Human Predators Stalk Haiti's Vulnerable Kids

By TIM PADGETT WITH BOBBY GHOSH / Time Magazine
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010

Mia Pean's heart sank last week when she saw the Toyota pickup truck cruising the debris-cluttered streets of Léogâne, ground zero for the earthquake that has devastated Haiti. Each time the driver saw a child — especially a young teen — he would stick his head out of the window and shout, "Manje, manje," Creole for "eat." Pean says she watched the hungry kids, four or five at a time, hop into the back of the pickup, which then disappeared. "I saw the same man again a few days later in Carrefour," a poor suburb of Port-au-Prince, says Pean. "I asked him, 'What are you doing with all those children?' He said, 'Don't worry, we're going to put them in safe homes.' Then he drove off."
But Pean, a Haitian-American emergency consultant for the Andrew Young Foundation, doubts that altruism is the motive of the pickup driver and others like him who are now prowling Haiti's streets. The quake that has killed 150,000 people has left thousands of children orphaned and consequently vulnerable to being preyed upon by child traffickers and Haiti's shameful tradition of keeping child slaves, known as restaveks. "I really fear," says Pean, "that most of the kids you see being picked up on the streets in Haiti right now are going to become restaveks or victims of sexual trafficking."

Pean isn't the only one who is concerned. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive on Tuesday expressed the fear that amid the clamor to airlift Haitian orphans out of the devastated country to waiting adoptive parents in the U.S. and Europe, others are being trafficked. The U.N. says it's on alert to prevent the exploitation of the thousands of Haitian kids who have lost or been separated from their parents and who wander aimlessly in search of food, water and shelter. UNICEF, the U.N.'s child-advocacy arm, as well as groups like Save the Children and the Red Cross, say they're registering at-risk kids and setting up shelters exclusively for them. Says a UNICEF official who is monitoring reports of scenes like the one witnessed by Pean: "Traffickers fish in pools of vulnerability, and we've rarely if ever seen one like this."

The earthquake seems to have shaken more Haitians into vigilance as well — and perhaps, unfortunately, some vigilantism. In the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Petite Place Cazeau on Wednesday, a crowd of quake survivors living in tents surrounded a pickup truck and beat up the driver, saying he had for several days been trying to kidnap young girls. Bleeding from his nose, mouth and scalp, he managed to get back in his truck and flee. (The angry crowd then threatened to beat up a journalist for even asking questions about child trafficking.)

But the problem remains daunting, and it is exacerbated by the fact that children are not accorded much if any protection under Haitian law or culture. That's a big reason restaveks are still so prevalent today, not just in Haiti but even in Haitian-American enclaves in the U.S., such as New York and Miami, as TIME first reported in 2001. Restavek in Creole means "to stay with," an innocuous term for a far more sinister practice — children, often given up by their poor Haitian families, "stay with" more affluent families as slaves. And like most slaves, they're usually subject to physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

Before the earthquake, the Haitian government estimated that more than 300,000 Haitian children were living as restaveks in the country, and more of them abroad. Those numbers are likely to grow, says Danielle Romer, a Haitian-American social worker and head of Haitian Support Inc. in Miami, who has long fought the restavek practice — her efforts still often met with denial and even anger by many Haitians. "We were starting to see some improvement before the earthquake, both in terms of getting more of these children into orphanages and missions and in terms of getting some teaching about it out to Haitians," says Romer. "But I'm afraid the earthquake just opens the box to a scarier situation."
Joan Conn, executive director of the Jean Cadet Restavek Foundation in Cincinnati, agrees. "We had been building more awareness in Haiti than ever before," says Conn. "At least people were actually starting to say the word restavek out loud for once. But with so many children now abandoned and alone, the task could become even harder." Conn's organization — named for Jean-Robert Cadet, a former restavek whose 1998 autobiography, Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle Class American, lifted the lid on the problem — works to give restaveks refuge in Haiti. In the wake of the earthquake, its staff and volunteers have fanned out across Port-au-Prince and the provinces to watch out for vulnerable kids.

Under prodding from the U.N., the Haitian government last year had finally begun to move against the restavek practice. Last May, some 500 Haitian officials attending a conference with Conn and other child advocates pledged to make restavek and child protection a legislative priority. But word has yet to trickle down to the general Haitian population, says Conn, and most restavek recruiters and other child traffickers still feel they have carte blanche to funnel kids to wealthier Haitian families or abroad.
Worse, says Pean, many of them are exploiting the rush to get Haitian children out of the quake-ravaged country. She recalls the man in the Toyota pickup telling her that "Senators in Washington want us to expedite getting the kids to the U.S." But, she adds, "the Senators are talking about kids who already have adoption papers ready. These guys are trying to exploit all that confusion." The situation for Haitian youths was difficult enough before the earthquake. Now, in addition to losing their families, many are under the threat of losing their childhoods as well.

