Haiti’s children: Enslaved to a life of domestic servitude Forestal, nine

Forestal, nine, is in second grade at Marescot School, Haiti. The school is funded through the partnership between non-profit buildOn Haiti, and Educate A Child (EAC), who have constructed 58 schools, as well as training 959 teachers. Forestal explains how she was given up by her father after the death of her mother. She now lives with her auntie as a ‘restavek’ (child in domestic servitude) where she performs chores around the house for at least two hours a day; including laundry, sweeping and mopping floors. She can only recall seeing her father once in her entire life. ‘It was only for one day, but it was really great, we had so much fun,’ she says. Forestal hopes that she can see him again – but he lives and works in Port Au Prince, more than three hours away by car.

Photos Paddy Dowling/EAA/EAC