CHILD SLAVERY

In India

BACKGROUND ABOUT CHILD SLAVERY

It is wrong that a person works in forced hard labour,but for example if you have not enough money to dosomething you can work part-time to get it.

400 million children are forced to work all time.

What is the difference between child work and child slavery in industry and agriculture?

- Children are forced to work hard- They work full time- They are treated badly- They cannot go to school or they do not go every day

DIFERENT TYPES OF CHILD SLAVERY

Industry Quarries Prostitution Agriculture

(cultivating the land and harvesting) Child soldiers Kidnapped for their organs

CHILD SLAVERY IN INDIA

INDIA: LAND OF CONTRASTS

NORTH INDIA: North India has a surprisingly varied topography. In the far north, the Himalayan mountains, which separate India from the rest of Asia. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, which was built under the Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The tomb is higher than a modern 20-storey building and took 22 years to complete with a workforce of 20,000.

SOUTH INDIA: The four states of South India have much in common. They have extensive coast lines and warm beaches, and are principally tropical areas.

EAST INDIA :The entire eastern region has a great natural beauty and variety. The snowed mountains of Sikkim give way to green hills where we can see bamboos and orchids.

WEST INDIA :Mumbai is famous for spectacular rock cut caves.

LANGUAGES IN INDIAThe States are free to decide their own regional languages

for internal administration and education, so there are 18 official languages spoken in the country. English is widely

spoken and is one of the most important languages for national, political, and commercial communication

The climate of India has a wide range of weather conditions across a large geographic scale and variedtopography, making generalisations is difficult. India

hosts six major climatic subtypes, ranging fromdesert in the west, to tundra and glaciers in the

north, to humid tropical rainforests in the southwestand the island territories

CLIMATE

FLORA AND FAUNA India has a wide range of ecozones—desert, high mountains,

highlands and tropical and forests, swamplands, plains,grasslands, river areas as well as island archipelago. It has

three biodiversity spots and the hilly ranges. India is home to several well known large mammals including

the Asian elephant, Bengal tiger and Indian Rhinoceros. These large animals important for wildlife tourism in India.

Food in India has a great variety, taste and flavour. Each region has its own cuisine and style of preparation. In

India, recipes are handed down from generation to generation. The unique and strong flavours in Indian

cuisine are derived from spices, seasonings and nutritious ingredients such as vegetables, grains, fruits, and legumes. In Indian cuisine, food is categorized into

six tastes - sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter and astringent. A well-balanced Indian meal generally

contains all six tastes.

CUISINE

ART, DANCE, MUSIC & OLLYWOOD

ART: painting has been a part of India since very early times.The earliest example of painted pots was found in 3rd century

BC. The cave paintings are among the earliest paintings.

Contemporary Indian painting has its roots in the beginningof the 20th century and in art schools in Calcutta and othercentres of India. The fight for independence also saw the

emergence of a very individualized style of Indian painting.

The most vibrant wall paintings are in Rajasthan. The interior and exterior walls of palaces are of beautiful colours.

DANCE: Indians believe that it is creation itself that isthe dance of the creator. All Indian dances - folk, gypsy,

classical or simply ritual. All of them have elaboratedcostumes and jewellery, unique and visually attractive.

Bollywood is the name of the Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India. When combined with other Indian

film industries (Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada), it is considered the largest in the world in terms

of number of films produced.

SILKS:(Varanasi, Mysore, Kanchipuram, Assam, Kashmir)

COTTON:(West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh) CARPETS:(Kashmir, Mirzapur, Bardoi, Warangal, Eluru)

POTTERY:(Rajasthan, Bihar, Vrindavan, Hamirpur, Agra)

LEATHER GOODS:(Maharashtra, Jaipur, Bikaner, Chennai, Kolkata,Pondicherry)

FURNITURE:(Mumbai, Jodhpur, Udaipur)

JEWELLERY:(Rajasthan, Varanasi, Hyderabad, Ferozabad)

MARBLE: (Agra)

WHAT INDIA PRODUCES

RELIGIONSHinduism

The word Hindu originally meant people living on the banks ofThe river Sindhu. Now it has religious-philosophicalconnotations. The roots of Hindu Philosophy are the ideas ofthe Vedas. The Vedas are called: `that which is heard' and areconsidered revelations passes down to sages (sabios).

