Jonas. This kid has a smile that reaches from the east to the west. This big grin is his “everyday grin,” since we rescued him from being a slave child. Sweet, adorable Jonas had lost his mother and father and was abandoned by a lady who made him a “restavek slave.” The word “Restavek,” means “to live with,” but these children become domestic slaves.

Jonas was made to work in the garden of a Haitian lady, who didn’t care about him. He had a large hoe, called a “wou,” that so was heavy it was even hard for the adult men to use. Jonas was beaten if he didn’t work hard enough, but the worst thing was that he was made to feel “useless.” We rescued him and brought him to Love A Child. It was tough for him to get used to having a shower “inside,” eating three times a day, going to school, and having “play-time” with his brothers.

This is his “normal” smile! It goes “east to west!” Ha! What a sweet! He is in third grade and “struggling a little” because he had never been to school! He loves everything… his family, his food, his work, everything. Well, everything except “Sampson,” my gentle Rottie. The Haitians believe that black dogs represent Voodoo. I have been trying to tell Jonas that “Sampson is a Christian dog!”

Sherry