The
U.N. estimates that as many as 300,000
Haitian children are separated from
their families and live in unpaid domestic
servitude. They typically work from
dawn till dusk with little or no time
to play or form friendships. Many are
physically, emotionally, and sexually
abused. And few are given the chance
to attend school.
Beyond
Borders is supporting a growing movement
in Haiti to bring an end to child servitude
and exploitation. We are working to
support the work of dozens of local
Haitian organizations and leaders committed
to this cause.
The
Campaign to End Child Servitude:
Beyond Borders is also taking the lead
in building a coalition of local, national,
and international organizations devoted
to bringing an end to child servitude.
We seek to do this by making this practice
socially unacceptable and pressuring
the Haitian government and other institutions
and leaders to do their duty and protect
these children.
Billboards
like these are a small part
of campaign to end child servitude.
The billboard says, "Give me your
hand. Give me tomorrow. Down with Child
Servitude." The Down with Child
Servitude coalition we have helped establish
in Haiti has developed an extensive
public awareness campaign to change
attitudes about the practice of exploiting
children in domestic servitude, appealing
to guardians of these children and government
officials to use their power to protect
these defenseless children.
Children
and adults in Les Cayes march
to demand an end to child slavery. The
Campaign regularly organizes marches
in the capital and other cities to push
Haiti's leaders to take more action
on behalf of Haiti's children.
Schooling
for At-risk Children: Haitian
parents often decide to send their children
into servitude because they cannot find
or afford schooling for them in their
rural communities where schools are
very rare and poor. They believe that
their children will have a better chance
of finding an education with a family
in and urban area.
 |
Literacy
centers provide some of Haiti's
poorest children with hope and a
basic education.
Photo: courtesy of Hal
Noss |
Urban
families wanting the free labor a child
can provide often play on this hope
and promise to send a child to school.
But they often don't deliver and, instead,
work the child endlessly.
Beyond
Borders works to reduce the flow of
children into servitude by providing
opportunities for the poorest children
in a rural area with the chance to attend
school.
We also offer parents who have sent
a child into servitude the opportunity
to retrieve their child and place them
in a local school or literacy center
we support.
Some
of the urban literacy centers we support
are composed almost entirely of children
currently living in servitude. Working
through local leaders, we convince the
families who use these children to give
them a few hours off each afternoon
to participate in a special accelarated
four-year educational program designed
specifically for servant children.
Please
join us in offering some of
Haiti’s most vulnerable children
the gift of hope and a brighter future.
Your gift will help us improve the treatment
servant children receive, help others
be freed from servitude and reunited
with their families, and bring an eventual
end to this practice that enslaves tens
of thousands of Haitian children. Give
a gift that will make a lasting difference
in the life of a Haitian child.
Click
here or on the button
to the right to make your
secure donation to Beyond
Borders now. |
|
 Beyond
Borders has earned
the highest rating
from Charity
Navigator™, America’s
largest independent evaluator
of charities. Beyond Borders
"exceeds industry standard
and outperforms most charities
in its cause."
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Would
you like to come visit Haiti and see
the impact of our work? Please contact
us, and we'll let you know how.
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