Free the Slaves' photostream  

This is a photo of a little girl in Haiti who lives in a village where many children get sent to the restavec system. Limyè Lavi is working extensively with the village to help them develop their own solutions to keep this from happening. Free the Slaves' Peggy Callahan took this photo during a community meeting to fight trafficking.

Free the Slaves | Peggy Callahan

Life on the street is dangerous and so difficult - but many kids like this one choose to runaway from slave owners and scavenge for food rather than stay in slavery. This boy washes cars to make money. He has a small bucket - it catches dirty water in the gutter and uses it to wash cars.

Free the Slaves | Peggy Callahan

This woman was enslaved as a child. Totally abused. After her husband disappeared during political unrest she couldn't take care of her 6 children and sent them to 'live with others' -- after working with Limyè Lavi for a short time she brought them home. Life is terribly difficult - she is having a tough time feeding them all but is so proud that they are all under the same roof again. They have made her promise that she will never send them away again.

Free the Slaves | Peggy Callahan

One of the main jobs for restavec children is to carry heavy buckets of water - you see them at the pumps at 5 am and 10 pm and all times between.

Free the Slaves | Peggy Callahan

These women were all enslaved as children - most of their children were also enslaved. Just meeting each other through Limyè Lavi and sharing stories for the first time has done wonders -- they are learning their rights and are determined to change the system in Haiti - many of them are trying to get their children back.

Free the Slaves | Peggy Callahan