Schools Not Slavery for Rural Haitian Children

Enshrining Child Protection in Haitian Law – Your Support Makes it Possible

Your generous Schools Not Slavery Partnership is transforming lives by freeing enslaved children, reuniting them with their families, helping them heal, and preventing children from being enslaved in the first place. Thank you!

I want to share with you the latest child protection initiative that your generosity is helping to make possible -- a new municipal government form that all adults leaving Lagonav Island must complete to document that they are the legal guardian for any child traveling with them.

The new procedure is an effort to better enforce a municipal government decree issued in 2021 to ensure that children are not being trafficked to or from Lagonav Island. The decree -- drafted by Beyond Borders staff who also advocated for its passage -- mandates the prosecution of any case of child trafficking discovered.

This new travel requirement, enacted last month, is another way that Beyond Borders is working with municipal authorities to buttress both the 2021 decree and the 2014 national anti-trafficking law -- often criticized for its lack of enforcement -- by equipping local governments with the legal framework they need to take action to protect children.

The 2014 law also spells out standards of care for children living apart from their parents and requires institutions that work with children to report suspected cases of child trafficking.

Your generosity and your solidarity are making innovative collaborations like this between Beyond Borders and local governments possible, codifying practices that will free more enslaved girls and boys and prevent child trafficking.

Thank you again for your faithful solidarity and generous support for the movement to end child slavery in Haiti. You are making a lasting difference for some of our world's most vulnerable children.

Your Generous Schools Not Slavery Partnership Empowers Adult Survivors to Lead the Movement: One Woman’s Testimony

Your generosity is making it possible to train and organize a growing network of more than 1,200 adult survivors of child servitude, men and women like Gertrude who are deeply committed to ensuring that no child in their community is enslaved, abused, or neglected.

No one understands the complex realities facing children trapped in servitude more than adult survivors. With your generous support, we’ve convened survivors nationwide, many of whom were left deeply wounded by their own experience of servitude.

Survivors like Gertrude are helping each other heal from their trauma through Beyond Borders-sponsored psycho-social therapy groups that empower them to reclaim their voices and become leaders in the nationwide movement to end child servitude.

Gertrude shared how therapy has empowered her to overcome the trauma she experienced as a child:

"Thanks to the therapy sessions, my victimization as a child living in restavèk [child servitude] does not define me anymore. I am more comfortable with myself. For so long, I did not see a future for myself. But now, thanks to this therapy, I see a vast future. My spirit is no longer enslaved. I am becoming a new person – experiencing a rebirth."

Gertrude's leadership in the adult survivor network and her personal journey of healing inspires us to find strength in community and courage in confronting life's challenges.

None of this work with adult survivors would be possible without you and your generosity and solidarity. Thank you again for your commitment to the Haitian-led movement to end child servitude.

Your Generosity is Training Teachers to Join the Movement to Protect Children

Your generous Schools Not Slavery Partnership is making it possible to train women and men like Wiltho, an elementary school teacher in his community, to become Child Rights Activists and join their local Child Protection Brigade.

"One of my dreams as a teacher, young person, and now member of the Child Protection Brigade is for there to be no children in Granplèn who cannot go to school or who are subjected to violence, sexually abused or trapped in restavèk [household servitude]," Wiltho said.

You and supporters like you have made it possible to train an army of volunteer Child Rights Activists like Wiltho -- more than 75,000 since 2010 -- who are very good at what they do:

• Identifying enslaved children,
• Securing their freedom,
• Reuniting them with their families,
• Pressing charges against their captors,
• Organizing communities to end the practice of child servitude, and,
• Pressuring the government to enforce laws prohibiting child slavery.

None of this would be possible without you and your generosity and solidarity.

"I take my hat off to everyone who supports Beyond Borders work here," Wiltho told us. Thank you again!

Your Schools Not Slavery Partnership is teaching students in Haiti Leadership and Democracy

Your generous Schools Not Slavery Partnership means that more rural, impoverished children -- many of whom are among the most at risk of being trafficked to cities as household slaves -- can now get a quality education close to home. Thank you for your care and concern for these children – especially during these difficult times in Haiti.

On May 18th, students at the Matènwa Community Learning Center -- Beyond Borders' primary education partner -- joined with students across Haiti to celebrate Fèt Drapo, Flag Day!

The flag was originally sewn on May 18, 1803 by Catherine Flon with guidance from her godfather, Haitian revolutionary leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines. The Haitian flag is a source of pride for Haitians worldwide and its annual commemoration on May 18th is one of the country's most revered traditions.

Matènwa co-founder Chris Low described the celebration as a reminder to students that "with hard work and self-determination, they can be leaders in their community and for their country."

Your generous Schools Not Slavery Partnership is ensuring that more girls and boys on Lagonav Island are taught by educators committed to a nonviolent, native language, participatory approach to classroom management that teaches students about leadership and democracy.

It's an approach that empowers students to practice democracy and become both good citizens and tomorrow's leaders -- and it's made possible by you and your support.

Thank you again for your generosity, your solidarity, your care, and your concern. Your Partnership is making a lasting difference for children in Haiti -- even in these challenging times -- ensuring that more girls and boys grow up safe and free, at home and in school, where they belong.

Thank You Again

I am grateful for all the good work that you are making possible through your support for the Schools Not Slavery initiative – especially in these challenging times in Haiti. Thank you again for your extraordinary generosity and solidarity. If you have any questions about what you read in this report, please call or text (305) 450-2561 or write to me: b.stevens@beyondborders.net anytime!