Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle–Class American.

(Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American.

Yet for the children who are called restavek, that definition is incomplete.

Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American

Restavec From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American

The word restavek is a derivative of the French phrase “to stay with.

In Haiti, families send restavek children to live with other families.

Hands of a restavek-boy, injured while working at the house of his “owners”.

Our restless world, along with the plight of the Restavek and Kumasi children can seem at times to be overwhelming.

She is allowed to go to school because the Restavek Freedom Foundation pays her school fees.

A short work by Michelle Marrion takes an unflinching look at a restavek enlisted to be a professional ‘crier’ at a funeral for someone she had never met.

Isolated and ridiculed, he had only one friend – another restavek he met after hearing the boy being beaten in a house nearby.

UNICEF is responding to the restavek practice by helping raise awareness of the issue among communities and government services.

Isolated and ridiculed, he had only one friend – another restavek he met after hearing the boy being beaten in a house nearby.

The reasons that the restavek practice persists in Haiti are complex - ranging from harsh economic conditions to the cultural attitudes toward children.