Hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike and other tropical storms thrashed across the western half of Hispaniola, the island divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. They have laid bare the poverty and the deep divisions in Haitian society, where there are rich, poor, and downright destitute. The “restaveks” illustrate the last group. They are young Haitian children handed over by their poor parents to better-off families, most of whom are struggling themselves. The restaveks, meaning to “stay with,” work as domestic servants in exchange for a roof over their head, some left over food and, supposedly, the ability to go to school.
In reality, the restaveks are easy prey for exploitation. Human Rights advocates say they are beaten, sexually abused, and frequently denied access to the education, since most host families believe schooling will make them less obedient. Almost every household in GonaÑ—ves, northwest city in Haiti, has a restavek, an offspring of the poor of the poor. They are treated as ‘second-class citizens” and “little slaves.” They are fed very little and they clean a house for nothing. Widna and Widnise, twin 12-year-old girls, who have been living in GonaÑ—ves for two years, get up at dawn to fetch water, collect wood, cook, mop, and clean. They watch as their host family’s two children, who are about the same age, eat breakfast and then go off to school. The twins eat nothing in the morning and stay home working. They are often teased by other children that they will never grow up and will always be servant girls. Their mother works in the countryside as a domestic servant and only visits the girls when she can. She is too poor to take care of them.
UNICEF estimates that 300,000 Haitian children were forced to relocate to shelters and rooftops after the recent storms. The country has the highest mortality rate for children younger than 5, as well as a high death rate among infants and women giving birth. Just slightly over half of school-age children are actually enrolled in school. Attendance among restaveks is much less than that.
It is sad to see that children are reduced to such a low quality of life. They are working for another family, doing the chores and cleaning their house just to live off worthless scraps. To top it off, this is the only lifestyle they know. The children don't know of and are not exposed to a better life because those owners are too concenred with the children staying "obedient." The balance of power between the divisions of class and even more so the corruption within governments keeping this low quality of life thriving is beyond words.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/world/americas/14haiti.html?scp=4&sq=&st=nyt