Love and Justice be your Passion

-by Stephanie-

Upon deciding devotion to such a worthy and necessary cause as the abolition of child sex-slavery I knew there would be many obstacles. I expected there be a level of derision and refutation from those who may be ignorant of this evil. I knew there would amount some danger, whether physical or emotional, that would arise from this decision. I rather expected that many would be disinclined to act or get too involved for fear it may disrupt their comfort or perhaps they were overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation and found it hard to move whatsoever.

On other occasions I expected, or rather hoped, that some fellow Christians, who were to choose not to act, would be the ones who have found another worthy calling to devote their passion and time to. This, I am sad to say, I have not found as often as would be hoped. I know many amazing men and women of God, but it seems we as a people tend to make excuses for inaction. I know I have, and to my shame I admit, many times. But it is not for us to feel ashamed and wallow in self-pity.

I believe that there are many evils God would call us to stand against. To fight against

I don’t want to convince anyone to walk in a way not from the Lord. God has given boundaries of authority to each of His followers. Some will be called to full time ministry. All will be called to minister in some capacity. I believe that saying we are simply to go about our lives and bring Jesus to those around us, while a good sentiment, degrades the teaching of the gospel if this is put forth from a heart that wishes to continue in comfort. We are to take Jesus to the ends of the earth (Matt 28:19-20). But how are we to bring Jesus? By words alone? No. By action and in truth (1 John 3:18). We are not the salt of the earth if we only proclaim Jesus yet do not do what He says (Matt 7:21).

Our desires and passions should reflect God's. The church is Jesus’ bride just as I am Micah’s. Being married, I find that what is of most importance to him gains a greater importance and value through my eyes as well. This is how it should be, and this is how it ought to be with our desires and God’s desires. We know what is important to God simply by reading the Bible. We know that He is love. We know that he is Just. Love and Justice are two forces that hold a great significance, importance, and value with God. Therefore, these things should, day by day, become of greater significance in our lives and in our thought.

Love and Justice are what we should strive for. The Spirit will reveal different avenues in which these passions can be put into action. I am only naming one because this is the one the Spirit has placed the greatest emphasis upon in my life: to work for the abolition of sex-slavery which, in my opinion, is the worst degradation of mankind. If we allow this to continue we permit and enable the Image of God to be dragged through the mud. We are all made in God’s Image. Each life is of great importance.

I am not calling you to my calling, for it is not mine it is God’s. This calling is to love and justice, love and justice for not only fellow believers but all human beings. Everyone has innate worth solely because in essence we are God’s creation. This calling is one for all Christians. We are all called to feed the hungry and help the widow, regardless of where our particular passions lie and we must not forget it (James 1:27). I assure you, I do not forget this in my desire to rid the world of the atrocities of sex-slavery, and I hope we all continue to remember. But we should go beyond that to labor for what is of importance to God.

We can save no ones soul. It is God and God alone who can (John 14:6). But we must help those who cannot help themselves (James 2:14-17). We must define “laboring for the kingdom” in a way that is not simply abstract religious jargon that no one can enact pragmatically. We are called to obey Christ (John 14:15) not just verbally proclaim Him. He did not only deal with spiritual salvation. He healed the sick and cast out demons! Yes, we ought to be concerned with the spiritual well being of those we seek to help but we must also deal with their physical needs too! (James 2:14-17 again.)

Pray for a passion. Do not close our ears. The Spirit will give us the desire if we would but allow! In the meantime, we must not scoff at any injustice or malice, but put on the breastplate of righteousness and the belt of truth and march out against the enemy for God in protection of His precious children (Eph 6:13-17).

Let the little children come to me. And do not hinder them.

for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.

(Matt 19:14)

Another World is Possible

Rob Morris Speaks on Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream of the impossible world.

Another World is Possible from LOVE146 on Vimeo.

Haitians themselves profess Truth amidst agony

January 18, 2010

Amid Rubble, Seeking a Refuge in Faith

By DEBORAH SONTAG of the New York Times

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Five days after Haiti’s devastating earthquake, an evangelical pastor in a frayed polo shirt, his church crushed but his spirit vibrant, sounded a siren to summon the newly homeless residents of a tent city to an urgent Sunday prayer service.

Voice scratchy, eyes bloodshot, arms raised to the sky, the Rev. Joseph Lejeune urged the hungry, injured and grieving Haitians who gathered round to close their eyes and elevate their beings up and out of the fetid Champ de Mars square where they now scrambled to survive.

“Think of our new village here as the home of Jesus Christ, not the scene of a disaster,” he called out over a loudspeaker. “Life is not a disaster. Life is joy! You don’t have food? Nourish yourself with the Lord. You don’t have water? Drink in the spirit.”

And drink they did, singing, swaying, chanting and holding their noses to block out the acrid stench of the bodies in a collapsed school nearby. Military helicopters buzzed overhead, and the faithful reached toward them and beyond, escaping for a couple of hours from the grim patch of concrete where they sought shelter under sheets slung over poles.

