Summary

“The house I am staying belongs to my aunt. I call her aunt according to the custom of my country but she is not my aunt. I always have fever, stomachache. My aunt, the lady, buys me some tablets. I want a good life with love, respect, appreciation.” Rivaldo Camille

Household

I was born on July 7, 1999 in Jeremie, in the countryside in Haiti. I am 10 years old. My mother is dead, but my daddy lives in country side of Jeremie. He is loading and unloading busses. Since 3 years I left him. During that time I never heard from him. This is why I am here. One day a lady saw me. She told my father she needs a child to stay with her. My father has 8 children and he could not help all of us. They are:
Brunel Camille, who is 21 years old
Jeff, who has 13 years of age
Friztnel, 17 years old
Kerby, 5 years old
Roselore, 10 years old
Fafane, 4 years old
And Patricia who is 3 years old
All of us are living in Cite Soleil with Marielle for 8 years. She is doing nothing to make a living.

Work

I wake up at 5 o’clock. To begin I throw out the pot of night. I clean the dishes, and go to take water. In the afternoon if they cook I wash dirty dishes. I am so tired in the night I cannot really sleep. I go to sleep at 10 o’ clock PM. 

Education

I do not go to school, because they do not send me. I am a restavek child. The only things are to work all day. It’s with sadness I look at the other kids going to school. I imagine without education no one can reach his dream

Food and Nutrition

I can’t feed well and be in a good health, because I eat only one time a day. The lady that I am staying with has no way to cook. I have nothing most of the time to eat. I go to bed without taking nothing. 

Shelter and Clothes

The house I am staying belongs to my aunt. I call her aunt according to the custom of my country but she is not my aunt. The house is sheet metal and it leaks. Each time it rains I put some basins to pick water from the roof and to stop going to the piece of carpet. In spite of that the ground is wet and it is so difficult for me to sleep well. There are some rats and mice but no bugs. There is no electricity. We use candles. 

Health and Medical

There are always mosquitoes because I lie close to a canal. They bite me and make me sick. I always have fever, stomachache. My aunt, the lady, buys me some tablets. 

Personal qualities and Dreams

According to me, I am sincere, honest, and respectful but I am shy. I do not like to speak to strangers. I love football but I have no freedom to do that kind of thing. I don’t like my condition of living. I think a restavek child should have gone to school and be treated well. I like to tell history, tell the truth. I want a good life with love, respect, appreciation. 
My education is important. The best is to treat me well. I would like to become a teacher. I would like to find someone all over the world to help me to go to school and take care of me.

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)

Specific programs

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/

Video clip

Rivaldo Camille December 28, 2009

Sponsorship plan

Immediate needs:
Food, clothes, health care
Development:
School
Dreams:
Go to university and become a teacher.