We believe-’Children are God’s gifts’, however, the irony is they are not treated the same everywhere. Slavery system which has been abolished (or so we think) centuries ago, we can still find hundreds of examples of bonded slavery till now. What we consider as a free society still witnesses slavery in the worst of its form, the most ridiculous being ‘child slavery’. Liberty, equality, social justice-these words do exist but they still haven’t touched the lives of many Haitian children.
Here is a heart melting story of a Haitian child named Evans Antoine, the boy who wakes up at 7 a.m., just to face another torturous day. He is made to sleep on a dusty floor, like many of us he doesn’t have warm, puffy, quilted beds. He washes dishes; cleans up whole of the house, run errands all day long and also works under burning sun. Still, he has neither money, nor the privilege to attend school like other children of his age. Except for a dirty floor to sleep, a broken roof to hide him and food which is usually the left over, he gets nothing. The tragic story of his life that he has been living since past three years doesn’t end here. He gets a few things in return of his toil and they are; beatings, abuses and punishments. As Antoine puts it,
They tell me that I’m useless. They yell at me and tell me about all the things they do for me and how easy I have it.
Children as ‘Restaveks’
Restavek is actually a Haitian term, which was derived from the French word meaning to ’stay with.’ However, as per the Haitians the phrase doesn’t just mean to stay with someone but is conferred as ‘one who lives with people’. It doesn’t matter if the stay is forced upon someone because of the culture, which sees Restavek as a tradition. As per statistics, Evans is not alone; there are other 300,000 children, out of which ten percent are under 18 years of age, who serve as domestics for other families even if that is a forced servitude.
Restaveks the practice which started most probably with the mixed-race children on the plantation mansions has been able to survive and seep into the twentieth century. Haiti, which is one of the most impoverished nations in the world has also not resented against the tradition of restaveks as the families in the economy can not afford to feed their children. Thus, they seek the ridiculous tradition as the only way out. Girls especially are prone to a more torturous life. Where male children are used physically, girls end up being sexually harassed. It is quite ironical that the nation which was the first one to outlaw slavery has continued with the worst form of slavery.
A few hardcore facts
• The nation supports a population of 8.7 million and is suffering pangs poverty and lawlessness.
• Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.
• As per UNICEF, less then 2% of children are able to finish secondary education.
• Just half of the primary school children are enrolled in schools for further education.
• Most of the restaveks are those children, who are willingly given up by their parents for money mostly. Antoine’s case is an example of what so often goes wrong.
The veiled truth
Usually host families are promised that their children will be educated, fed properly and taken proper care of. Parents in want of better future for their children agree to send them. However, most of the families don’t keep their promises. In fact, the families who adopt these children are just a little bit well off in comparison to the host families. As Guerda Constante, a child-rights activist quotes, ‘It is not in Haitian culture to send children away. Parents do this because they do not have the means to provide for their needs. It seems strange, but the parents are acting with love.’
A ray of HOPE
After the circulation of the news about the depressing situation of Haiti children, one American school has decided to set up a sister-school relationship with those in Fond des Blancs. The school named Seth Boyden Elementary school is situated in Maplewood, N.J. Also, NGOs and private aid agencies such as the Maurice Sixto Home in Port-au-Prince do a lot by educating and feeding restaveks.
The challenge
The biggest challenge that we face in an effort to eradicate restavek system from its roots is that it has soaked into the very psychology and mentality of the Haitian people. The system has been accepted thoroughly, thus making it a part of the community and culture. Restaveks are hardly discovered as people don’t complain about abuses or harassments. The child laws when and if are taken into account they just lead to the release of the children without a shelter to live in. This makes them more vulnerable to drugs, illegal activities, sufferings and even diseases like HIV.
What the nation and the people need is an awareness, an intervention into their affairs through means like education, implementation of stricter laws, social interaction, earning means and a better economical state of affairs. Until and unless, we don’t work and aware Haitian people of the deteriorating affect that the tradition is having on the society, Haiti’s future will remain in shadows and without a light to look forward to.
Source: MSNbc
Image credit: FCCMI
