Two Success Stories from the Child Protection Committees

After Vilière Printemps and his wife completed the ‘Education is a Conversation’ program in their rural village, conducted by a neighborhood Child Protection Committee (CPC), the couple brought back the daughter they had sent away and felt it was their “responsibility to talk with parents in the community about the dangers of sending their children to live as a restavèk.”

Beyond Borders’ approach– to be a support to the Child Protection Committees– is a reflection of our organizational philosophy: those who suffer are best suited to identify their problems, and the solutions that address these problems. “A successful strategy to end the practice of child slavery in Haiti will come from Haitians – and we can best support this goal by being allies to those who are building the base of the movement, strengthening their leadership and their abilities,” said Beyond Borders’ director David Diggs.


The story of 12-year-old Louina Point Dujour is another example of how a CPC’s work can save a child from life as a restavèk. Just as Louina was about to begin the journey to Port-au-Prince to live with a family as a child slave, the CPC in her community intervened.

“A member of the CPC learned that Louina’s parents were desperately poor and planning to send her to Port-au-Prince for a chance at a better life,” said Marie Nicole Edouard, a social worker with Limyè Lavi, Beyond Borders’ sister organization in Haiti. “Immediately the CPC member called a meeting of the group and they made the decision to block Louina from making the trip,” Edouard said.

The CPC found Louina’s parents, met with them to learn why they were sending the girl away, then identified the resources the family needed to keep Louina home. The CPC then rallied fellow committee members and neighbors to help provide the family with what they needed. “Even now the CPC continues to support Louina as much as they can,” Edouard said.

“I am so grateful to Beyond Borders, Limyè Lavi and the CPC in my community for helping me send my child to our community school this year,” testified Louina’s mother, Mrs. Louis Point Dujour.