Case Study 1:
HELIA LAJEUNESSE
Interviewee: Helia LaJeunesse
Interviewer: Peggy Callahan
Interviewee Status: Free now, has also freed her children from slavery
Interview date: 6/15/07
Interview location: Haiti
Summary:
When Helia LaJeunesse was five years old, her mother died. She went to live with her grandmother until she too passed away. A neighbor took Helia in until she was about twelve years old. The woman of the house made Helia do all the cleaning and all of the chores around the house. Helia was verbally and physically abused, and she wasn’t allowed to go to school. Even the neighbors would tell the woman that she was mistreating Helia. The woman would reply that since she didn’t have a family, Helia was an animal, and should be treated like an animal. Not until the community threatened to burn down the woman’s house did she let Helia go to communion class.
Helia finally mustered enough courage to escape. She was enslaved again, “I would have the hope that somebody would deliver me. I always have that hope and I believe that not everybody can be the same way.”
Eventually, Helia married and had children. One night during the political unrest in Haiti, masked men broke into her house…and took away her husband. She has never seen him again. She couldn’t feed her children and eventually sent them into the child ‘restavec’ [slavery] system in Haiti. Finally, with the help of Limye Lavi – an anti-slavery group FTS [Free the Slaves] works with in Haiti – Helia has brought her children home. Despite her optimism and sheer will power to create a future different from her past, times are incredibly difficult for Helia.
Unedited transcript at: http://www.freetheslaves.net/Page.aspx?pid=368
HELIA LAJEUNESSE
Interviewee: Helia LaJeunesse
Interviewer: Peggy Callahan
Interviewee Status: Free now, has also freed her children from slavery
Interview date: 6/15/07
Interview location: Haiti
Summary:
When Helia LaJeunesse was five years old, her mother died. She went to live with her grandmother until she too passed away. A neighbor took Helia in until she was about twelve years old. The woman of the house made Helia do all the cleaning and all of the chores around the house. Helia was verbally and physically abused, and she wasn’t allowed to go to school. Even the neighbors would tell the woman that she was mistreating Helia. The woman would reply that since she didn’t have a family, Helia was an animal, and should be treated like an animal. Not until the community threatened to burn down the woman’s house did she let Helia go to communion class.
Helia finally mustered enough courage to escape. She was enslaved again, “I would have the hope that somebody would deliver me. I always have that hope and I believe that not everybody can be the same way.”
Eventually, Helia married and had children. One night during the political unrest in Haiti, masked men broke into her house…and took away her husband. She has never seen him again. She couldn’t feed her children and eventually sent them into the child ‘restavec’ [slavery] system in Haiti. Finally, with the help of Limye Lavi – an anti-slavery group FTS [Free the Slaves] works with in Haiti – Helia has brought her children home. Despite her optimism and sheer will power to create a future different from her past, times are incredibly difficult for Helia.
Unedited transcript at: http://www.freetheslaves.net/Page.aspx?pid=368
Title.
Case Study 2:
"MIGUEL" Interviewee: “Miguel” [not his real name]
Interviewer: Peggy Callahan
Interviewee Status: Free
Interview date: 2/13/05
Interview location: Immokalee, Florida
Summary:
Miguel wanted to work in the United States because his young son had cancer and Miguel couldn’t afford the medicine on the salary he made in Mexico. He didn’t have the cash to pay for his journey to the United States so he accepted an offer to get a ride “now” and pay “later”. He soon found himself in a worse situation. He was enslaved in the orange groves of Florida. Every day Miguel was threatened with violence.
“Well, I felt like a slave from the moment that I arrived because we couldn’t pay for the ride and because we had to pay for that and then they started to threaten us.” Miguel said. “It was horrible.”
One day some people from an organization called Coalition for Immokalee Workers visited the workers at the site. They started asking questions about Miguel’s work. At first he didn’t trust them but his instincts told him to ask for their card. Later he decided to call them and after talking with them he started to trust them. He set up a time to meet and the CIW set up a rescue.
Now Miguel is working because he wants to. He has the freedom to take days off and work overtime if he wants to. He is able to send money back home to his family now. His son is healthy.