•

JainismIts first founder was one Rishabhadeva. It does not accept the Vedas to be revelations from God. In fact, it does not believe in a God, though it believes in re-birth. The ethical doctrines of Jainism are based on the path of liberation, consisting of right belief, right knowledge and right conduct. They believe in voluntary death in order to get final liberation.

SikhismIt was started in Punjab by Guru Nanak in the late 15th

century. Followers of this religion are known as the Sikhs.There are about ten million Sikhs in India, over 85% of them

live in Punjab. They are also in other parts of India. SomeThey are the disciples of their ten Gurus – the chain beginning

with Guru Nanak, born in 1469.

ChristianityThere have been Christian communities in Kerala almost since

the founding of the religion by Jesus Christ. The Christiansbelieve in the trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and Godthe Holy Spirit. Their Holy Scripture, the Bible, divided into

two sections: the Old Testament and the New Testamentwhich is entirely based on Christ's message. The head of the

Catholic Church is the Pope at Vatican. St Thomas the Apostle is said to have arrived in India in 54

A.D. Later, with the advent of the Portuguese, the French andthe British in India, there was more Christian influence. In

India, Christians are basically converts.

BuddhismIt originated from the teachings of Buddha, a prince from Nepal, who

gave up palace life and started a life of meditation and spirituality. He organized monks and nuns into monasteries. The philosophy of

Buddhism is to take the Middle Path, avoiding the extremes. It rejects the idea of God. It questions the idea of a permanent or immortal soul, but accepts the idea of transmigration of souls.

TRADITIONS AND WEDDINGS

Dress: Traditional Indian dress varies across the regions in its colours and styles depending on various factors like climate. Popular clothes include saris for women and dhotis for men.

Bathing: It is part of daily routine in every Indian's life. They do not only believe that a bath keeps us healthy and clean but also that

water increases electro-magnetic activity.

The Sacred Religious Marks (Tilakam): It has been a tradition in all Hindu families. It is an ancient practice still in use among

women, men and children of all castes. It is imperative in case of women. This mark is not only beautifying for women but it is also

a protection against the evil.

Festoon (Toranam): Decorating the main door of the houses, temples or any other place, where some ritual is performed, with a festoon (or mango leaves) is part of the Indian culture. Normally,

this kind of decoration is done during festivals.

Indian Weddings: They characterize the enthusiastic approach to life that most Indians have. The ceremonies begin with an

engagement ceremony where rings are exchanged and gifts are given by the bride's parents to members of the groom's family.

EDUCATIONOne way to end child slavery is bymaking it really obligatory but no

state in India has done it yet.

Child population in India is estimatedat 440 million. If 27.5 percent of

the population continues living on lessthan $1 a day, access to education

seems like a distant dream to millionsof children in India.

Vital statistics

- 37% of the population lack literacy skills.- 53% of children abandon school at the elementary

level.- India smill has over third of the world´s children (6 -

11 year aaolds) out of school – around 40 million.

DOCUMENTARY TRANSCRIPT

Anil works full-time making glass bangles in the confines of the small room he and his family live in. He burns his fingers in the flame he works at and the gas fumes are damaging his eyes and make it hard for him to breathe.

Anil works so that his younger brothers and sisters can go to school but wishes he could have carried on with school and got an education so he could get a proper job.

