Summary

“I have no clothes and no shoes to wear. I never took the road of school. That means I do not know how to read and write. I wake up with the bucket in my hand. They beat me with a stick and make me kneel on the ground with stones on my head and my hands at the sun. They treat me as an animal. I am too weak, and I work too hard.” Jean Luc Volcy

Household

I am 13 years old. I was born on December 4, 1996, in Petit-Goave, Haiti. I left my countryside one year ago to be with this family. The area where I am living is Citron. My mother’s name is Marie Marthe Vergent. She is living in the countryside. My father’s name is Joel Jean Luc. He is dead. My mother sent me to stay with this family because she could not feed us. We are 7 in my family. 3 girls and 4 boys.
Their names are:
Monique Jean Luc
Vanessa Jean Luc
Shanaida Jean Luc
Felix Jean Luc
Gearald Jean Luc
Michet Jean Luc
I cannot say anything about their ages because I do not know how to count, read and write. Also, they never celebrated their birthday. None of my brothers and sisters knows how to read and read neither. The family that I am living with do not send me to school.

Living conditions

The family that I living with makes me wake up at 6 AM every morning. They do not give me a chance to wash my face and say a little prayer. I wake up with the bucket in my hand. I have to carry water for everybody in the house. Scrub the floor, and carry wood, because they use fire to make their food. Sometimes when I do not bring enough of wood to make the food, they beat me with a stick and make me kneel on the ground with stones on my head and my hands at the sun. They treat me as an animal.
They do not send me to school, and they had promised to my mother that they would.
Since I came they ill treat me, whip me. Sometimes I think to flee from their house, but I cannot. I have no clothes and no shoes to wear. The pair of sandals that I have is the same they bought for me since I arrived to their house. You can see my flat heels. I do not sleep well neither. I have a schedule for my work, but I do not have a regular meal.
WORK
My mother is a farmer that did she had to when I was living with her to survive. Planting corn, bananas, sweet potatoes. But it is not enough to raise 7 children, without a father.
I remember when I was at my mom’s house I used to go to church every Sunday. Life was very difficult at my mother’s house. Now when I realize the kind of life that I have with this family, I know that is better to go back to my mother, live with miserable life with them, than to stay with this family to work as an animal. Sure, my mother’s life is miserable, but now I am sure I will be better with her.
EDUCATION
I never took the road of school. That means I do not know how to read and write.
HEALTH
Often I fall sick. When I do not have fever, I have headache. I always have my nose running, cough, sore throat, stomachache. I am not a strong boy. When I am suffering, they make tea for me and if the fever continues, they buy pills for me.
I am too weak, and I work too hard.
FOOD
I do not have good food. They give me one cup of corn and I have to cook it. Corn is the only food they give me. When I have tired with the corn, I cook it but I do not want to eat it, they will not give me another. I will save it and eat it for the next day.  It is very hard for me. I do not drink safe water.

Personal qualities and Dreams

I am very timid, but I like to play with others boys of my age. I like to share with everybody. The Bible says you have to share with others. I am very polite. I am helpful, respectful, I am obedient, and I get shame easily.
I do not really like when people bother me. I am not stuck up.
My interest and talent is to sing right now. Because at home when I am working I am always singing, just to hide my sadness. People in my area say that, if I get chance to go to school I will work well, because I am very smart, and intelligent.
Dreams
I would like to leave Port-au-Prince to go back to my mother’s house. I would like to be able to eat three meals a day of rice and chicken and drink a glass of lemonade. I would like to have the opportunities to visit a doctor. Have nice clothes and shoes to wear.

Restaveks

According to UNICEF, as many as 300,000 Haitian children live apart from their families in unpaid domestic servitude. Although the treatment these children endure varies, this practice is generally regarded by international human rights groups as a modern form of slavery.
Many of these children are forced to work endlessly, with no time to attend school, play, form friendships, or rest. Physical and sexual abuse is common. About three quarters of these children are girls, many of whom end up pregnant from rape during adolescence.
This usually leads to their being forced from the household often with no place to go but the streets. Almost all these children, boys and girls, grow up emotionally wounded and illiterate.
They are used until they are used up, run away, or become too big to control and are turned out to fend for themselves. If they survive, they grow up to fill the poorest economic strata of the poorest nation in our hemisphere.
A child living in servitude is often called a restavek, a Creole word that literally means a “stay-with.” The word restavek has come to be a foul word in Haiti, an insult one would use to say someone is worthless. And this is how restavek children generally feel.
(From Beyondborders.net)

Sponsorship plan

Immediate needs:
Food, medical care
Have clothes and shoes to wear
Development:
Go to school
Dreams:
Go to university, become a Doctor.
..
The specific plan for the first year of the Partnership is as follows:
Research and Workshops ($35)
School, including uniform and supplies ($133)
Medical care (up to $35)
Birthday celebration ($12)
Available: $18 x 12 months = $216
..
Sending the restavek (child slave) back to live in their family is not included in the first year, but can be part of a longer-term plan. Our main focus is personal development, especially going back to school. Food, clothing and shelter are not addressed in this plan, but options for additional help in these areas are available. The Financial plan page will allow you to trace how your money is being used at all times. For more details about our programs, including the research, workshops and classes which each partner participants in, go here: http://peopleinneed.info/index.php/plan/program/C95/