Bilingual Children’s Books
Young women from the Restavek Freedom Foundation (RFF) in Port-au-Prince wanted to use their voices to raise awareness about the inhumanity and injustice of childhood slavery in Haiti. Through writing workshops lead by SMP teaching artists and Haitian college students, these young women wrote #OwnVoices children’s stories inspired by their own lived experience. Their goal was to expand empathy for exploited children, create outrage at the injustice, and inspire others to stand up, speak out, and make a change. Their books have been purchased and donated all over the world. Proceeds from RFF titles support new authors and fund future programming dedicated to ending child slavery in Haiti.
Books
RFF Authors
Author Voice
“I always thought about writing a book such as this one, but I was waiting until I got older to do it. I am really happy that I got the opportunity to write about it.”
Author Interview
Restavek Freedom Writers spoke about their books and the writing process on NPR.
Reader Voice
“What amazing, inspiring work. My heart literally opened and I got so energized reading about this beautiful and meaningful organization.”
Story Behind The Story
Restavek--which in Creole means 'to stay with'--is a term for exploited children working as unpaid domestic laborers. The system of restavek is part of a deeply-embedded Haitian tradition designed to help poor families: in principle, children are sent to live with wealthier others to be treated like family and enrolled in school in exchange for small services. But in reality, children are often forced to work as domestic servants, performing menial tasks for no pay. They are rarely provided opportunities for education and are often emotionally or physically abused.
According to the Restavek Freedom Foundation (RFF), the system of restavek affects one in every fifteen children in Haiti and is a form of modern-day slavery. Restavek Freedom Foundation's mission is simple: to end child slavery in Haiti in our lifetime. RFF advocates for children by providing educational opportunities for those in restavek; influences communities to help change cultural norms regarding restavek; and mobilizes community leaders to stand up for freedom.
The young women who participated in workshops to create two titles, Jenika Sings for Freedom and Stand Up for Soraya, had two goals in mind: they wanted to raise awareness about the challenges they faced as restavek youth and to provide examples of role models who stood up and spoke out. We’re so proud to include these bilingual English-Kreyol titles, which beautifully reach these goals, in our catalog.
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