Last March, I was blessed with the opportunity to visit Haiti to assess the damage and to document the plight of the Haitian people. I was totally unprepared for the suffering and destruction that lay ahead.
In Port-au-Prince, I saw thousands and thousands of families living in abject poverty on the streets with nothing over their heads except a piece of canvas and perhaps a filthy mattress to sleep on.
As we rode through the city, hundreds of children were calling, asking for bread, water, flip-flops, anything that we could possibly give them. It was excruciating painful to watch. Many of them appeared to be working, carrying buckets of dirty water. They looked jaunt and emaciated. And when we completely ran out of supplies, I wanted to cry.
Child Labor Booming
In the wake of the earthquake which sent an already battered economy to its knees, regrettably, the one business has picked up is child labor. Since much of Port-au-Prince was destroyed, there is a greater demand for cheap labor for reconstruction. Haiti also has a growing garment industry that is always on the lookout for cheap labor. UNICEF estimates that there are 380,000 orphans in Haiti, a number that has grown about 40% after the earthquake killed more than 100,000.
(Though it is reported that the garment industry hire child labor, this problem is not as pervasive due to the abundance of cheap adult labor to fill these jobs.)
Haiti’s Island Neighbor
Many of these orphans are smuggled across the border into the Dominican Republic which has a growing economy and is a big exporter of sugar, coffee and tobacco. But the DR has also a deeper dark side. UNICEF estimates that there are approximately 250,000 children involved in the sex trade in the Dominican Republic (63% girls, 37% boys). Over 1.5 million tourists visit the DR each year. In Germany, tour operators market DR as a singles destination and tout it as being the ‘new Thailand.’ Children continue to be smuggled into the DR as slaves or to serve in the sex trade.
Too Poor to Care for own Children
Even in Haiti, children are being mistreated and abused. Because of decades of economic stagnation and corruption, over 70% of the Haitian population are indigent. Many parents can no longer afford to care for their children. In hopes of giving their children a better life and better education, many families are lured into sending them to wealthier families. Tragically, what is hoped for and what transpires are normally two separate outcomes.
Children as Slaves
According to the Haitian government, there are approximately 120,000 children in bondage. In fact the institution of child slavery is derived from the word ‘Restavec’ which in Creole means to “stay with.” In many cases, indigent rural families bring their children into the cities to work as domestics in the homes of well-to-do families. These children are then forced to do tasks that hired adults would refuse to do – like walking for miles fetching for water with virtually no pay. They are often neglected, abused and beaten for even the smallest of infractions.
Class-based Society
In a class-based society, owning a Restavec elevates someone up the social ladder. Some families cannot afford to hire a domestic so owning a Restavec who will work with very little pay is a more attractive option. Over 70% of restavecs are girls and many of them are raped by members of the host family. Many restavecs are not even given a bed inside the house and are forced to sleep on a makeshift bed outside the house – thus they are easily identified out in the town by their unkempt condition and clothing. Worse, when the families no longer need their services, they are often thrown out of the house and resort to living the streets with little opportunity to find a good job, since they missed out on school.
Indigenous to Haitian Society
Child labor is actually legal in Haiti. But the slavery part and the way that they are stolen and traded is definitely not. But lately a new form Child slavery is so ingrained in the national psyche that many Haitians do not see anything wrong with it. In fact, nearly one out of five families hve a restavec. Now that the government is in turmoil, it is doubtful that anything will be done by the state. It is unconscionable how the Haitian people treat their children. It is hard to believe much of anything can be worse than living in abject poverty in the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere. But living as a child slave with no rights and no one looking out for you has to be the absolute worse.
Crowdsourcing is a Potential
Samasource is a crowdsourcing organization who provide "computer-based work opportunities to people living in poverty around the world. This organization believes that poverty can be alleviated by tapping into the brainpower
of the poor and empowering them as producers of services. Samasource targets women, youth and refugees.
Adding children to Samasource's list (under the auspices of their parents) is an option that should be considered
which would go a long way in eradicating child labor and slavery.
Much of the work requires basic computer skills such as tagging photos, editing, transcribing, posting notes. These skills can be which can be quickly and easily taught, giving the youth an opportunity to explore further research online.
Laptops and Hotspots
Even with a fractured economy, It is feasible to provide high speed internet access to virtually all tent villages in Port-au-Prince. Here's what I'm thinking: tap off the existing broadband backbone by building dozens of antennas strategically located throughout the city and connected via line-of-sight. Provide laptops as part of a micro financing project to the women of Haiti. Provide training to the women and children in basic computer internet skills like posting pictures, searching online, tagging photos, etc. The Women will have a period of about two years to pay off the loan. Meanwhile they can use the laptop for their own family's education, to broaden their horizons and to even rent it out to other villagers to make a profit. As long as the women are making payments, we will continue to provide them with a WiFi signal.