You can see and hear ‘Miguel’s’ story and the work of the Coalition of Immokalee workers in ‘Dreams Die Hard’. The documentary tells the heartbreaking stories of four slaves in the United States and the inspiring ways they live in freedom today.
Full Interview at: http://www.freetheslaves.net/Page.aspx?pid=358
"MIGUEL" Interviewee: “Miguel” [not his real name]
Interviewer: Peggy Callahan
Interviewee Status: Free
Interview date: 2/13/05
Interview location: Immokalee, Florida
Summary:
Miguel wanted to work in the United States because his young son had cancer and Miguel couldn’t afford the medicine on the salary he made in Mexico. He didn’t have the cash to pay for his journey to the United States so he accepted an offer to get a ride “now” and pay “later”. He soon found himself in a worse situation. He was enslaved in the orange groves of Florida. Every day Miguel was threatened with violence.
“Well, I felt like a slave from the moment that I arrived because we couldn’t pay for the ride and because we had to pay for that and then they started to threaten us.” Miguel said. “It was horrible.”
One day some people from an organization called Coalition for Immokalee Workers visited the workers at the site. They started asking questions about Miguel’s work. At first he didn’t trust them but his instincts told him to ask for their card. Later he decided to call them and after talking with them he started to trust them. He set up a time to meet and the CIW set up a rescue.
Now Miguel is working because he wants to. He has the freedom to take days off and work overtime if he wants to. He is able to send money back home to his family now. His son is healthy.
You can see and hear ‘Miguel’s’ story and the work of the Coalition of Immokalee workers in ‘Dreams Die Hard’. The documentary tells the heartbreaking stories of four slaves in the United States and the inspiring ways they live in freedom today.
Full Interview at: http://www.freetheslaves.net/Page.aspx?pid=358
Case Study 3:
Christina Elangwe Interviewee: Christina Elangwe
Interviewer: Peggy Callahan
Interviewee: Status: Free
Interview date: 2/24/05
Interview location: Silver Springs, Maryland
Summary:
Christina Elangwe is a former slave. She grew up in Cameroon, Africa with her family and was enslaved in the United States. She dreamed of a better life and jumped at the promise of an education in the United States in return for some babysitting work.
The promise of education soon turned into a nightmare. She was tricked; forced to be a domestic slave. For five years she worked without pay, seven days a week, up to 20 hours a day. Her captors lied, telling her they were sending money home to her parents. She never had a day off or contact with her family back home.
When she realized that her traffickers weren’t going to help her better her life she knew she had to make a change. Two months after her only friend Rosaline (who was in a similar situation) escaped her enslavement, Christina decided to escape as well. With the help of a brave man named Louis Etongwe, she found a safe place to go as well as the support she needed to get her life back. Her traffickers were prosecuted, and plead guilty and received five years in prison.
Christina is now working toward her dreams and living her own life. “Right now what I dream is you know to be a registered nurse, yeah. That’s my dream. I love helping people you know.” She is also sending money back home to her family. You can see Christina’s complete story and the story of three other modern slaves in the United States in the film ‘Dreams Die Hard’.
Full interview at: http://www.freetheslaves.net/Page.aspx?pid=349
Christina Elangwe Interviewee: Christina Elangwe
Interviewer: Peggy Callahan
Interviewee: Status: Free
Interview date: 2/24/05
Interview location: Silver Springs, Maryland
Summary:
Christina Elangwe is a former slave. She grew up in Cameroon, Africa with her family and was enslaved in the United States. She dreamed of a better life and jumped at the promise of an education in the United States in return for some babysitting work.
The promise of education soon turned into a nightmare. She was tricked; forced to be a domestic slave. For five years she worked without pay, seven days a week, up to 20 hours a day. Her captors lied, telling her they were sending money home to her parents. She never had a day off or contact with her family back home.
When she realized that her traffickers weren’t going to help her better her life she knew she had to make a change. Two months after her only friend Rosaline (who was in a similar situation) escaped her enslavement, Christina decided to escape as well. With the help of a brave man named Louis Etongwe, she found a safe place to go as well as the support she needed to get her life back. Her traffickers were prosecuted, and plead guilty and received five years in prison.
