168 Million Child Workers : “They’re Eating my Flesh and Blood.”

What kind of childhood did you have?

A STEP TOWARDS PEACE 168 Million Child Workers : "They're Eating my Flesh and Blood." Tobacco farm Palm oil farm Isadora Duncan ILO Dietrich Bonhoeffer Cocoa farm childhood Child workers   Sometimes people used to cast back to their childhood. What do you think of it? What do you feel? In my case, I lived a fairly “normal” childhood. Only just sometimes I was home alone. In childhood photographs, I was always laughing. But in someone’s early days happiness was totally absent. When your happiness is spilling over, someone must fight deep poverty and the world. Perhaps it would be only a few people around him but he can feel “there is no one on my side”. These child workers had a pretty tough childhood.

Whose story?

This is the story of 168 million

Cocoa farm in 5 years

A STEP TOWARDS PEACE 168 Million Child Workers : "They're Eating my Flesh and Blood." Tobacco farm Palm oil farm Isadora Duncan ILO Dietrich Bonhoeffer Cocoa farm childhood Child workers   Someone asked “What do you think about people who are enjoying chocolate in other countries?” He answered, “I undergo much sufferings to make this thing but they just enjoy it. They’re eating my flesh and blood.

Real Palm oil farm

A STEP TOWARDS PEACE 168 Million Child Workers : "They're Eating my Flesh and Blood." Tobacco farm Palm oil farm Isadora Duncan ILO Dietrich Bonhoeffer Cocoa farm childhood Child workers   “The supervisor took me to narrow, windowless hut. Both adults and children slept hugging each other. I don’t receive any payments. Rather the company took my money in the name of providing food and a place.”

Tobacco farm

A STEP TOWARDS PEACE 168 Million Child Workers : "They're Eating my Flesh and Blood." Tobacco farm Palm oil farm Isadora Duncan ILO Dietrich Bonhoeffer Cocoa farm childhood Child workers   Children smoke 2 packs a half every day. Why? Because they are exposed to tobacco leaves for a long time. I’m not saying they really smoke. In fact children, who were working all day, suffered from coughing, dizziness and vomiting habitually.

‘Child workers’ Facts and figures

  • Global number of children in child labour has declined by one third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million children. More than half of them, 85 million, are in hazardous work (down from 171 million in 2000).
  • Agriculture remains by far the most important sector where child labourers can be found (98 million, or 59%), but the problems are not negligible in services (54 million) and industry (12 million) – mostly in the informal economy.
  • Child labour among girls fell by 40% since 2000, compared to 25% for boys.

So what? It’s not your fault

A STEP TOWARDS PEACE 168 Million Child Workers : "They're Eating my Flesh and Blood." Tobacco farm Palm oil farm Isadora Duncan ILO Dietrich Bonhoeffer Cocoa farm childhood Child workers   You may want to think “It’s not my fault. so what?” I understand it. Also my intention is not to blame. I just want to inform current situation and I want to solve it if I could. ‘The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.’ (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) I have nothing but it’s better than doing nothing. 🙂 Do you want to join us?  Lots of luck!

“So long as little children are allowed to suffer, there is no true love in this world.” – Isadora Duncan