Comments on: Children in Servitude, the Poorest of Haiti’s Poor – NYTimes.com http://jmcstrategies.com/2008/09/14/children-in-servitude-the-poorest-of-haitis-poor-nytimescom/ strategies for a developing world... Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:50:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: 3wheelerbuggy http://jmcstrategies.com/2008/09/14/children-in-servitude-the-poorest-of-haitis-poor-nytimescom/comment-page-1/#comment-847 3wheelerbuggy Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:27:04 +0000 http://jmcstrategies.com/2008/09/14/children-in-servitude-the-poorest-of-haitis-poor-nytimescom/#comment-847 You would not believe how long ive been searching for something like this. Through 7 pages of Yahoo results without finding anything. Very first page on Bing. There you are!... Gotta start using this more often You would not believe how long ive been searching for something like this. Through 7 pages of Yahoo results without finding anything. Very first page on Bing. There you are!... Gotta start using this more often

]]> By: Jocelyn McCalla http://jmcstrategies.com/2008/09/14/children-in-servitude-the-poorest-of-haitis-poor-nytimescom/comment-page-1/#comment-627 Jocelyn McCalla Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:23:18 +0000 http://jmcstrategies.com/2008/09/14/children-in-servitude-the-poorest-of-haitis-poor-nytimescom/#comment-627 Thanks for the compliments about the blog. I have forwarded the links to your blog to a few folks. Good luckand keep on blogging! Thanks for the compliments about the blog. I have forwarded the links to your blog to a few folks. Good luckand keep on blogging!

]]> By: Rose-Anne Clermontq http://jmcstrategies.com/2008/09/14/children-in-servitude-the-poorest-of-haitis-poor-nytimescom/comment-page-1/#comment-626 Rose-Anne Clermontq Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:11:55 +0000 http://jmcstrategies.com/2008/09/14/children-in-servitude-the-poorest-of-haitis-poor-nytimescom/#comment-626 Hi Jocelyn, Thanks for stopping by my site.  The petition is apparently closed, that's how fast people reacted to the petition! Best, (and great blog) Rose-Anne Hi Jocelyn,

Thanks for stopping by my site.  The petition is apparently closed, that's how fast people reacted to the petition!

Best, (and great blog)

Rose-Anne

]]> By: Jocelyn McCalla http://jmcstrategies.com/2008/09/14/children-in-servitude-the-poorest-of-haitis-poor-nytimescom/comment-page-1/#comment-161 Jocelyn McCalla Sat, 20 Sep 2008 23:27:13 +0000 http://jmcstrategies.com/2008/09/14/children-in-servitude-the-poorest-of-haitis-poor-nytimescom/#comment-161 I hope that all who read your comment will use their fingers wisely, insert their name into the petition box, check the anonymous box if they want to, and click on the sign now button. This petition is addressed not only to the government of Haiti, but to its bilateral and multilateral allies. It is particularly important that we advocate for the elimination of child slavery at this time in Haiti, for this one of the key solutions to moving forward.This is not by all means the only solution. All of Haiti's children must enjoy the fruits of a good education, not a substandard one as this is the case today. They must be given the opportunity to broaden their minds, think out of the box so that they can innovate and develop winning solutions to problems that appear unsurmountable right now. I hope that all who read your comment will use their fingers wisely, insert their name into the petition box, check the anonymous box if they want to, and click on the sign now button. This petition is addressed not only to the government of Haiti, but to its bilateral and multilateral allies. It is particularly important that we advocate for the elimination of child slavery at this time in Haiti, for this one of the key solutions to moving forward.This is not by all means the only solution. All of Haiti's children must enjoy the fruits of a good education, not a substandard one as this is the case today. They must be given the opportunity to broaden their minds, think out of the box so that they can innovate and develop winning solutions to problems that appear unsurmountable right now.