Once built, the system is permanent and self-sustaining. Besides providing security, we would have to provide technical assistance to use and maintain the laptops. We will hire local Haitians and provide them an opportunity to be trained, intern and return their knowledge and skill-sets to the local population.
What Must be Done?
Although the earthquake has created more restaveks (current estimate to be 300,000), human rights organizations can use this tragedy to bring more visibility to an issue that was previously overshadowed by other pressing issues.
Last February, 10 Baptist missionaries were imprisoned after they were caught trying to drive a busload of 33 kids into the Dominican Republic with no paperwork. Although they may had good intentions, their lack of documentation and compliance with laws did no favors for the true charities who are working hard to save the children from slavery. Their
apprehension was proper and I was glad that the Haitian government, even in times of turmoil, were able to
put their foot down and enforce child trafficking laws.
Thus the focus on increasing awareness and enforcement of these laws to eradicate child trafficking and slavery. Children can is the right approach, even in a fragile economy. More resources should be channeled towards orphanages who hare highly vested in Haiti. There, children can learn basic computer skills, which can be leveraged to earn pocket money and prhaps help support their families when they reunite or get adopted.
Last February, 10 Baptist missionaries were imprisoned after they were caught trying to drive a busload of 33 kids into the Dominican Republic with no paperwork. Although they may had good intentions, their lack of documentation and compliance with laws did no favors for the true charities who are working hard to save the children from slavery. Their
apprehension was proper and I was glad that the Haitian government, even in times of turmoil, were able to
put their foot down and enforce child trafficking laws.
Thus the focus on increasing awareness and enforcement of these laws to eradicate child trafficking and slavery. Children can is the right approach, even in a fragile economy. More resources should be channeled towards orphanages who hare highly vested in Haiti. There, children can learn basic computer skills, which can be leveraged to earn pocket money and prhaps help support their families when they reunite or get adopted.
Crowdsourcing is a Potential
Samasource is a crowdsourcing organization who provide "computer-based work opportunities to people living in poverty around the world. This organization believes that poverty can be alleviated by tapping into the brainpower
of the poor and empowering them as producers of services. Samasource targets women, youth and refugees.
Adding children to Samasource's list (under the auspices of their parents) is an option that should be considered
Much of the work requires basic computer skills such as tagging photos, editing, transcribing, posting notes. These skills can be which can be quickly and easily taught, giving the youth an opportunity to explore further research online.
Laptops and Hotspots
Even with a fractured economy, It is feasible to provide high speed internet access to virtually all tent villages in Port-au-Prince. Here's what I'm thinking: tap off the existing broadband backbone by building dozens of antennas strategically located throughout the city and connected via line-of-sight. Provide laptops as part of a micro financing project to the women of Haiti. Provide training to the women and children in basic computer internet skills like posting pictures, searching online, tagging photos, etc. The Women will have a period of about two years to pay off the loan. Meanwhile they can use the laptop for their own family's education, to broaden their horizons and to even rent it out to other villagers to make a profit. As long as the women are making payments, we will continue to provide them with a WiFi signal.
Instead of trying to eradicate child labor in Haiti, the focus should be on eradicating child trafficking and slavery. Children can learn basic computer skills, which can be leveraged to earn money for their families. And children can hone this invaluable skill which can serve as a way to enhance their schooling.
The garment industry, though depressed after the earthquake, is slowly coming back. Major brands such as Gap, Levis and New Balance, have standing orders with garment factories in Haiti. In addition, there is still half a billion dollars that Americans donated to charities that is still untapped. Some of this money could go to funding the Laptops and Hotspots initiative that I mentioned as well as other programs to improve education, vocational training, agriculture programs, etc.
Perhaps one day Haiti will be self-sufficient, a profitable industry and maybe even a strong economy. But this will not happen unless we take care of the children who hopefully will live long enough to see this happen. The UN, the United States along with the NGOs working in country must work with the government to stamp out child trafficking and perhaps illegalize child slavery (and restavec).
Crowdsourcing is a Potential
Samasource is a crowdsourcing organization who pay people in third world countries a small wage to do basic online work such as tagging photos, editing, transcribing, posting notes. These skills can be easily learned and will also give the children an opportunity to explore further online.
