Last week at Lee was Missions Week, a time when different mission organizations from around the world come to our campus to raise awareness for their cause, speak in our chapel services, etc. Our focus this year was on Haiti, with our proceeds going towards rebuilding their country.
The thing that impacted me the most was when Joan Conn, the executive director of an organization called
The Restavek Foundation, spoke to my principles of journalism class. This organization is taking on a huge issue in the shadows of Haitian culture. I don't want to get any of their information wrong, so I'm going to post the description of their mission from their
Facebook page:
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| Over 300,000 children are living in domestic servitude in Haiti today. Restavek Freedom exists to end this cultural practice - giving children hope for a better future and helping adults find new perspectives and practices that value ALL children.
It's hard to believe that a parent might be desperate enough to give a child away. Or that cowhide whips are used on children who don't complete their chores fast enough. Yet this is the real life of a restavek child.
Restavek is a Creole term which literally means "stay with." An accurate term in that these children do stay with their hosts, working as domestic servants in exchange for a roof over their head, some leftover food and, supposedly, the ability to go to school. In practice, though, restaveks are easy prey for exploitation. Many are beaten, sexually abused and frequently denied access to education, since many host families believe that schooling will only make them less obedient.
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| Our mission is to end child slavery in Haiti in our lifetimes." |
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The reason this organizations' mission has impacted me so much is because I was completely unaware that things like this were even going on in Haiti. Actually, to be completely honest, I didn't even know that Haiti is so close to The States. Why is it that the only thing I've ever heard about the country are the natural disasters they've suffered? I don't mean to discredit any Haiti disaster relief organizations whatsoever (I happen to think that what they're doing is very important), I just don't understand how an issue like childhood slavery is so prevalent in their country, yet it usually goes unmentioned.
It reminds me that Houston, which is just under 30 miles from my hometown, is one of the biggest sex trafficking hubs in United States (You can read some scary statistics
here). Even though this is happening in our own backyard, it's hardly ever talked about. You could live in Texas your whole life unaware that sex slavery is going on right next to you. The same way that I wasn't aware that Haiti is so close to the States, and that childhood slavery is so prevalent in their country.
These things shouldn't be happening, and what's more, they shouldn't be ignored or swept under the rug. They are happening, so they should be talked about.
I'm in a dance troupe at Lee called Unity, and we have a show coming up in February about human sex trafficking. It's about the institution itself, and the hope of being rescued. If you go to Lee or live in the Cleveland area, please come. Information can be found
here. If you aren't in Tennessee (or even if you are), find a way to get involved. Educate yourself about modern day slavery, talk about it, plug into an organization,
pray. God's heart is breaking for everyone held in captivity, cry out to Him on their behalf. Slavery may be closer to us than we think it is, but so is hope.
"'They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,' declares the Lord." - Jeremiah 1:19
