Kids working on a cocoa farm.
So, today has been The World Day To End Child Labor. To me it breaks down like this:
Places kids should be:
1. A happy home
2. A good school
3. A safe place where they play
Places kids shouldn’t be:
1. A garbage dump where they harvest old computer parts containing toxic materials
2. Another person’s home where they are kept as slave servants
3. Any place where they are forced to be prostitutes or soldiers.
Here are some links about child labor.
Child Labor In Africa: More Needs To Be Done – 6/12 Huffington Post
Rise in Child Prostitution in Zimbabwe: BBC News
Video of kids working breaking stones in DR Congo
Congo Ex-Child Soldiers Talk: Doctors Without Borders/ConditionCritical blog (haven’t seen this all yet, but I love this blog)
This is an important topic and groups like Save The Children, IRC (International Rescue Committee) and UNICEF are among the agencies try to help. One reason I support Sheepfold School is that educating and housing kids in Haiti keeps them from this kind life which is rampant there. A secondary thing to do is look at where we get our stuff and complain or stop buying from companies that arent concerned about child labor being used in their supply chain. (I haven’t been too good about this as many chocolate companies are probably getting cocoa from farms that use child labor, but I keep on buying…)
Anyhow, just passing along the info. Drop as you see fit.
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