29090: Minsky (new editorial): The Lost Children of Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tequila Minsky <tminsky@ix.netcom.com>

Editorial NYTimes  September 5
  The Lost Children of Haiti


Published: September 5, 2006


Haiti, founded two centuries ago by ex-slaves who fought to regain
their freedom, has again become a hub of human trafficking.

Today, tens of thousands of Haitian children live lives of modern-day
bondage. Under the system known as “restavek,” a Creole word meaning
“stay with,” these children work for wealthier families in exchange for
education and shelter. They frequently end up cruelly overworked,
physically or sexually abused, and without access to education.

The most effective way to root out this deeply oppressive but deeply
ingrained system would be to attack the conditions that sustain it —
chiefly, impoverished, environmentally unsustainable agriculture and a
severe shortage of rural schools.

This is an area in which America can and should help. Washington has
been quick to respond to political turmoil in Haiti, with its
accompanying fears of uncontrollable refugee flows. But the frenzied
flurries of international crisis management that follow typically leave
no lasting results.

A wiser, more promising alternative would be to help create long-term
economic options by improving access to schools and creating
sustainable agriculture. Meanwhile, the United States should work with
nongovernmental organizations to battle the resigned acceptance by many
Haitians of the restavek system. They could, for example, help local
radio stations broadcast programs of open dialogue about how damaging
the system is, and include restavek survivors or human-rights experts.

The primary responsibility for eliminating the restavek system lies
with the Haitian people and their government. After years of political
crisis, there is a new democratically elected government. Eradicating
the restavek system should be one of its top priorities, combining law
enforcement efforts with attacks on the root social and economic
causes.

The former slaves who won Haiti’s freedom 200 years ago dreamed of
something better for their children than restavek bondage. The time is
overdue for helping those dreams become reality.