Showing posts with label haiti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label haiti. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
YouTube discovery
This the NGO that I primarily volunteered for while in Haiti. It was so unexpected to come across Haitian landscapes that I remember from the rural village! It was also odd hearing the chant "Baba Nam Kevalam" again. The followers of this religion would randomly and often chant this phrase.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Ironic slavery twist
Although Haiti is the only country to have had a successful slave rebellion, slavery was perpetuated and with children. As the all knowing Wikipedia puts it :
More than 300,000 children are estimated to be restaveks. Very little attention is given to this issue and I only came across two organizations/homes for these children. 3/4 of restaveks are girls and yet one of the homes is for boys only. Interesting.
And yes, it is illegal.
The term Restavec (also spelled 'Restavek'; deriving from the French phrase reste avec, meaning "stay with") refers to a social system in Haiti whereby parents unable to care for their children send them to relatives or strangers living in more urban areas where they receive food and housing (and sometimes an education) in exchange for light housework. In reality Restavecs often live in grinding poverty, enslaved to their 'hosts' and seldom receiving an education. The Restavec system is considered a form of slavery.
More than 300,000 children are estimated to be restaveks. Very little attention is given to this issue and I only came across two organizations/homes for these children. 3/4 of restaveks are girls and yet one of the homes is for boys only. Interesting.
And yes, it is illegal.
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