Summary

“My mother has sent me to live with another lady because she does not have enough food and money to take care of us. Sometimes I remain around 3 days without solid food. I wish I could go to school one day, and go to university. I would also like to get away from the situation that I am in as a restavek [child slave].” Sonia Samedy

Household

My name is Sonia Samedy. I am 16 years old. I was born on April 7, 1993 in Cite Soleil. I am a restavek. My father’s name is Sony Samedy; my mother’s name is Jesula Kupidon. She is 49 years old, and my father is 46 years old. My mother has 9 children. Their names are:
Fenel Paul, he is 25 years old
Fabert Paul, he is 24 years old
Wesley Paul, he is 20 years old
Suze Samedy she is 14 years old
Dieunel Joseph he is 11years old
Smith Joseph he is, 9 years old
Snay Joseph he is 7 years old
Stania Joseph she is 5 year old.
Fenel, Fabert, and Wesley stopped going to school at sixth grades, because of money. The others have never been to school. They are living with my mother. The last time that I saw my father, I was 7 years old. I do not know if he is still alive or not.

Living conditions

The lady that I am living with is Linda, she is 28. My mother has sent me to live with her because my mother does not have enough food and money to take care of us.
I wake up about 6 AM and go to sleep at 8 P.M. It depends on her needs. Linda lives in a big house about two miles from my mother’s house. I have to clean everywhere, everyday and if they want to buy something outside I am the only one available for that. Whenever I am too busy to do something, I will finish it later at night.
Sometimes when I get really tired, I cannot wake up early, but I do not have choice and I have to get up. It becomes normal. I have to do it. If not, and she will hit me.
EDUCATION
Linda doesn’t send me to school. I would like going to school, I cannot read and write.  I stopped going to school when I was in Cite Soleil. Since my mother sent me to stay with the other person, I have been living at Delmas 75 [a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti]. 
HEALTH
For my whole life, I’ve never visited a doctor. It’s not because I’ve never been sick. When I get sicknesses like a cold, fever, toothache, headache, or stomachache, Linda gave me natural medicine, like tea, and she gave me pills to feel well.
FOOD
As I said in the beginning, my mother does not have enough food to feed us. Sometimes I remain around 3 days without solid food. I just had a cup of coffee and some bread; and go to bed until tomorrow. Mostly I eat one time a day.
I never had the chance to celebrate my birthday, maybe because I am too poor?

Community information

EDUCATION SYSTEM
There are a lot of schools in my neighborhood; we do not have to walk far. In each bloc there is a school nearby. You maybe need money to send your child to school but there is a lot.
HEALTH CARE SITUATION
There is one big hospital, but it is very expensive. There are clinics but they are far from our house, and they are not expensive.
LEGAL POLITICAL
My neighborhood is very safe I can say, because we used to make a squad for our own security. We also have police officers they are Minustah (UN).

Personal qualities and Dreams

I am a nice girl. I do not like to play, because I have too many things to think about.
I am laborious, intelligent, and grateful. I like to smile too sometimes. But I am angry and sad when I start thinking of the kind of life that we have, and my mother is never happy. I love everybody, and I like food.
DREAMS
I wish I could go to school one day, and go to university. I would also like to get away from the situation that I am in as a restavek. I would like my mother to have her own house, and find something to do, so that she could respond to our needs.

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/

Sponsorship plan