Garage Sale Fundraiser

We have begun to plan our garage sale, which will be a fundraiser for Collège Amélioration Jeunesse!


To make this day a success, we are in need of all the things that you no longer want! Here are some examples:


Baby things (basinets, toys, blankets, ..)
Books
Clothing (for all ages and sizes)
Cook Ware
Dishes
Jewellery
Paintings
Small Appliances

ETC...!

While we do not have the exact dates yet, the garage sale will be held either the last weekend of June or the first weekend of July. Please contact us if you have anything you would like to donate.

youthupliftment@hotmail.com

Step by Step, Bottle by Bottle..

On the right hand side of this page, you will find a small section called "From Trash to a Class Stats". This is where I keep an update on how many bottles and cans have been collected, and how much that amounts to.

I am very excited to say, that today we have passed the $100 mark!! We currently have collected 2,160 bottles and cans, which equals exactly $108.00!

To reach our goal, we still have a very long way to go. We are 497, 840 cans away, to be precise! 

I believe that we can reach our goal, if everyone helps out. Please consider donating your own bottles and cans, putting up a collection bin at work or school, and spreading the word. Let's take the opportunity to turn trash into a school, for some very deserving kids.

Underwear Collection

We need need your help...

To collect 145 pairs of underwear for our students!

42 for the Kindergardent Class
42 for the Grade One Class
42 for the Grade Two Class
42 for the Grade Three Class

Total = 168 Underwear (sizes 3-10)

Our goal is to provide each student with 3 pairs of new underwear on the day they receive their school uniforms.

Please consider picking up a few pairs to donate! At the Dollarstore, you can find a pack of 3 for only $2.

CNN Video: Restaveks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_zMB1EGBXg

Restaveks in Puerto Plata

Child Slaves in 2012

I was first exposed to the plight of child labourers in Puerto Plata on my first trip to the Dominican Republic in 2008. It was then that I met William, a shy 12-year-old boy who was working as a shoe shiner. We made small talk, which often included elaborate signing with our hands when I couldn’t find the right words to say in my limited Creole vocabulary.

William and I.

It was never hard to find William. He could always be found around the Malecon(boulevard) carrying his shoe shine supplies, and trying to shine someone's shoes. Each shoe shine cost 10 pesos, the equivalent of 0.25 cents. Earlier in the week, I had brought him a large ziplock bag filled with small items such as underwear, peanuts, and school supplies. He was not at home, so I left the package with his aunt, who he lived with. His home was a tiny two room corrugated metal shack in a barrio called Aguas Negras, which translates into black water. An appropriate name for a community with no sewage filtration system and where poverty is rampant.

As we got to know each other better, William slowly started to open up more to me. He explained to me why he didn’t like staying in his neighborhood, when I wanted to walk around and meet some of his friends. He feared that word would get back to his aunt that he wasn’t working, and she would beat him. He showed me scars and burns on his belly and back, caused by his enraged aunt with anything she could grab, most commonly a belt. He also told me that his aunt took the package I had brought for him and divided it among her own children, leaving nothing for William. It was heartbreaking to know that on top of having to work everyday, he did not live in a home where he felt loved and wanted.

I lost contact with William, but I saw him in so many of the other young street boys working in Puerto Plata. His case of forced labor and abuse began to be an all too familiar story among many of the young children working on the streets.

In the summer of 2010 I met Jean, another shoe shine boy. He was smaller than William and much less shy from the get go. He would come to my apartment everyday for lunch and to talk. His family was in Haiti, and he was working and living with a woman he referred to as his aunt, although she was not. He would always ask to sleepover, but I always told him that he had to sleep at home, and that he was always welcome to come over the following day. 

One rainy night I put Jean on a motorcycle taxi, payed the 40 pesos fare (~$1)  and gave him a big hug. I remember that he didn't want to leave, but as always I told him that he had to and that he could come over tomorrow.

Jean over for lunch.

