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photo
by Ed Keller |
Seven
Restavek Children Tell Us Their Stories
The U.N. estimates that as many as 300,000 Haitian children
live apart from their families in unpaid domestic servitude.
They are typically forced to toil from dawn till dusk,
usually with no break for school, play, or friendships.
They exist in the shadows of society, exploited and barely
visible.
Seven Haitian children who live in domestic servitude
tell us a little about their lives. They are all students
in literacy centers supported by Beyond Borders through
the Partnership of Hope.
Although
their lives are still not easy, the chance they are given
to attend school at the literacy center for a few hours
each day gives these children new hope and a chance to
begin to step out of the shadows of virtual slavery and
begin to move toward full membership in society.
1.
Aline Dena, a student at the Manish center, 30 kilometers
from Okay
My
name is Aline Dena. I’m originally from the village
of Jefwa. I’m 11 years old. I now live with Arisile
Moiz. I’m not related to her. I do a lot of work
there. Every day from the moment I rise I’m going
to fetch water for the household. I make eight trips a
day. I have to walk a long way to get the water. I make
three trips in the morning before going to school and
five trips after school. I normally carry one bucket of
water on my head and one in each hand. My arms always
start hurting, so I stop to put them down. But if I get
back late they will yell insults at me and even beat me
with a Guava switch or with whatever they can find until
my whole body and my head is smarting. Before I came [to
the literacy center] this morning I made three trips to
collect water. I walk about thirty minutes to get to school
because I live over on that hill. I wash my mistress’s
clothes along with her husband and two children’s
clothes. I wash the dishes. Sweep, dust, and mop. I go
to the market. I have to wash their clothes before I wash
my own, so sometimes I don’t find time to wash my
own clothes. Her children sometimes beat me and rip my
clothes. My father heard how they mistreat me and came
to get me. I didn’t go with him, though, even though
I wanted to. But they weren’t around, and I didn’t
want them to be able to accuse me of leaving like a thief,
accusing me of taking something from their house. I long
to go live with my family.
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2.
Juna Jean, the Bèjo literacy center
My name is Juna Jean. I am thirteen years old. I’ve
been separated from my family and living as a domestic
servant since I was seven years old. I’ve worked
for three different families. The first place I worked
they sent me to school, but I really suffered a lot of
abuse. They punished me every day of the week and made
me eat the same food they gave the dogs. The second place
where I worked I was sick a lot so they took me back to
my family. The third place is where I am now. They treat
me a lot better than the first two places. The only work
they require me to do is to wash the dishes, make the
beds, mop the floors, and dust. They often compliment
me for the work I do. I have to get it all done before
school starts in the center in the afternoon. Now I have
the chance to go to school. I have a lot of hope in my
life now because with the help of the literacy center
I will one day be able to become a dress maker. I thank
God and ask God to protect my family and the people I
work for because of the opportunity they give me to go
to school at the literacy center. My father and mother
have five children. I’m the fourth child. Their
third and fifth children also live away as domestic servants.
3.
Gijna Lonèl, a student at the literacy center of
the First Baptist Church, Okay
I’m
13 years old and live with a woman named Marlene Jean Louis.
I have a hard life. She yells insults at me a lot because
of the work she gives me that is too hard for me. I’m
responsible for all the work in the house (sweeping, going
to the market, dusting and mopping, washing the dishes,
etc.). The moment I get back from school I put my books
down and immediately have to go to the market, because in
the mornings before I go to school I have to focus on getting
her child ready for school. Sometimes I run into two of
my mother’s other children who live and work with
two other families. When I talk with them about how they
are living, they say their situation isn’t as miserable
as mine. My misery is worse. She often humiliates me in
front of other children my age. What makes me stay is that
they say that the life in the countryside isn’t like
life in the city. But it is a real hardship not living with
your own family.
4.
Pierre Michel, student at the Kawa literacy center, a small
community near Okay
I’m
a little boy named Pierre Michel. I live a life that is
not easy at all. I live with a woman named Julienne Donavil
and her husband, Bertin. We live close to the public school
in Kawa. They give me food and clothing. But my work is
something else. I have to get up really early in the morning
to go to the fields to care for the animals. There are cows
and goats.
(Windal
Celestin, a little friend of Pierre Michel and a student
in the center, interrupts here to tell a little story about
Pierre.) One Wednesday in 2002, the man of the house, Bertin,
locked Pierre Michel in so that he could beat him for the
work he didn’t want to do. But Pierre managed to escape.
That same day he ran away. When night fell he climbed up
in a tree that isn’t too far from the house. During
the night people in the neighborhood heard something that
fell outside. When everyone ran to see what it was we saw
that it was Pierre Michel who had fallen from the tree when
he fell asleep. He broke his right arm. They had to take
him to the hospital. Since that time they’ve been
better about not abusing him.
5. Rose Marie Occide, a student at the Laurant literacy
center, about 20 minutes from Okay
I’m
a twelve-year-old girl. I’m from Bomon. I was sent
from my mothers house to work at the home of Ermite who
is a woman who is unrelated to my mother and father. She
would beat me, hit me in the stomach, especially when I
felt like I just couldn’t do any more work in the
house. She gave me food, but the work was really too hard
for me. I ran away to find my mother and father in Bomon.
Along the way on the Simon road, a woman named Jaklin asked
me, “Where are you going?” I told her I was
going to my mother’s house. She said, “Let’s
go to my house.”
I was happy to go with her. When I arrived she bathed me.
She sat me down and said I didn’t have the right to
misbehave. Jaklin treats me well. She buys clothes and food
for me. It was there that I got the chance to go to school.
I’m praying that God will give me the chance to become
a nurse someday.
6. Edele Vilmé, the Boufa literacy center
My
name is Edele Vilmé. I have a hard life. When I was
still very young they sent me to live with my aunt who is
my father’s sister. Today I have neither a mother
nor a father. My mother died before my father. My father
has been dead since 1997. To survive I’m forced to
do work that isn’t really meant for a child my age.
I work as a hired hand, tending millet, corn, and beans.
I do this because my aunt doesn’t have any money to
care for me. My aunt and I and others in the neighborhood
have no choice but to sell our strength. They give me 15
gourdes (about 30 cents) for working six hours in the morning
before school, from 6 a.m. till 12 noon. The worst thing
is that when I work they often don’t pay me on time.
I can wait ten or twelve days to be paid the 15 gourdes
they pay me for the one day of work I’ve done. Anyone
can see my suffering. I ask God if He can’t send my
mother or my father to come save me from my life here on
earth. I think of them every time I need food, or clothing,
or shoes. It can make me cry and I can be very sad.
7.
Nesly Bazil, the Bèjo literacy center
My
life isn’t easy. I’m twelve years old. I’ve
been living in servitude apart from my family for more than
a year now. They don’t beat me where I am, but my
work never ends. I have to get up at five in the morning
to go to the field and move the animals. There are a lot
of goats and sheep I’m responsible for. When I’ve
finished moving them [to new pasture], I return to the house
usually around six o’clock to start doing house work
such as sweeping, going to fetch water, and cooking. I really
have to hustle to be able to get everything done to get
to school on time. My work is never finished, because when
I return from school I put my book bag down and have to
be immediately off to move the animals again and then go
carry more water. If I manage to get all this work done,
then I have a chance to study. They’ve promised me
that as soon as one of the goats has kids, they’ll
give me one. I’m sticking with school because I hope
God will be gracious with me and allow me to become an agronomist
someday.
These seven accounts are from several dozen interviews
we conducted with children in literacy centers support by
Beyond Borders.
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