Advertisement
Published: August 5th 2007
Edit Blog Post
I watched the video Stolen Childhoods located here and could not believe what I was seeing.
1. How many children in the world live in "virtual slavery?"
According to the video, for 246 million children, life is nothing but work. This number is an estimate, but I think we can agree that even if this number was halved, it would be too many. Most of these children do not attend school and are paid very minimally for their hard work.
2. Why are employers interested in child laborers?
The simplest answer is that it benefits their company to hire child workers. Children follow orders from authority better, work harder while on the job, and are cheaper to employ. All of this cuts costs for the employer and increases productivity for the business.
3. How does this sort of employment hurt the child laborers?
The children forced to work in these terrible conditions are effected mentally, emotionally, and physically. Most of them do not attend school or will drop out before they obtain a High School diploma. This hurts them for their entire life as it makes it that much more difficult to escape the hard work and move on to a better job. Some of the jobs force the children to be away from their families for months at a time, leading to emotional pain that a typical American 8 year old would not feel. Also, the hazards of the job affect them as well. While picking the coffee berries off the trees, the children are often cut and pricked by the trees allowing pesticides to enter into the wounds. The burning and long term effects of pesticides are terrible for young children to be around. The children that work in rock quarrys are not given the proper protection against rock dust and eventually develop silicosis of the lungs which leads to coughing up of blood and eventual suffocation.
4. Are child workers found only outside the United State?
No, child workers are found inside the states as well. Mostly from immigrant families, the children work in agriculture which does not have the strict worker rights guidelines that other jobs have in America. Children of all ages are allowed to work for little wage and long hours. It is estimated that 800,000 children pick vegetables in America. And the types of jobs they are doing are dangerous as well; 20% of agricultural deaths in the United States are children.
5. Name and describe three key points that you learned from watching these video segments.
a. The children being forced into labor are not receiving proper wages for their work and are being forced to work more hours than normal. This means that the children are working harder for less money.
b. There are things that Americans can do to help even without realizing it! Buying organic to prevent the children exposed to pesticides or buying free trade so that the children receive proper wages to be able to live are just small changes that we can do to make a big impact. I think a lot of people feel that there isn't anything they can do since it is happening "over there" but companies are making it easier to help even in small ways.
c. The condition of the workplaces the children are in are terrible. The work that they are being sold into is literally killing them. Whether it be prostitution and developing AIDS or working in a rock quarry and developing silicosis or even working on the Jermals out in the middle of the ocean and falling off and drowning because you don't know how to swim, the conditions they are being forced to work in are unacceptable.
6. Did anything surprise, shock, or motivate you after watching these video segments?
The statement that shocked me the most in the video was, She was sold for five dollars to the rock quarry. I could not believe a small girl's own family would give her up to that life for such a small amount of money. Also, finding out that small changes I can make in my daily life, like making sure products I consume are organic and free trade was exciting. I know it's not much and definitely not enough, but it's a start.
American spend 40 Billion dollars a year on golf, yet only 8 Billion dollars a year are needed to eliminate child workers. Strange where our priorities lie.
The second movie I watched, The Global Impact of AIDS, was eye opening.
1. How big is the HIV/AIDS problem in Thailand?
The Aids problem in Thailand began in 1987. It has grown tremendously since and now AIDS infects over 1 million people. That is equivalent of about 1 in 60 people.
2. How has the profile of AIDS-infected populace in Thailand changed?
Originally the AIDS problem in Thailand mainly affected gay men and drug users. The problem has grown to affect not just that small population but everyone. There is no profile for the typical AIDS person anymore.
3. How is the government of Thailand responding to the problem? How has its response differed from other governments?
The Thai government has acknowledged the country's problem with HIV and AIDS and taken steps to help. Many governments refuse to even acknowledge the problem in the first place. They have funded a "condom program" to take the stigma out of the word condom. The program "serves as a model for many other in the region." It's main goal is to be honest with the population and to provide education to the people.
4. In what ways are the Thais responding to the epidemic with compassion?
The government is promoting compassion as the way to handle the AIDS problem, instead of ostracizing those who have it. The government funds programs such as the Hospice Project that looks after patients with AIDS. This is mostly a place for the terminal and provides them with a place that they can die peacefully. Compassion, not discrimination, is the main tool against AIDS.
5. What percent of the commercial sex workers have AIDS in Cambodia?
The AIDS epidemic in Cambodia started in 1990 and since then has grown to infect 120,000 people in the country. This includes 40% of commercial sex workers. This has a monumental effect of the sex industry as it increases the spread of the disease throughout the population.
6. What is the big challenge that the government faces in Cambodia?
Very little money is available in Cambodia for treating AIDS patients. The gap between medical care provided in America and the medical care provided in Cambodia is staggering. 25,000 dollars a year is spent on AIDS patients in America while only 10 dollars a year is spent in Cambodia.
7. Did anything surprise, shock or motivate you after watching these video segments?
Nothing really surprised me much as I have studied AIDS a lot, especially in poorer countries. But I was motivated. Motivated to make sure that while I am over there I help out as much as I can with the organizations that are helping fix these problems. And then when I get home to make sure that people understand about AIDS in other countries and let them know that there is something they can do to help.
Compassion is the main tool against AIDS, not discrimination
Advertisement
Tot: 0.054s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0333s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb