with your congregation, whether your church or faith group chooses to participate virtually or in person. This can include a short video, language to include in your church newsletter and/or bulletin, and a representative from Restavek Freedom to be present at your Freedom Sunday service.
  2. Join our community of Freedom Sponsors:
    Encourage groups, families, and individuals in your congregation to give freedom and hope to enslaved and at-risk children in Haiti by becoming Freedom Sponsors. With a small gift each month, a Freedom Sponsor provides a specific child with a dedicated advocate, an education, and hope for their future.
  3. Spread the word:
    Do you know other churches or faith groups who would be interested in hosting their own Freedom Sunday service? Help us spread the word! Share this page with those you know and follow us on social media for more Freedom Sunday updates and information.

BRING FREEDOM SUNDAY TO YOUR CHURCH
Our team is dedicated to connecting big-hearted individuals and churches in our community with opportunities to create lasting change for children in Haiti. Contact Joan Conn, Executive Director of Restavek Freedom, to learn more about bringing Freedom Sunday to your church or faith group by filling out the form below.

Not yet a sponsor?

You can give freedom and hope to a child trapped in slavery or at high risk of slavery. For $40/month or $480/year, you’ll bring FREEDOM from isolation, illiteracy, and despair. You’ll partner with a Haitian Child Advocate to provide a child with support, love, education, and hope!

Recent Blogs on Getting Involved
Creative Fundraising

No matter how big our how small, we have people all around the world raising money and awareness to help end child slavery. Use your creativity and the gifts you have been given and do something to make a difference in the lives of children in Haiti!

Here are some examples of what others have done and are currently doing to protect victims of child trafficking:

Donate Your Birthday

Benny and Gracie turned 7 and they asked their friends to make a donation to Restavek Freedom instead of bringing presents. Can you believe it?! What a sacrifice! They came by the office to give us the check and they made our day! You can donate your birthday and transform a child's life.

Change for Freedom

Each year, Mrs. Andry's kindergarten prep class at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy raises money for Restavek Freedom through their Spare Change for World Change program. The students do chores around their homes for spare change. Join these freedom fighters and help end slavery!

If you would like to host a fundraiser for Restavek Freedom or would like to request resources, please submit the form below and let us know what you would like to do!

Your Community

You can engage your church, school or organization to help end child slavery in Haiti!  It really does “take a village,” and your community can change history for children living in modern-day slavery in Haiti.  Here are a couple of ways others have engaged their community in together in standing up together against the restavek system and victims of human trafficking!

Request a Speaker

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Life Church in PA set aside a weekend to spotlight Restavek Freedom, inviting our inspiring speakers to share about our grassroots work in Haiti and hosting a sponsorship drive. More than 60 couples and families became sponsors!

Get Curriculum

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The 6th graders at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy spent half a day participating in a Service Learning Project with Restavek Freedom. Using our hands-on student learning activities, they learned about Haiti, modern-day slavery and how to stand up for social justice.

Volunteer

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A wonderful group of General Electric employees volunteered their time by coming to organize our warehouse. They helped us sort through donations and prepared items to be sent to Haiti. We are so grateful for their hearts!

To find out how your school, church or organization can come together to help children living in modern-day slavery in Haiti, submit the form below and let us know what you are interested in doing.  We look forward to partnering with you!

For Sponsors

We are so grateful for the generous, committed partnership of each of our Freedom Sponsors! You are transforming a child’s life, and providing your sponsored child freedom from isolation, illiteracy, and despair. You are giving them dignity, an education, an advocate to stand up for them and a sense of self-worth! 

  • If you would like to sponsor an additional child, add a child sponsorship here or call us at 513.475.3710.
  • For those who would like to update your payment information to address a replaced credit card or other issue, monthly sponsors can fill out this form to update your giving information, annual sponsors can fill out this form, or you can call us.
  • If you would like to cancel your sponsorship, please call us: 513.475.3710.
  • For those who would like to make up a missed payment, please donate a make-up payment here or call us.
  • If you would like to renew your annual sponsorship through a one-time gift rather than a recurring gift, please make an annual sponsorship payment here or call us.
  • Every year we give sponsors multiple opportunities to go above and beyond. Typical opportunities include Field Trips, Summer Camp, Backpacks, and Christmas Gifts.
  • Should you have any questions regarding your sponsorship, please contact us.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

When you sponsor a child, your money goes to paying for the child’s education: school tuition (school in Haiti is not free), uniforms, books, and other supplies needed for school, as well as an advocate to stand up for them and mediate for them with their family.

