Lens, the New York Times photography blog, recently covered a Zanmi Lakay photography project in Jacmel.  Through Zanmi Lakay, 28 Haitian children were given cameras and asked to document different aspects of daily life in a city trying to recover and rebuild.  A description of the project is below.  The photos are well worth a look and you can view them by clicking here.  Who knows? Perhaps one day, some of these children will become photojournalists themselves. Read more »

The U.S. State Department released its 2010 Annual Report on Human Trafficking today.  Haiti remains a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking.  The most significant trafficking issue concerns restaveks – forced domestic servitude of young children given to (mostly) urban families by parents (mostly) from rural areas with larger families.  An estimated 225,000 children were enslaved as restaveks prior to the 2010 earthquake.  Even more children are vulnerable to exploitation in the earthquake’s aftermath.  Below is the Haiti section of the report, which includes recommendations for the Haitian government and the international community. Read more »

Each year, the U.S. State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor is mandated to release country specific human rights reports that address individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As this report pertains strictly to 2009, it does not address human rights issues in post earthquake Haiti. Still, it is highly relevant as long term recovery and reconstruction will depend in part upon creating a culture that respects human rights and a government that can enforce them.  Read more »

It is a sad irony that child slavery still exists in the only country to have led a successful slave rebellion.  On June 5th, Beyond Borders and the Calvary Baptist Church in Washington DC will host an event to raise awareness (and possible solutions) for the restavek crisis in Haiti.  Sociologist and Pastor Dr. Tony Compolo will speak as well Alina Cajuste and Helia Lajeunesse.  Alina and Helia are former restaveks who went on to become members of grassroots movements against child exploitation.  Below are Alina and Helia's stories and a schedule for the event which is free and open to the public.  If you can participate, please register online.  Read more »

While being a child in Haiti is hard enough, being a disabled child is much more so. There are few organizations providing the health, education, and vocational support that disabled children and their families need. PAZAPA, based in Jacmel, has been supporting programming for deaf, blind, and developmentally disabled Haitian children since 1982.  We first wrote about PAZAPA on October 13th.  Below is an update.  Read more »

Haiti is a tough place to be a kid. The infant mortality rate for 2005 (73.45 deaths/live births/per year) places it at 33rd highest out of 226 contenders. Though Haiti has made progress against HIV/AIDS, far too many young lives are lost to diarreah, respiratory infections, malaria and other conditions which can be prevented and treated. Read more »

There is perhaps no measure of a country’s health situation as telling as the health of its children. Children are often the most vulnerable members of society, especially when they are living in areas affected by conflict and/or have been displaced. Read more »