What is a Restavec?

Some of you have helped provide food to the malnourished children of Haiti through our Kids Against Hunger program. In case you are wondering, we are not done! Even though the recession has hurt us, the work must continue even during these hard economic times – and Lord willing, we will!

There is a large group of Haitian children that you may not be aware of. Children called restavecs.

If you are a restavec:

• You are one of 300,000 Haitian child slaves.
• You are from an isolated, rural area of Haiti where there are no schools, no electricity, no running water and no future.
• You now live in the city with a family who is not your own - not adopted, not as a foster child, but as their servant.
• You are between the ages of 5 and 15.
• You are three times more likely to be a girl than a boy.
• You get up before dawn, to serve your master, his wife and children and go to bed only after your work is done.
• You empty bedpans, prepare meals, haul water from the well, clean inside and outside the house, and do laundry.
• You don't get paid for any of these activities.
• You rarely get to see your family. You might not even remember where they live.
• You rarely, if ever, go to school.
• You do not get enough to eat especially for someone who works hard all day.
• You are subject to physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
• You are a child slave.

A local group trying to help these “restavec” children will be stopping by the "Factory" next Saturday to see how we can help them. They need food for the families that are releasing their children as restavecs (a French word which means to "stay with"). These families want their children but cannot feed them. In many cases, they believe that their children will be better cared for by others. They do not know that they will become child slaves. Now you do.

The poverty that paralyzes Haiti today was not always there. That island was once free, idyllic and safe for children to live, grow and to have families of their own. But slavery changed all that. We must remember though that a time is coming when the Great Emancipator will come back. Until then, He has commanded us to go, He has empowered us to serve and He has blessed us with the resources needed to set the captives free.

Paul once wrote (Galatians 4:13)
My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do anything that you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love

Right now, children in Haiti and ALL OVER THE WORLD are being sold into slavery. They have no choice. We do. So here comes the question:

Is your freedom working to serve others?

A Child's Hope International exists because the children are waiting – will you help us? Visit the website at http://www.achi.us/ to find out how. We need your help. Donate if you can, email us on the web site or leave comments here on this blog to encourage the team involved with this work.