It's occured to me that many of you may not know why I really came to Haiti, why I have wanted to come here for so long. It has come to my attention, through the unbelievable support I've been getting that many of you reading my blog are probably not aware of my passion, the driving force that led me here to this difficult and fascinating place. So let me explain if you care to know.
The word is Restavek. What does it mean? Well, it is a Creole noun that means 'stays with'. What does it really mean? I will tell you, but before I do I want you to promise to read my words with an open heart, a heart that truly feels the pain of this thing, it will hurt, but that is the manner in which I write about this and hope that it can be read with the same reality and human connection.
Each Restavek case is different, so I will tell you about the most common practices.
It all starts in rural Haiti. Poor families, with little to live off, many mouths to feed, and no money coming into to the household. Pretty much all schools in Haiti are private and fee paying, so kids from poor families will often not be able to attend - even though education here is very highly valued, and what little money comes in is often put towards school and uniforms etc over food.
Then one day, a lady comes to the house and offers about 2000gourds (approx 40euro) to take one of the children away and place them in a family in the city where they will be fed every day and sent to school in return for some household work. It must be noted here that there are no amenities in Haiti. People do not have washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners. No running water for washing, cleaning, cooking, drinking, flushing toilets, no electricity for light, for cooking, watching tv, charging their phones. No refuse collection, no postman, no social welfare. All the things that these machines and facilities do, need to be done manually, and it's pretty much a full time job.
So the lady (trafficker) takes this kid to Port-au-Prince, to a slum, and sells him/her to a poor (a little less poor than the child's family) for about 3000 to 4000gds (60 - 80 euro). This child is now a Restavek. A child staying with a family that is not his/her own. Restaveks can be boys or girls (more girls, but not by much) and usually aged 5-14 years old - they can be younger, they can be older.
When they arrive in the new environment, they are forced to work day and night. They perform all the household tasks, walk to and from the water pump many times a day, in their bare feet, wearing filthy rags, as they wash their new "family's" clothes. Haitians dress very proudly, always in pristine clothes. 80% of these restaveks are physically abused daily, they often display many scars. And approx 80% of the girl restaveks, and some of the boys too, are repeatedly sexually abused, often rented out to the neighbours too.
They are not fed any food other than the scraps, when there are some, of the food they have prepared for the family. They are not sent to school as promised either, sometimes allowed to go occasionally when all the work is completed, but this is pointless as they will always stay too far behind to make any progress.
They have no place to sleep. They will crawl under the bed, or kitchen table, or find a little corner to put their head down. They have to stay up long after everyone is asleep and get up long before anyone wakes.
This is Slavery. There are about 300 000 restaveks in Haiti.
Many run away and they become one of the hundreds of thousands of street kids. They grow up, join gangs, commit crimes and often end up getting killed.
I spoke to a guy from The International Organisation on Migration (IOM) the other day who told me about a recent case where a 14 year old restavek got pregnant after being raped, and the 'mother' in the household gave her an abortive tea which killed her as it comprised mainly of rat-killer. There is no system of prosecution for cases like these. No system of protection for these children.
Haiti has so many problems. It had a multitude of unsurmountable problems before the earthquake, and now, millions are still displaced and homeless, thousands are dying of cholera.. The list of priorities to help Haiti is endless.. and restaveks are nowhere near the top.
But they are at the top for me. They are the reason I am here, and the reason I chose to dedicate my life to contributing to the development of this country. For me, this isn't a short trip, to do my time of volunteering and to return to my life.. this is my life, it is a path I chose 4 years ago when I first learnt that these kids existed, when I decided i refuse to live in a world where this exists, and therefore will do everything in my power to stop it. Bit unrealistic, I know, but one can dream?
The word is Restavek. What does it mean? Well, it is a Creole noun that means 'stays with'. What does it really mean? I will tell you, but before I do I want you to promise to read my words with an open heart, a heart that truly feels the pain of this thing, it will hurt, but that is the manner in which I write about this and hope that it can be read with the same reality and human connection.
Each Restavek case is different, so I will tell you about the most common practices.
It all starts in rural Haiti. Poor families, with little to live off, many mouths to feed, and no money coming into to the household. Pretty much all schools in Haiti are private and fee paying, so kids from poor families will often not be able to attend - even though education here is very highly valued, and what little money comes in is often put towards school and uniforms etc over food.
Then one day, a lady comes to the house and offers about 2000gourds (approx 40euro) to take one of the children away and place them in a family in the city where they will be fed every day and sent to school in return for some household work. It must be noted here that there are no amenities in Haiti. People do not have washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners. No running water for washing, cleaning, cooking, drinking, flushing toilets, no electricity for light, for cooking, watching tv, charging their phones. No refuse collection, no postman, no social welfare. All the things that these machines and facilities do, need to be done manually, and it's pretty much a full time job.So the lady (trafficker) takes this kid to Port-au-Prince, to a slum, and sells him/her to a poor (a little less poor than the child's family) for about 3000 to 4000gds (60 - 80 euro). This child is now a Restavek. A child staying with a family that is not his/her own. Restaveks can be boys or girls (more girls, but not by much) and usually aged 5-14 years old - they can be younger, they can be older.
When they arrive in the new environment, they are forced to work day and night. They perform all the household tasks, walk to and from the water pump many times a day, in their bare feet, wearing filthy rags, as they wash their new "family's" clothes. Haitians dress very proudly, always in pristine clothes. 80% of these restaveks are physically abused daily, they often display many scars. And approx 80% of the girl restaveks, and some of the boys too, are repeatedly sexually abused, often rented out to the neighbours too.
They are not fed any food other than the scraps, when there are some, of the food they have prepared for the family. They are not sent to school as promised either, sometimes allowed to go occasionally when all the work is completed, but this is pointless as they will always stay too far behind to make any progress.
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| Haitian kitchen |
This is Slavery. There are about 300 000 restaveks in Haiti.
Many run away and they become one of the hundreds of thousands of street kids. They grow up, join gangs, commit crimes and often end up getting killed.
I spoke to a guy from The International Organisation on Migration (IOM) the other day who told me about a recent case where a 14 year old restavek got pregnant after being raped, and the 'mother' in the household gave her an abortive tea which killed her as it comprised mainly of rat-killer. There is no system of prosecution for cases like these. No system of protection for these children.
Haiti has so many problems. It had a multitude of unsurmountable problems before the earthquake, and now, millions are still displaced and homeless, thousands are dying of cholera.. The list of priorities to help Haiti is endless.. and restaveks are nowhere near the top.But they are at the top for me. They are the reason I am here, and the reason I chose to dedicate my life to contributing to the development of this country. For me, this isn't a short trip, to do my time of volunteering and to return to my life.. this is my life, it is a path I chose 4 years ago when I first learnt that these kids existed, when I decided i refuse to live in a world where this exists, and therefore will do everything in my power to stop it. Bit unrealistic, I know, but one can dream?
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