ANIL’S STORY

My name is Anil. I’m 13 years old. I wake up at 5:00 every day. I get washed anddressed and then I start work. I work at home. I do the joining work on glassbangles. When the bangle’s come from the factory to our house, the bangle isn’tjoined, it’s not a forged circle. So I have to hold it in the flame, to stick the endstogether. Women wear these bangles. When you finish it, they go to the factory fordecoration. Then, they go to the shops and markets, and then, women buy them.This is a bangle. I make about 15 bangles a day. There are a lot of problems in myhouse. Only few of us are working. My father got very ill and we had to spend allthe money we got on medicine. Now he’s not here any more and things are verydifficult. We used to have a house. Then my father broke his leg and we didn’t haveany money, so we had to sell our house. Then he got very ill with cancer, and thenhe died.

Before my husband got ill, all the children went to school and were able toplay. But, after he got ill, the old ones had to start working. School costsabout 80 rupees a month in fees each child, and then we have to pay forpens, and notebooks, and textbooks on top of that. So, we just can’t earnenough to send all the children to school.There are seven people in my family. That’s my mother, my sister and myfour brothers. I fight with them a lot. They are mischievous. When I first started this work, I burnt my whole hand, not just my fingers;but slowly I’ve got used to the work. I still burn my fingers but because I’veburnt them so much the skin’s got tough. So, now it doesn’t hurt so much.When I burn my fingers I feel like I just want to stop working but because Ihave to work, I keep going. If I don’t work, we can’t afford to eat.And the flames get into my eyes, my eyes start to burn and I can’t sleepproperly. I get a lot of diseases. I’ve had a fever for the past few days.I wish I could go to school. Then, I’d have friends and I’d be able to play withthe other children. What is there in this work? At the end of the day, I earn 4p per bundle, so only earn around 40p a day, but if I could go to school, Icould learn and get a proper job and earn more. I imagine England to be full of big houses and good streets, with lots ofchildren, and good playgrounds for children. Their lives must be very differentto mine. They must wear good clothes there, I don’t wear good clothes. Theymust be playing in clean playgrounds, I’m just running around here playing inthe mud. In the evenings, I do some more work and then we go to bed. Allmy family sleep together in this room. We sleep there on the earth.

CONCLUTIONS

We were very surprised about Anil, when he burnt his hands, because he doesn’t feel the pain when he works because his skin was tough. He worked doing bangles, he did fifteen per day. He used fire for doing them. He didn’t want to work but if he didn’t work his family couldn’t eat. He worked in a hot place in bad conditions. We don’t work, so we don’t realise what it’s like and how bad this children feel. We just help in the house doing some work. And even, we sometimes earn money for doing little. We sleep eight hours a day. We have a lot of leisure time. We go to town, we play, we talk, we go on the computer… or we sleep. We go to school from 8.30 to 14.20. We don’t like school but we know that those children would love to go to school. There are too many difference with our lives. We can do whatever we want. We are not forced to work, and they have to because all their family depends on the money they earn. Also we don’t like a lot of food and they eat whatever they find. If we couldn’t go to school, and we had to work long hours for very little money we would feel like slaves, miserable.

The film showed us a child’s slaves life who works making glass bangles in his home, he works all day and he cannot go to school the most surprising thinghe for us is that when he works joining the bangles the flame burns his fingers. He works doing foced hard work because the family have not enough money.

Children like us work at home doing chores or helping our parents some times. However we sleep 8 or 9 hours and the weekend more, we have free time to do what we wont, like reeding, playing computer, watcing TV or meetinf friends. And we complein because we have to go to school when many children cannot go and they have to work.

We can talk to family and friends about cild slavery and hunger and organize meetings with otheer people to talk about it and write letters, and organise demostrations.

The film about the child is interesting. Is the film shows that a slave child is not the same as a child who works to helppo his or her family. Work is burning rings of glass, this work is very hard.

On the other hand we have housework more than work.We can demostrate eagainst child slavery, for example with a silent demostray ans spred information about this.

WHAT CAUSES CHILD SLAVERY?

WHAT WE CAN DO