When the rain stopped, my friend and I decided to go down to the gas station a few minutes away from our home, which has a Burger King in it. To our surprise, on the other side of the road was Jean. Soaked from head to toe, looking like a lost puppy. I called him over and asked him why he didn’t go home, as he was suppose to. He told me that his "aunt" made him work all day. His punishment for not brining in his quota of 100 pesos($3) was a beating and to sleep outside. Like William, a beating consisted of a belt, kicks, and punches.  His plan had been to wait until everyone was sleeping, and he would sleep outside. In the morning, he would come back over to our home, avoiding his "aunt" all together.

William and Jean are two of the first restavek children I met in Puerto Plata. 

A restavek (; from the French language French reste avec,"one who stays with") is a child in who is sent by their parents to work for a host household as a domestic servant because the parents lack the resources required to support the child. Restavek may refer to a child staying with a host family, but usually refers specifically to those who are abused.

In Haiti, parents unable to care for children may send them to live with more affluent families. This is perceived as acceptable because in Haitian culture, it is ubiquitous for housing to be shared among members of an extended family, including distant relatives. (In contrast, the concept of a single nuclear family occupying each household is seen as desirable in other cultures.) Therefore, in Haiti it is acceptable for parents to send children to distant relatives to live. Often these relatives are living in more urban areas. The children receive food and housing (and sometimes an education) in exchange for housework. However, many restavecs live in poverty, they might not receive proper education and sometimes, the child could be abused, beaten or raped.[1] The United Nations considers restavec a "modern form of slavery".[1]

 -Wikipedia. 

Over the years of visiting the Dominican Republic, I have gotten to know many Haitian restavek children. The United Nations considers restavek children "a modern form of slavery." This is not an exaggeration in any way, shape, or form. Restavek children are almost always abused (emotionally and physically), not paid, over worked, and do not attend school. 

It is easy to distinguish the difference between a restavek child, and a child who is working under their own free will( even if it is something their parents or guardians are encouraging). While both children are working, the main difference is that a restavek child is truly working and living in slave like conditions.  They are frequently beaten and always given the worst the family has to offer. This includes having to sleep on the floor, eating the family's leftovers, and having to be the first person to wake up and the last person to go to sleep. 

When  a family decides to send their child to the Dominican Republic, it is because they believe that they are sending them to a life filled with more opportunities. In reality, many of the jobs Haitians do in the DR( i.e agriculture, construction, and domestic work) pay very little and offer no security. There have been numerous times where employers simply leave, not paying a single dime to the workers, often times for months worth of work.

All restavek children I have met, work for families who have very little themselves. Most earn between 75-200 pesos/day ($1.30-6). They live in simple homes made of corrugated metal, and eat once a day. Imagine what life is like for a restavek, a child slave, in a home where parents cannot always provide for their own child. Imagine how this child is treated, every single day.

The Way Forward

In the Dominican Republic, classes take place either in the morning from 8:00-12:00am or in the afternoon from 12:00 to 4:00pm. We have made the decision to run morning classes, from 8:00am to 1:00pm. This includes an extra hour, which will be for English classes. 

Many families who we have spoken to who have restavek children, have expressed that they will be more willing to send the child to morning classes. This will allow the child to  be able to work during the afternoon.

Educating and Empowering Disadvantage Youth and their Families

While we may not be able to completely stop the use of child labour, we will be able to provide children with the opportunity to receive a quality education to ensure that they have a brighter future. A future free from abuse and poverty. 

Collège Amélioration Jeunesse is a charitable school being set up to educate impoverished children who have been neglected and forgotten.  While the school's mission is to provide these children with a high-quality education, we are also actively committed to community development.  The school will be used after classes are finished , as a youth and community centre. One of the activities we have in mind is to provide a literacy class for adults who are illiterate, including those who use restaveks.

Encouraging positive change and educating adults who use restaveks on the importance of  education, is equally as important as educating the child. A safe school and a safe home is the ultimate goal!

