Caring for Haiti's Children

Madelaine*, 12 years old, was living in a care centre when the Haiti earthquake struck. Injured by falling masonry, she managed to scramble free from the wreckage of the building. Almost half of the girls in the centre were killed, including Madelaine's best friend, Lovely, 8 years old.

It's not the first time Madelaine has had trauma in her life. She escaped from an abusive family life to live on the street, only to be targeted by traffickers, who sold her as a restavac (domestic slave). Luckily, she was found by police and social services, who referred her to a care centre run by Centre d'Action Pour Le Development (CAD) - one of Plan International's partner organisations.

Madelaine is now safe and receiving support to help her cope with the experiences she's lived through. But there are many other children, injured, orphaned or separated from their families who need support. Plan is working with our partners, including CAD, to make sure as many children as possible get access to the care services they so desperately need.

* name changed

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Haiti
• Plan
• International
• child
• trafficking
• restavac
• street
• children
• earthquake
• disaster
• response