Kay Nou:
Giving Hope to Haiti’s Street Children & Restavecs
 Poverty leads to many orphaned and abandoned children. These destitute children will often be enslaved to a family as a restavec, where they work for another family with little opportunity to attend school, enjoy the privileges of other children, or be a child (restavec comes from the French phrase, “stay with”). Other times, these children will have no choice but to face the harsh streets of an impoverished nation.
 After visiting Haiti, and reading a compelling feature on street children, I decided that I must take action. Haiti is home to about 50,000 street children, and another 250,000 children who work as restavecs. Although this number can seem overwhelming, we can start by giving hope to small groups of children.
 Hearts Together for Haiti is establishing a home for these children, called “Kay Nou” (Haitian Kreyol for “Our House”). We have interviewed several girls who were/are working as restavecs in the city of Cap-Haitien. We have also employed a woman who would be happy to be a “mother” again, and we have made housing and educational accommodations for 6 of these girls in the village of Labadie, Haiti. As this new project develops, we will provide activities and employability training for the children, and establish new homes for other small groups of street children and restavecs.
Together we can make a difference!
How YOU can help:
This program would not be possible without the help of our generous sponsors. Any further donations will allow us to establish new homes for children who are currently waiting. Your donations provide:
-
Rental of a home
- School uniforms & supplies
- Salary of a house mother to supervise and care for the children
- Food & transportation
- House Needs (beds, bedding, fans, repairs, stove, mosquito nets, etc.)
You can donate by:
Project Coordinators
For more information:
The Situation of Haiti’s Street Children
Street Children: Our Lives, Our Words
Life is Tough: Children in Domestic Labor in Haiti
Restavec: From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American
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