While in Haiti I was impacted greatly by the reality of "economic orphans." Basically, when parents cannot afford to feed their children, they are often sent away to work for a family in exchange for food and shelter. In reality, this situation often becomes a form of slavery, as the children live in conditions of grinding poverty, enslaved to their hosts. These children are called "restavecs" which comes from the French phrase "reste avec" meaning "stay with."
The BBC has just this week published a story on these children, Haiti's hidden child slaves.
My new Haitian friend Gary was once a restavec, and he is one of the most beautiful little guys you would ever hope to meet. I've heard the story of how Fr. Tom met him in the hospital in Leogane after he had run away from his life of this kind of slavery, and was hit by a car. After a year of living at the hospital, Fr. Tom took brought him home to the residence in Leogane, where he has lived since.
Jean Robert Cadet , a Catholic educator who lives in Cincinnati, has written an autobiography called Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American. I just bought the book, and would be happy to lend it to anyone who'd like to borrow it. Free the Slaves is a good site for learning more as well.
The BBC has just this week published a story on these children, Haiti's hidden child slaves.
My new Haitian friend Gary was once a restavec, and he is one of the most beautiful little guys you would ever hope to meet. I've heard the story of how Fr. Tom met him in the hospital in Leogane after he had run away from his life of this kind of slavery, and was hit by a car. After a year of living at the hospital, Fr. Tom took brought him home to the residence in Leogane, where he has lived since.
Jean Robert Cadet , a Catholic educator who lives in Cincinnati, has written an autobiography called Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American. I just bought the book, and would be happy to lend it to anyone who'd like to borrow it. Free the Slaves is a good site for learning more as well.
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Hi Nicole, Thanks for sharing with people about restevecs. Did you know that Jean-Robert Cadet also serves on the Board of Directors of Free the Slaves, and that FTS has partners working with restevec kids in Haiti? Two of the anti-slavery workers from Haiti will be in Washington DC in May and we will be having a reception for them. If you haven't seen it, a good companion to the book Restevec is Disposable People: new Slavery in the Global Economy.
All best, Kevin Bales from Free the Slaves
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