Lost Children of Haiti- MSNBC Special Report

“Restavec”: Children

   Desperate parents residing in the rural parts of Haiti are frequently offered the opportunity of sending their children to live in the capital of Port-Au-Prince with unknown guardians. These caretakers promise to provide food and an education for their children. In exchange, the child is initially expected to do minimal chores around the house. However, a large percentage of these children are subjected to massive labor, intensive chores, physical, emotional and mental abuse as they are denied the opportunity of attending school. Sadly, this widely used method of what is described as obtaining inexpensive, manual labor is a terminology known as Restavec (Res-ta-veck).  Restavec means to live with.

“Restavec”: Adult Years

   After years of physical abuse and psychological torture, once the Restavec reaches the age of approximately 18 or 19 and are no longer seen to be useful, he/she is then exiled from their caretaker’s home and sent to survive alone in the streets. Without an education and having lost all connections with their immediate families, the Restavec teenage boy normally joins an organized crime unit as the Restavec teenage girl turns to prostitution for survival. The perpetuating cycle of poverty continues as former Restavec children become Restavecparents, raising children they cannot support.   

What we can do:

Help parents keep their children by creating economic stability!