Last night, the Justice and Peace Commission of St. John the Evangelist welcomed parishioner Rebecca Byrne to speak about her work with Restavek Freedom. The organization is working to end the abhorrent practice of child slavery in Haiti.
As a result of the abject poverty many rural Haitians endure, mothers often will turn over their children to families in Port-au-Prince and other cities, where they end up as indentured servants. Many are abused, both physically and sexually.
Restavek (the name for the practice) Freedom works to buy the children out of slavery, allowing them to attend school. It’s also built learning centers throughout the country, which continues to be beset by chaos in the capital city.
It was a sobering, but important talk, and I salute Rebecca and the rest of the Restavek employees, both Americans and Haitians, as they work to rid the country of this scourge. Their goal, she said, was for the group to become obsolete.
For more information on the organization, visit https://restavekfreedom.org/about/.
52 Masses 