Christina is now working toward her dreams and living her own life. “Right now what I dream is you know to be a registered nurse, yeah. That’s my dream. I love helping people you know.” She is also sending money back home to her family. You can see Christina’s complete story and the story of three other modern slaves in the United States in the film ‘Dreams Die Hard’.
Full interview at: http://www.freetheslaves.net/Page.aspx?pid=349
Title.
Case Study 4:
Ramphal
Ramphal and his entire family were slaves in the rock quarries of India for as long as anyone can remember. Slowly - with the help of grassroots activists, Ramphal and the other slaves in his village realized that freedom was possible. Getting there was dangerous.
Life in slavery
"If I would move in my house or out of my house, if I want to sit somewhere, get up, if I want to eat, if I want to drink - anything that I wanted to do - I required permission." The villagers of Sonnebarsa began meeting with other slaves across the area and demanding their rights. Violence broke out at a meeting. A slave owner was killed. Slave owners retaliated by burning Ramphal's village. What little the families had was gone. Nine slaves were jailed and charged with murder. Ramphal was one of them.
Land of the Free
Other freed slaves in the area took in the desperate families, still some babies in the village died. Legal activists worked to get the slaves out of jail. Grassroots activists applied for leases to mine nearby rock quarries. They won the leases. The men were freed. Finally the villagers were able to build a new village - Azad Nagar or 'Land of the Free'.
Freedom
Today Ramphal is still giddy with freedom, "I’m just so happy with this new life that I’ve got and it gives me so much joy, the fact that I can control my own mind, my own thoughts, my own movements. I can’t even look back at my earlier existence." Ramphal's children are going to school for the first time. He has dreams of opening his own business but won't share the details. He is just getting use to the idea of daring to dream.
Ramphal
Ramphal and his entire family were slaves in the rock quarries of India for as long as anyone can remember. Slowly - with the help of grassroots activists, Ramphal and the other slaves in his village realized that freedom was possible. Getting there was dangerous.
Life in slavery
"If I would move in my house or out of my house, if I want to sit somewhere, get up, if I want to eat, if I want to drink - anything that I wanted to do - I required permission." The villagers of Sonnebarsa began meeting with other slaves across the area and demanding their rights. Violence broke out at a meeting. A slave owner was killed. Slave owners retaliated by burning Ramphal's village. What little the families had was gone. Nine slaves were jailed and charged with murder. Ramphal was one of them.
Land of the Free
Other freed slaves in the area took in the desperate families, still some babies in the village died. Legal activists worked to get the slaves out of jail. Grassroots activists applied for leases to mine nearby rock quarries. They won the leases. The men were freed. Finally the villagers were able to build a new village - Azad Nagar or 'Land of the Free'.
Freedom
Today Ramphal is still giddy with freedom, "I’m just so happy with this new life that I’ve got and it gives me so much joy, the fact that I can control my own mind, my own thoughts, my own movements. I can’t even look back at my earlier existence." Ramphal's children are going to school for the first time. He has dreams of opening his own business but won't share the details. He is just getting use to the idea of daring to dream.
Case Study 5:
Zaw Tun
'I was recruited by force, against my will. One evening while we were watching a video show in my village three army sergeants came. They checked whether we had identification cards and asked if we wanted to join the army. We explained that we were under age and hadn't got identification cards. But one of my friends said he wanted to join. I said no and came back home dthat evening but an army recruitment unit arrived next morning at my village and demanded two new recruits. Those who could not pay 3000 kyats had to join the army, they said. I (my parent) could not pay, so altogether 19 of us were recruited in that way and sent to Mingladon (an army training centre).'
Zaw Tun
'I was recruited by force, against my will. One evening while we were watching a video show in my village three army sergeants came. They checked whether we had identification cards and asked if we wanted to join the army. We explained that we were under age and hadn't got identification cards. But one of my friends said he wanted to join. I said no and came back home dthat evening but an army recruitment unit arrived next morning at my village and demanded two new recruits. Those who could not pay 3000 kyats had to join the army, they said. I (my parent) could not pay, so altogether 19 of us were recruited in that way and sent to Mingladon (an army training centre).'