In varying versions, this scene repeated itself throughout the Haitian capital on Sunday. With many of their churches flattened and their priests and pastors killed, Haitians desperate for aid and comfort beseeched God to ease their grief. Carrying Bibles, they traversed the dusty, rubble-filled streets searching for solace at scattered prayer gatherings. The churches, usually filled with passionate parishioners on a Sunday morning, stood empty if they stood at all.

In a sign of the importance of churches here, President René Préval gathered religious leaders along with political and business leaders at the police station that has become his headquarters. He asked the churches in particular to focus on feeding people, but he gave little guidance on what the government would do to help.
Not far from the makeshift evangelical church at Champ de Mars, parishioners gathered outside the ruins of the capital city’s main cathedral to hear an appeal for forbearance from a bishop.

“We have to keep hoping,” said Bishop Marie Eric Toussaint, although he acknowledged that he had no resources to help the many who were suffering and that he found it hard to state with any confidence whether the cathedral would ever be rebuilt.

Built in 1750, the cathedral, once an architectural centerpiece of the city, is now but a giant pile of twisted metal, shattered stained glass and cracked concrete. Bishop Toussaint said the quake had toppled the residences where priests stayed, crushing many of them.

The Sacre Coeur cathedral, another grand structure, also lay in ruin, with a large, perfectly preserved Christ on a cross bearing witness to the destruction below — and a woman’s body lying across the street atop a mattress, her head resting on a pillow, sheeting draping over her.

“It may seem like a strange moment to have faith,” said Georges Verrier, 28, an unemployed computer expert, his eyes moving from the body to the church. “But you can’t blame God. I blame man. God gave us nature, and we Haitians, and our governments, abused the land. You cannot get away without consequences.”
Sounding a similar note, a self-appointed preacher at Champ de Mars stood on a crate during the makeshift service and proclaimed the earthquake punishment for a long list of sins that he enumerated in a singsong. “We have to kneel down and ask forgiveness from God,” he said.

Vladimir Arisson brushed the self-appointed preacher away with rolled eyes. Mr. Arisson stood propping up his severely wounded girlfriend, Darphcat Charles, whose head was wrapped in bloody gauze, her eyes bruised and her face swollen, infected and grimacing. “My position is God bless, and send us, please, oh Lord, a doctor to plug the hole in my beloved’s head.”

Another man attending the evangelical service introduced his wife, eight months pregnant, who sat on the pavement blank-faced. “A concrete block fell on her stomach, and we don’t know if the baby is still alive,” said the man, Ricot Calixte, 28. “Prayer can help, I think. As I still breathe, I have faith.”

Around them at the service, the clapping and amens intensified in the tent city that boasted no real tents, only tarps at best. The central encampment at Champ de Mars is Mr. Lejeune’s makeshift church, which in its now destroyed home counted 200 active members, three of whom had been killed and many of whom are missing.
“Here we start every day with what I call my ‘cup of hot coffee service,’ ” he said before the Sunday prayers. “We don’t have the real beverage, of course. This is a prayer to wake us up and fortify us as we look ahead and think, ‘What, oh what, next?’ ”

He paused, wrinkling his nose at the wafting odor of human waste, and added: “A church in a bathroom, that’s what we are. For the moment.”

Marc Lacey and Damien Cave contributed reporting.

Letter from Secretary Clinton

Office To Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

-Trafficking in Persons Report 2009-

Link to the Report here 

Dear Reader:

Since President Clinton issued the first U.S. Government policy against human trafficking in 1998, we have seen unprecedented forward movement around the world in the fight to end human trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery. A majority of the world’s countries now have criminal legislation prohibiting all forms of trafficking in persons, and global awareness has been immeasurably raised.

Yet much remains to be done, particularly in identifying and addressing the root causes of trafficking, including policies and practices that contribute to the trafficking of vulnerable populations. From girls denied schooling or coerced into under-aged marriages, to ethnic minorities without citizenship or birth registration, to migrant workers forced to work against their will by employers who abuse legal processes – the effectiveness of long-term prevention efforts will require us to look carefully at causal factors and commit to relevant reforms.

The ninth annual Trafficking in Persons Report sheds light on the faces of modern-day slavery and on new facets of this global problem. The human trafficking phenomenon affects virtually every country, including the United States. In acknowledging America’s own struggle with modern-day slavery and slavery-related practices, we offer partnership. We call on every government to join us in working to build consensus and leverage resources to eliminate all forms of human trafficking. This year, there is new urgency in this call. As the ongoing financial crisis takes an increasing toll on many of the world’s migrants – who often risk everything for the slim hope of a better future for their families – too often they are ensnared by traffickers who exploit their desperation. We recognize their immense suffering, and we commit to aiding their rescue and recovery.

As we move forward to meet the challenges of today, I am committed to sharing the lessons learned from our past efforts, and I offer our collective expertise to collaborate with you in bringing relief to victims, justice to perpetrators, and hope to future generations currently in peril.

Bringing an end to the global trade in people is a priority for the United States in keeping with American values that place a premium on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. I am confident that together we can make a difference, all over the world, in the lives of people deprived of their freedom.

Sincerely,
Hillary Rodham Clinton