1. Raising Awareness

Like Haiti’s restavèk children who are kept from view, the restavèk system that enslaves as many as 300,000 Haitian children has been veiled in silence, misunderstanding, and denial. Bringing it out into the open is the first step to moving Haiti’s heart and mobilizing Haitian society for change.

The Campaign’s first strategy is to raise public awareness of the reality, root causes, and societal costs of child servitude. This is done by organizing conferences in cities and rural villages, producing radio programs that reach the most remote corners of the country, and developing education programming on children's rights that can be used in schools, literacy centers, micro-credit centers, parenting groups and other settings.

In all its awareness-raising activity the Campaign seeks to amplify the voices of children and adult survivors of servitude. Not only do they speak with great moral authority about the restavèk reality, but in speaking out they rediscover their human dignity and find new courage for this struggle.

Haitian parents in remote villages are often unaware of the suffering that awaits a child they send to work in the city. The availability of schools, electricity, roads and public transportation makes city life look relatively easy. By raising awareness of the reality most children in servitude face, the Campaign helps these parents see through the false promises of brokers and urban families looking to lure children into service.