Understanding The Restavèk Phenomenon in Haiti Through Storytelling and Film

The paper by Marcela Moyano of St. Thomas University grew out of several screenings of the documentary Blooming Hope (2010) in rural Haiti and South Florida, after which audience members asked to talk about the restavèk phenomenon. The author designed a qualitative study with in-depth interviews of six audience members, each of whom had restavèks living in their home in Port-au-Prince. Participants answered a pre-questionnaire, watched the film, which features the artisan Tata Dumasie telling how she grew up as a restavèk, and answered a post-questionnaire.

Content analysis of the pre-questionnaire identified three themes about their experiences with restavèks: origins, duties and abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse. After the film the themes were discomfort, regret and awareness. All participants said they regretted having mistreated the restavèk children physically or psychologically. The author concludes that documentary films are tools for popular education and that narrative discourse can reconstruct the identities of former restavèks and change guardians' perceptions.