Twice a year, you will receive an email update on the child you are partnering with, passed along to us from their advocate. Also, if a recent photo of your child is available, we will also include this with your update. In addition, once a year you will receive a special card created by your sponsored child and their advocate.

Your sponsorship has no end date.  We encourage sponsors to partner with the child and their advocate throughout the child’s education.  However, we understand that sometimes circumstances change and require people to adjust their charitable giving.  So if you need to discontinue your sponsorship, you may contact us at any time.

Currently, our Child Sponsorship Program does not offer letter-writing or gift sending. Most of the children in our program are living in slavery-like conditions, and gift giving and letter writing can create additional conflict in the home. Consequently, we instead strive to make these children feel accepted and valued in Haitian society through their relationship with their Child Advocate, which is one of the most important things your sponsorship provides.

Sponsors who would like to provide something special for their sponsored child may provide an urgent need that goes beyond the scope of what our program provides, whether it be for emergency medical care, a pair of glasses, shoes, or food and nourishment. To do this, go to https://restavekfreedom.org/needs/ and include your child’s name and ID number in the comments section. Then, send an email to info@restavekfreedom.org letting us know you’d like to designate your donation to your sponsored child. Your child’s advocate will then purchase any needed items in Haiti and personally deliver the items to your sponsored child.

In Haiti, living with a relative does not always mean better treatment. Often a child goes to live with their older sibling, aunt, uncle or grandmother when their parents can’t afford to take care of them, or when the parents live in the country and want the child to have a chance to go to school. Unfortunately, when a child goes to live with their relative, the relative (or other people living in the house with them) may not see them as family. Rather, the child may be seen as free labor, to clean, cook, watch their children, or any number of other things.

In the most extreme cases, we remove girls from the homes where they are living in restavek, and place them safely in one of our transitional homes, where they live with trauma-competent caregivers, continue their education, and receive job training. When it is safe to do so, we help them transition back to their biological families, or if they are old enough, help them get started on their own feet.

For the majority of the children in our Child Advocacy Program, however,we do not remove children from the homes, but instead work to change the attitudes of their host families. We have found this is a much more sustainable approach. The practice of restavek is so pervasive in Haitian culture that if we were to remove a child from a home, the host family would very likely find another child to replace them. At the same time, sending a child back to their biological family does not guarantee they will not eventually enter back into the restavek system, as their family sent them to live in restavek out of desperate poverty, and may very well be in the same position.

We are working on many fronts to end the restavek system, including meeting with host families to talk about appropriate treatment of children, working with the government to enforce child protection laws, working to change people’s overall attitudes through media and education, and providing job training and classes for sending families in the rural areas of Haiti.

Restavek Freedom does not have an age cut-off for the children in our program. Because many of the children who join our program were not attending school before our Child Advocates met them, many of them tend to be several grades behind in school. In addition, we have found that children’s education is one of the highest contributing factors to breaking the cycle of restavek and of poverty, and for this reason we continue to sponsor a child’s education as long as they show an interest in school (in Haiti there are 13 grades).

Sometimes, for various reasons, children leave or are exited from our program. If this happens, you will receive a letter in the mail notifying you of this change and giving you the opportunity to continue your sponsorship with another child from our program who is in need of a sponsor.

There are many ways to help! You can spread awareness about the restavek issue, and invite others to become sponsors. You are also more than welcome to sponsor more than one child, or invite a church or school near you to sponsor multiple children from our program. In addition, many of our sponsors have their donations matched by their businesses; ask your company if they have a matching gift program. Finally, you can provide extra help to the children in our Child Advocacy program by going to our Freedom E-Store (www.restavekfreedom.org/estore).

We will send you an email reminder one month before your sponsorship is set to renew. If you do not have an email address, we will notify you via phone or standard mail. You may also contact us at any time if you have questions about your sponsorship.

Yes there is!  Keep up to date on our blog, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @RestavekFreedom to stay current with our work in Haiti. In addition, if you are interested in visiting Haiti and seeing our work first-hand, you may also contact us about joining us on a vision trip. 

Thank you again for your partnership with us!  Your support is helping us end child slavery in Haiti.  If you have further questions, please call us at (513) 475-3710.  We would love to talk with you.

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