Restavek

I attended a Rotary meeting in Lowell, MI yesterday, as a guest of my good friend and colleague, Dr. Jim Lang.  I was seated next to Miss Michigan Katie LaRoche with whom, over meatball stroganoff, I had a very interesting discussion about her platform of human trafficking.  She was there as the guest speaker for the hour, giving an articulate and passionate talk about the fact that trafficking is not something that is just a problem in other parts of the world, but that it's also a problem right here in the USA.

Trafficking is a problem in Haiti, too. Parents, desperate to offer their young children anything but the life they know, are willing to give their children to evil people when they're told that they their kids will be able to get an education and will have a better life. Neither is true.  Nearly always these children, "restaveks" they are called in Haiti, are sold as a commodity, to be used as child slaves... and sometimes as prostitutes. Google "restavek" or watch this 7 minute YouTube "Restaveks: Child Slaves of Haiti" for an idea of what I'm talking about. It's worth the 7 minutes.