Only with your help, can we turn this dream into a reality.

Make a Donation : Please consider making a donation using our Chip In' link to the right. Our goal is to raise $12,500 in online donations, which will allow us to open and run the school for 6 months.

Participate in From Trash to a Class: Collect bottles and cans from your home, work, and school. To learn more about this fundraiser, check out this page.

Collect Items Donations: Take a look at our wish list page, to see if you have anything you would like to donate.

Spread the Word: One of the easiest ways to help this cause, is to spread the word. Please share this blog on your Facebook!

Trip Report

On March 12th, I left for 9 days in the Dominican Republic. It was my Spring break and I was able to get time off from work to be able to go down.

It was a very short trip and the days seemed to fly by as I divide my time between visiting friends, interviewing future students, and running around the city by motoconcho (motorcycle taxi) to do errands. I was able to get in some beach days too, which were significant in more ways than one.

One of the families who I am very close with, is the Laguerre family. Three of their children will be attending our school in September, and I hope to provide another one with a scholarship. I first met Majembe and Bebi on the beach almost four year ago. They were trying to sell seashells to tourists, a common job among many of the kids from Padre Granero.

One afternoon, we decided to bring a total of 12 kids to Sosua beach, about 20 minutes away. None of the children are currently in school, so our beach day took place on a Tuesday. Most of the kids will be attending Collège Amélioration Jeunesse, so it was nice to spend some quality time with them. I had already been to this beach with two of the kids before, but for the rest of them it was their first time. We brought floaties, chips, soda, and peanut butter sandwiches. The kids had a great time playing in the water and snacking all day long.

Ibelina

Jhon

While we were drying up from swimming, a young boy selling mangoes approached us. It was ironic in the sense that had we not taken the kids to the beach, most of them would be on the b back in Puerto Plata doing the same thing-selling candy, shinning shoes, and begging. The reality for many impoverished children in the Dominican Republic is that they are denied an education because of the poverty they live in. They are forced to work in order to earn a bit of money, to help support themselves and their families.

Being back in Puerto Plata was amazing. Being able to see everyone and preparing for the school's opening is not only motivating while I am there, but it inspires me to work harder when I am back in Canada to make sure that this dream can turns into a reality for so many deserving children.




Throughout my trip I was constantly reminded of how desperately the school is needed. Almost everywhere I went children could be found- outside of gas stations, near restaurants begging for leftovers, etc. No child deserves to be working instead of in school, and it is only with a quality education that they will be able to break the cycle of poverty they were born into.

How "From Trash to a Class" Started

It was spring time and I was at the dentist's office for my yearly teeth cleaning. As I was coming out of the building, I noticed an empty Pepsi bottle on the ground. Before then, I had thought about the idea of collecting bottles and cans as a way of earning money for charity. I always ended up coming to the conclusion that it would be a lot of effort and not much gain. After all, a can or plastic soda bottle only brings in 0.5 cents.

On this spring day, I decided something different. I thought to myself that I might as well try it out, and would start with the empty Pepsi bottle in front of me. After then, I started to become more aware of the empty cans all around, left on buses or on the sidewalk. I carried a plastic grocery bag in my pocket and picked up whatever was on my trail. 

To date, I have collected 1,948 bottles and cans, which is $97.40. Considering that I thought I would collect 100 cans, and become discouraged(since it would only be $5), I am very encouraged at how well I have done so far! This was only possible because of friends, family, and neighbours who decided that this was an important cause and help me out by donating their empty bottles and cans.

The success of this fundraiser really depends on everyone, which is why I think it is so great. I have set my goal high, to collect 500,000 empty bottles and cans. This would not only provide start-up costs for Collège Amélioration Jeunesse, but it would allow the school to run for an entire year without the need for outside donations.  

As of today, we are 498,052 bottles and cans away from our goal. Can you help lower this number? 

E-mail Us!  youthupliftment (@ ) hotmail.com