Looking at Jonas, you would never know what a horrible life he came from! For those of you reading this for the first time, Jonas was a “restavek” slave. When Haitian children lose both parents, it is usually a horrifying experience. They will have to go to a relative, and life will not be easy. They will generally work in the garden if they are a little boy. Jonas described all of his nightmares, his beatings, and his work in the hot sun, so when we were up in the mountains and saw this little guy working in the fields, we knew what was happening. Jonas had been beaten many times.

Since he was a restavek, we could take him away from that situation, and we brought him to our orphanage. He had never had a “shower,” nor slept in a bed nor had three meals a day. It took about two years for him to learn “how to hold a pencil,” and “writing his A-B-C’s” was extremely difficult. Jonas is about ten or eleven. He is in second grade now, still works hard, and he is the “sunshine” of our life! We love Jonas! Of course, he wants to be our driver when he grows up!

Sherry