Judith

When Judith Marcena was 10, her father began to pack a bag and told her she was going to school in the city. She and her father traveled by bus to Port-au-Prince, where they slept at the house of one of her father's ex-girlfriends. After her father left early in the morning, Judith's new 'stepmother' turned to her and said, "He doesn't want you. He gave you to me, and you'll do as I say."

Instead of going to school, Judith has to walk the other children to class each morning - only after dumping the chamber pot. She then fetches water, cleans the house, cooks meals, and washes dishes from 5 am to 11 pm. She sleeps on the floor and eats very little. When she is near the other children, they hold their noses and call her 'restavek' (a slur for the Haiti's class of domestic slaves). A neighbor, taking pity on her, once gave her 50 centimes (12 cents). Her stepmother accused her of stealing and threw a rock at her head. Judith is now 12, still "a little person who lives with big people."

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