]]> By: Guy S. Antoine http://jmcstrategies.com/2008/09/14/children-in-servitude-the-poorest-of-haitis-poor-nytimescom/comment-page-1/#comment-160 Guy S. Antoine Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:18:59 +0000 http://jmcstrategies.com/2008/09/14/children-in-servitude-the-poorest-of-haitis-poor-nytimescom/#comment-160 Talk of "slavery" in the Haitian context, and extreme images of chattel slavery immediately come to mind -- the type of dehumanizing labor first imposed by the Spanish "discoverers" (???) of "Haïti Qisqueya Bohio" that was chiefly responsible for wiping out an estimated 1 million Native Americans (Indians) from the Island of Haiti. Later, the practice was refined (it achieved levels of savagery so far unequaled in the history of mankind) to exact the maximum production that could be squeezed out of a legally classified class of sub-human beings (the Africans) strictly for the material enrichment of European-Christian High Society. Hence the unease experienced by many intelligent and well-meaning individuals. As the words "slavery" and "holocaust" and "genocide" are, often loosely, used for emphasis today in characterizing the grave social injustices and crimes of our times, there is a legitimate concern that they may end up blurring all realities (contemporary and historical, alike), through the broad assimilation of divergent characteristics and the use of "same words" to describe "different historical and social contexts". Worse yet, this often leads to an unwinnable war of semantics that lead to inaction -- the opposite of the effect desired by all people of good will. We can all agree that the informal institution of juvenile domestic labor ("restavek") is a brutal social reality that needs to be brought to an end as soon as possible (like yesterday). I urge you to get involved and to inform yourselves about the situation of the youths of Haiti, who are literally the future of our nation. If you are particularly concerned about forms of historical and contemporary slavery, I encourage you to explore well-documented sites on the subject, such as these links from the American Anti-Slavery Group: http://www.iabolish.org/index.html (home) and http://www.iabolish.org/slavery_today/slave_experience/index.html (The Slave Experience) from which I excerpt the following two "snapshots of the human experience" in Haiti: Quote: When Judith Marcena was 10, her father began to pack a bag and told her she was going to school in the city. She and her father traveled by bus to Port-au-Prince, where they slept at the house of one of her father's ex-girlfriends. After her father left early in the morning, Judith's new 'stepmother' turned to her and said, "He doesn't want you. He gave you to me, and you'll do as I say." Instead of going to school, Judith has to walk the other children to class each morning - only after dumping the chamber pot. She then fetches water, cleans the house, cooks meals, and washes dishes from 5 am to 11 pm. She sleeps on the floor and eats very little. When she is near the other children, they hold their noses and call her 'restavek' (a slur for the Haiti's class of domestic slaves). A neighbor, taking pity on her, once gave her 50 centimes (12 cents). Her stepmother accused her of stealing and threw a rock at her head. Judith is now 12, still "a little person who lives with big people." End of Quote Quote: Marcelineis, a 7 year-old restavek: "I get up at 5 in the morning, and start by collecting the urine from the previous night, because the washrooms are outside the house. Then when children go to school, I sweep and wash the floor. Then I go and get some water, I go to the market and fix dinner. I work alone and never get any money; my clothes are the children's old discarded clothes, and I eat once a day. I would like to be bigger so the children would stop beating me." End of Quote The children of Haiti are the only reason that I signed the petition, with the hope that it will bring some pressure on the Government of Haiti to take some significant steps to abolish the ignominious practice of restaveks in Haiti. I hope that you will join me and assist in gathering the 1,000 signatures targeted by this petition. Putting our differences aside, let's take action to re-symbolize Haiti as the spiritual source for freedom of all people in the word. Guy S. Antoine Editor-Manager Windows on Haiti http://windowsonhaiti.com (main web) http://annpale.com (multilingual forum) http://annpale.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=21791 (this topic) http://annpale.com/phpbb/index.php?f=1571 (other views on Children's Rights) Talk of "slavery" in the Haitian context, and extreme images of chattel slavery immediately come to mind -- the type of dehumanizing labor first imposed by the Spanish "discoverers" (???) of "Haïti Qisqueya Bohio" that was chiefly responsible for wiping out an estimated 1 million Native Americans (Indians) from the Island of Haiti. Later, the practice was refined (it achieved levels of savagery so far unequaled in the history of mankind) to exact the maximum production that could be squeezed out of a legally classified class of sub-human beings (the Africans) strictly for the material enrichment of European-Christian High Society.

Hence the unease experienced by many intelligent and well-meaning individuals. As the words "slavery" and "holocaust" and "genocide" are, often loosely, used for emphasis today in characterizing the grave social injustices and crimes of our times, there is a legitimate concern that they may end up blurring all realities (contemporary and historical, alike), through the broad assimilation of divergent characteristics and the use of "same words" to describe "different historical and social contexts". Worse yet, this often leads to an unwinnable war of semantics that lead to inaction -- the opposite of the effect desired by all people of good will.

We can all agree that the informal institution of juvenile domestic labor ("restavek") is a brutal social reality that needs to be brought to an end as soon as possible (like yesterday).

I urge you to get involved and to inform yourselves about the situation of the youths of Haiti, who are literally the future of our nation.

If you are particularly concerned about forms of historical and contemporary slavery, I encourage you to explore well-documented sites on the subject, such as these links from the American Anti-Slavery Group: http://www.iabolish.org/index.html (home) and http://www.iabolish.org/slavery_today/slave_experience/index.html (The Slave Experience) from which I excerpt the following two "snapshots of the human experience" in Haiti:

Quote: When Judith Marcena was 10, her father began to pack a bag and told her she was going to school in the city. She and her father traveled by bus to Port-au-Prince, where they slept at the house of one of her father's ex-girlfriends. After her father left early in the morning, Judith's new 'stepmother' turned to her and said, "He doesn't want you. He gave you to me, and you'll do as I say."
Instead of going to school, Judith has to walk the other children to class each morning - only after dumping the chamber pot. She then fetches water, cleans the house, cooks meals, and washes dishes from 5 am to 11 pm. She sleeps on the floor and eats very little. When she is near the other children, they hold their noses and call her 'restavek' (a slur for the Haiti's class of domestic slaves). A neighbor, taking pity on her, once gave her 50 centimes (12 cents). Her stepmother accused her of stealing and threw a rock at her head. Judith is now 12, still "a little person who lives with big people."
End of Quote

Quote: Marcelineis, a 7 year-old restavek:
"I get up at 5 in the morning, and start by collecting the urine from the previous night, because the washrooms are outside the house. Then when children go to school, I sweep and wash the floor. Then I go and get some water, I go to the market and fix dinner. I work alone and never get any money; my clothes are the children's old discarded clothes, and I eat once a day. I would like to be bigger so the children would stop beating me."
End of Quote

The children of Haiti are the only reason that I signed the petition, with the hope that it will bring some pressure on the Government of Haiti to take some significant steps to abolish the ignominious practice of restaveks in Haiti.

I hope that you will join me and assist in gathering the 1,000 signatures targeted by this petition.

Putting our differences aside, let's take action to re-symbolize Haiti as the spiritual source for freedom of all people in the word.

Guy S. Antoine
Editor-Manager
Windows on Haiti
http://windowsonhaiti.com (main web)
http://annpale.com (multilingual forum)
http://annpale.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=21791 (this topic)
http://annpale.com/phpbb/index.php?f=1571 (other views on Children's Rights)

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