When Project Esperanza first came to Puerto Plata as a Virginia Tech
student organization in the summer of 2006, we conducted a street census with
the understanding that the results would be submitted to Integracion Juvenil, a
Dominican foundation, that was opening up a home for boys on the streets. We
created 140 profiles over the course of one month and submitted the information
to Integracion Juvenil. We were told that Integracion Juvenil rejected the
profiles as 96% of them were of Haitian youth and adolescents, and they did not
intend on receiving Haitians into their home.
This is where our work began. The average age reported was 14. We were
told that some of these kids were living with “bosses” who sent them out
selling and then took their money at the end of the day. Very few reported
living with family, and those who did reported living with a brother, a cousin,
or an aunt, but not their nuclear family (mother, father, and siblings). The
original profiles were lost in a damaged hard drive before we could collect the
exact statistics, but it was remarkable to us that 0% of the Haitian youth
reported currently attending school. Some had reported attending school in
Haiti before coming to the Dominican Republic, while others reported never
having gone to school before. Probably 85% reported living in the barrio of
Padre Granero, where we began running a school shortly thereafter, whereas the
other 15% reported living in the barrio of Agua Negra on the other side of
town. When asked why they came to the Dominican Republic, they all said, “to
search for life”. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, so it
makes sense that so many venture over to the other country that shares the
island with them in hopes of finding “life”.
At the end of the month long census, some found out where our volunteer
house was located and they began coming by in groups asking to see the photos
we had taken of them for the census profiles. We were sad that the home we
thought we would be able to lead some of them to through Integracion Juvenil
was not going to be a reality for them. So we began a lunch, tutoring, and
recreation program at that time from noon to 4pm. We began learning much more
about them and over time, some did disclose their stories.
Someone in Haiti, normally a neighbor, had convinced them to come with
them to the Dominican Republic. Sometimes it was with a parent’s consent, and
sometimes this person had convinced them to come in secrecy even when the
parent did not consent. They promised the boy that life would be better in the
Dominican Republic. They would find bikes on the ground easily that they could
have and ride, radios as well. They would go to school and eat better meals.
Then when they arrived, they were often made to live harsh street vendor lives
where they wake up early, search for wood to build a fire, and prepare sweets
to sell on the beach. They were taught a route they would walk all day long to
sell sweets on the beach. When they arrived home, they would turn their money
over to the person they live with, and do an accounting. Some reported harsh
punishments if they did not sell all of their sweets. Some showed scars where
they reported being hit with machetes. We went with one to the hospital where
the doctors found he had internal bleedings from beatings.
Some boys had even reported during the census that they lived with their
father, and then we came to find out that the man they lived with was not their
father, but someone who had brought them here in this manner. Over time, we
found out certain men who were involved in this trafficking business. Women
were involved in the kidnapping and enslaving that was going on here as well.
It was a quite common practice. It is for this reason that we sent close to 50
youth back to Haiti to be reunited with their families who they reported being
tricked. Their families thought they were doing a good thing for them. The
adults running these operations said that their parents knew what they were
sending their kids to. They didn’t want them or couldn’t take care of them.
That is why they sent them.
We did not do the street census again until this year, 2015. I had
thought about it in the past and quite frankly the idea scared me. The need and
sadness we found during the first census was overwhelming and running an
organization that was attempting to respond to the need had taken over my life.
We have some great success stories from the first street census. Some young men
who had never attended school before are now close to graduating from high
school. Some have steady jobs. Some have started families. Some have been more
responsible in starting their families than others. Some are here in the
Dominican Republic while others have settled in Haiti. But we have lost some as
well. Others spend time in and out of jail.
I wrote a tribute to two we lost,
Anol and Etienne, in the book I published, but since then we have lost two
more. We have lost two of the first three who we offered mattresses on the
floor to in 2007 when they reported sleeping on the beach or on
someone’s
porch. Both were scarred and problematic boys but had they had the chance to be
given a permanent and loving caregiver and secure home and family, they
could’ve done great. I am talking about a foster or adoption situation. Yes,
they were a part of our group home, but both fell back into the streets as they
needed much more individual attention than we were able to give them at the
time. Here is a group home video from 2015 memories. The last slide which mentions Michael and Tina Reeder is actually out of date. For family and health reasons they unfortunately were not able to stay for the year they had hoped for.
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| Anol |
I won’t neglect to say that it saddens me that so many volunteers
(although not all volunteers) came and met these boys and then returned to
their lives in the U.S. without doing anything to better the boys’ lives. Maybe
these volunteers had other things going on in their lives that kept them from
doing that, but I just think that if I have dedicated pretty much my whole
life, then more could have at least written from time to time to ask how so and
so was doing. I am not saying this to pat myself on the back or put others down
but it is truly something that I have a hard time understanding. We all (volunteers)
have our nuclear families, quality education, secure housing, food security, and
job opportunity. I don’t think anyone can say that their problems have been too
great to spare an occasional check in. Anyway, what is done is done and I hope
we can only move forward for a better future.
Alin did not last long in the group home. When there were 18 boys in the
beginning (we tried to help everyone) and lots of fighting and power struggle,
he requested to be sent to Haiti to visit what family members he had there.
Upon returning, we did not allow him back
into the group home because he had
many accounts of stealing and
other vices. However, had he expressed extreme
interest in coming to school each day as others did, he may have been given a
second chance. He did not. He continued to come to soccer practice some. Then I
didn’t see him for quite a while. A few years ago, Jonel told me that Alin was in
jail in Santiago and needed someone to sign for him or represent him at his
hearing. I said that I could not. I was just overwhelmed with responsibilities
and he had not maintained contact as others had to the point that I felt like I
could vouch for him in any way.
