It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men -- Frederick Douglass

Jun
21

2012 June Newsletter

 Uncategorized

Greetings!

THE CONCH SHELL HAS SOUNDED FOR ALL HAITI'S CHILDREN, a music video to call attention to the plight of children in slavery,  is being played on most TV stations in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.It has brought smiles to the faces of many children in servitude who have seen it, and made the singers that appear on the video recognizable figures and  advocates for children trapped in domestic slavery. It was also played at the office of Haiti's Minister of Social Affairs, who will present a copy to the First Lady.  During guest appearances on several radio programs, I took many calls from listeners who congratulated me on the video and volunteered to help. I need your financial support to distribute the music video to other cities as well.  You can see on www.JeanRcadet.org or on YouTube under the title LANBI KONNEN.   While we continue helping a few children in the worst form of slavery with tuition and school uniforms,  (In October we will register  12 additional  children in school), it's extremely important to give all children in servitude a voice.

This video has the potential to reach critical mass.I believe with all my heart that the song, The Conch Shell Has Sounded is the “I Have a Dream” speech forchildren in the restavek system, and must be taught inelementary schools  in order to influence the next generation. After the DVD is distributed to TV stations in all Haiti’s major cities, we willask ten different  elementary schools, each semester,  to teach the song to their student body.  Once the students have learned the song, each headmaster will then select a pupil to represent his/her school in a televised singing contest.Prizes and certificates of participation will be awarded to three schools whose students interpret the song with creativity and originality. We hope that students watching the program on TV will be motivated to learn the song on their own and encourage their schools to participate in the next trimester’s contest.   Because the restavek system is as old as Haiti itself, it is imperative that the new generation be empowered to eradicate child servitude.

     

Three TV stations in Port-au-Prince have already pledged to televise the contests. It's encouraging to see people at every level of society   taking ownership of this problem.Teachers that we've trained in the new curriculum in December 2011, as well as the singers in the video, havevolunteered to judge the contests.  We would like to start the first contest in October 2012, when the school year begins and end it in December. Your continuing supportis indispensable to this project.

With gratitude,

Jean-Robert Cadet


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If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
One of an estimated 300,000 Haitian children enslaved in child labor.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
From an isolated, rural area of Haiti where there are no schools, no electricity, no running water and few possibilities for the future.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Living in the city with a family who is not your own -- not as a foster child, but as their servant.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Between the ages of 5 and 15, and missing out on your childhood.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Three times more likely to be a girl than a boy.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Up at dawn, before any member of the family you serve, to begin preparing for their day, and in bed well after most other children are asleep.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Responsible for preparing the household meals, fetching water from the local well, cleaning inside and outside the house, doing laundry and emptying bedpans.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Getting no pay for any of these activities.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Unable to see your family or remember where they live.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Unable to attend school consistently, if at all -- depending on your owner's financial situation and schedule.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Hungry, as you would probably not get enough to eat or food with enough nutritional value for someone who works hard all day.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely be:
Subjected to physical, emotional or sexual abuse.
If you were a restavek child, you would most likely:
Never have all of your rights as a child respected.
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