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| Alin |
It was maybe a year later that I asked Chinaider about Alin and he said
that Alin had been shot and killed in Sosua. The police shot him as he ran away
from a theft. In law school, I learned that deadly force cannot be used to stop
someone from theft or anything that doesn’t create extreme deadly risk to
others. Someone running away from a theft should not be shot. However, here you
hear of this sort of thing without repercussions to the shooter. I did not
learn about this until after he was buried. Chinaider thought that he was
buried in Sosua.
Luis did not return to the group home after he stole a laptop from the
administrative space he broke into in a separate building in 2008. He lived in
town ever since and lived a fairly calm life. I never heard of any more
problems from him and he did not seek any more help from me or any teachers or
employees. He seemed to play a lot of Nintendo and eventually found a job with
the trash truck. He even attended the public night school in town regularly and
would have started 8th grade this year. He was very scarred. I wrote
about him in this blog post. Luis is the boy I was referring to who was said to
have been used by the police for violence in Port-au-Prince.
Jeres told me this past summer that Luis had gone to Haiti and was very
sick. I was busy and did not ask and was not told anything further for over a
month. Then one day recently we drove through the area of town where he lived
and I asked Chinaider, who was in the car, for an update on Luis. He replied
with, “Luis died”. He said that someone had taken him to family members in
Haiti and he died within a few days. When I asked what sort of sickness he had
he said that he became extremely thin and had no appetite. That is all I know.
Rest in peace Alin and Luis.
Bobby is someone who was in the group home until 2009 when we made
contact with his mom and heard of the true story that he was pretty much
kidnapped. We sent him back to her and she was so grateful. He came and went
after that. He basically lived in between our group home, his mom’s house in
Haiti, and another area where he had contacts in the country and worked in
agriculture. Every time he came he had a really hard time living in a group
setting and managing resources in a humble manner. By this I mean that he
always ended up getting into a conflict because he owed someone money or took
someone’s stuff. He is an extreme people person and makes friends everywhere
but gets into conflicts when he owes money, etc. He didn’t deny his involvement
in drugs from a very young age before he was ever in the group home but I do
know he was clean for the most part before we sent him to his mom’s house in
2009. But it looks like at some point he fell back into that.
Normally when he
would go to work in the country, people would then report him buying drugs and
stealing things. So this may be the root of his problem.
The last time he was here and left was not even a year ago but without
going into too many details, I didn’t want him to come back and didn’t plan on
talking to him when he did come back. He turned 21 in January which is the age
that we completely kick someone out of the home. At 18, they stop receiving aid
with food. However, we had not let him back in the home for quite a while
because of these reasons. He stayed with another young man who had graduated
from the home, named Biby. Biby knew I did not want to see him, but nonetheless,
came with him to my house when he arrived again. My house is next to the group
home and was just one street over from Biby’s house at the time. I did not go
outside to talk to him when they called me. They eventually left. Biby then saw
me leaving later on that day and approached me. He said that he was not
planning on accompanying Bobby to my house, but had done so because he sees
that Bobby is now crazy. He arrived this morning and isn’t making any sense. It
also seems like both of his thumbs are paralyzed. I listened, was surprised, and
went on my way.
The next day
Bobby approached me when he saw me on the street and I was able to converse
with him and see what Biby meant by “crazy”. He made some sense and remembered
everyone, but did seem handicapped. A day later he had a tank top on backwards…
one with a scoop neck and high back that was very apparently on backwards, but
he did not notice. He speaks quietly and is unable to completely convey his
thoughts, which seems to frustrate him a little. He walks around during the
days and looks for work. He was caught stealing a bag of bread at a colmado down the street but they went
easy on him when people told them that he was crazy. So we’ll see what happens.
I am not sure what I can do for him unless someone really wants to take on his
case. And even then, I don’t think I should personally be too involved with him
directly as I would not like to give him any sort of welcome into my personal
space. But someone else in the organization could perhaps help.
9 years after the first census, I realized that it was time to delve in
again. We started with winter break volunteers sitting in spots around town
with a clipboard and a camera. This time we gave out bags of rice, beans, and a
packet of oil as a thank you for participating in the census. Spring break
volunteers participated as well up until May. Our summer volunteers did other
activities but I still got a few profiles going around town in the summer as
well. The results are quite different than 2006. In 2006 we divided into two
groups and did it for one month, so probably 22 weekdays. We conducted the
census in the afternoons. This consists of 44 half days. This year we did 15
half days and then I did a bit independently. Therefore, more time was spent on
this in 2006. But it was very clear that in 2006 there were simply more youth
working on the streets. Tourist police have completely banned two touristic
areas to such street vending among youth: the Malecon or Boardwalk, and Central
Park. Also, attempts have been made by the government to eradicate child labor
in general. Of course we find many teenagers street vending and do profiles on
anyone who reports being 18 or younger, and those older ages don’t count as
child labor. But there was a significant lower amount of 10 and 11 year olds on
the streets during this census. Additionally, it might be due to the fact that
we did send around 50 kids back to their families in Haiti and started
registering kids in school, and rewarding them with things for going, but the
men who were highly responsible for the child trafficking in Padre Granero when
we first began seem to have stopped doing that altogether. I haven’t heard of
such activity in years.
