"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
Child labour & the Evil of Western Racism as well as ancient African Customs and Traditions.
" The horror, the horror."
Kurtz in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness."
Chinua Achebe has pointed out that the heart of darkness is not in Africa but in the hearts of those who consider themselves superior to others - of every race, class, gender, culture, religion, political ideology etc.
Some of the whites, or rather educated and "advanced, progressive" men and women, go to Africa in the guise of offering help. But they mostly end up hindering and not helping, perpetuating customs and traditions that are harmful to the health, well-being and mental and spiritual and emotional development of the women, children, ethnicities and wh*** nations they enter into in their purblind ignorance, implicitly racist unbeknownst to themselves.
Take this case of child labour.
Can you guess who this boy is carrying this plastic 40 pound container of water for?
To and from the house of/for white women who work as peace corps response volunteers.
Do they, the women, find anything wrong with it?
No.
The culture allows it, the inbuilt chauvinism in it .
ILO says a child must only do light work till fifteen,
How much is he paid?
21 US cents an hour for carrying three such containers that will affect his brain, back, spine, neck and legs and no play or study meanwhile...
Oh murder most foul and unnatural!
Is this really 2010 or the Belgian Congo?
My friend Peggie Scott from Liberia, Africa, tells me some horrifying things in two emails regarding this: -
"I think it's important to try to change the root problem, not just fight the symptom. On this issue, I believe, that the root problem is the deeply entrenched chauvinism that is rampant in West Africa. This creates a society of second class citizens who have no or few rights and no or few protectors. Until that mindset is changed a myriad of problems will continue to exist.
One of the things that is most disturbing to me is how easily some people from the West fall into the same mindset when it is convenient for them. Here's a link to a picture of a 12 yr old boy (when I asked the boy how old he was he told me he was 9 years old, but later a PCR volunteer told me he was 12, Hmmmmm) carrying water into the house of the four Peace Corps Response Volunteers. He does this several days a week and carry's 3-4 of these 40 pound containers each time. They were outraged when I told them that what they were doing was both against the law in this country and exceeded the UNICEF guidelines for child labor.
Note: UNICEF defines child labour as work that exceeds a minimum number of hours, depending on the age of a child and on the type of work. Such work is considered harmful to the child and should therefore be eliminated.
Ages 5-11: At least one hour of economic work per week.
Ages 12-14: At least 14 hours of economic work per week
Note: The ILO sets the minimum age for legal employment at 15.
All 4 of the PCR volunteers are women and I believe that is one of the reasons they feel it is okay to hire these boys. They are absolutely not able to carry the water themselves. They also argue that they are helping the local economy. My reply to that was, "Hire their father".
Although Africans have been carrying loads on their heads for more generations than I can imagine, I believe that the introduction of plastic containers (from the West and East) have made it possible to heap even heavier loads onto the heads of children. I do not know, but would like to, what the average weight of a traditional clay water jug is. And I wonder if such young children (I see many 4, 5 and 6 year olds carrying water) would be entrusted with the breakable clay pots.
My roommate once told me a story of two very small boys who were trying to put a large load on the head of the smaller one. Each time they would get the load on his head it would not be balanced and he would fall over from the weight. She said she thought it was, "cute".
I have managed to get the youngest children banned from our water pump. But not because they may be hurting themselves (that reason would never be listened to) but because they might hurt the pump. They are told to go home and get a parent or a bigger brother or sister to pump and carry the water.
Small steps. We make small steps. I trust the Universe to help me make them in the right direction."
Do you still believe ignorance and racism and local chauvinism are dead?
What can we do to change all this?
We need to fight the culture that asks for women and children to carry things on their head.
Sunny Dupree talks of a bucket that she wants to work on that can be pushed and rolled and a push cart that can carry water without spilling it, and meanwhile we also need these children to stop working and get them health care and education instead.
I do not despair.
The heart of darkness in man everywhere will be defeated like my friend believes.
We shall overcome.
By the way, I am in Africa at present.
Views: 237
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Comment by Shakwei Mbindyo on April 27, 2010 at 2:13pm
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So true! A twist to this in Kenya is an alarming increase in and sex tourism targeting children.
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Comment by PJE on April 27, 2010 at 2:14pm
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Hello AV Koshy Thanks for this. 'The culture allows it' gives me the idea that real culture (and cultivation) has to be within and go with us where ever we are. This culture respects and cares for people and privileges helping over being helped and caring over being cared for where ever possible, A culture where the young, the old and the weak are given special attention and consideration. A culture which embodies mindfulness of all living things and natural resources.
Best wishes
PJE
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Comment by A.V.Koshy on April 27, 2010 at 2:19pm
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yes, tourism trafficking children for making money from westerners and nobody thinks its worth weeding out?
its' not
pje yeah and women too caring for women....
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Comment by Edwige Lelievre on April 27, 2010 at 2:34pm
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I agree with most of your post, except one : you said "They are absolutely not able to carry the water themselves" Come on, if a 12 years old boy can carry water, adult woman obviously can !! So this excuse does not last one second. (And I am really sad you have such prejudice about women strength)
On the other side, when people come to help, for real, it is also really hard sometimes : as a consequences of some westerners bad actions, they are all considered as bad persons, by a part of the population (what is also some kind of racism) Moreover, there are cultural issues. But I don't really understand how any westener that actually lived in Europe or in the USA would ever think normal to hire a kid to carry heavy things ! So either they are born in Africa and act as ancient colons, either they are just bad persons, but please, don't make generality about such behaviour. It is terrible, it exists, but wherever you come from, it is not normal !
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Comment by Ternura Rojas on April 27, 2010 at 2:59pm
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Human Nature :-(
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@Edwige "But I don't really understand how any westener that actually lived in Europe or in the USA would ever think normal to hire a kid to carry heavy things ! So either they are born in Africa..." Seriously??
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Maybe I wasn't clear. I think that westeners whom family lived in Africa since a long time and for instance a time where they were colons, masters, and not just tourists or helpers, are much worse in their behaviour that westeners who just come now. But maybe I am wrong. Tourists can have a bad behaviour sometimes (not only in Africa, we can see that everyday in Paris) but I don't really think a normal person would ever hire a kid, whatever the country or the culture.
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Comment by Chris Ke Sihai on April 27, 2010 at 4:07pm
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Whites, or educated and "advanced, progressive" men and women go to Africa in the guise of offering help.
I find this quite offensive. In fact, it's a racist comment. I am a white man, an accident of birth that doesn't make me special, and I STRONGLY object to being labelled in these negative ways purely on the basis of my skin colour.
I am a teacher, in Asia. I am not here "in the guise of" helping people. I am here with the intention of participating in a fair trade which enriches my students and also myself. It is a relationship based on the principle of mutual respect, which helps the people I am paid to help. Nevertheless, I am constantly reminded by small-minded racist people that I don't have the good fortune to have been born of Chinese parents and am therefore inferior in all sorts of ways. I can deal with it in my daily life, but I expect a higher standard of perception on Evoke.
Of course, it is a valid observation that many people who go to less developed countries with the intention of helping (which is different from "in the guise of") are not actually equipped to do so because they don't understand the realities on the ground. And they *may* also bring with them a misplaced sense of their own worth. On the other hand, they may just as well be passionate, highly qualified, committed to making a real meaningful difference, and sacrificing many benefits that their talents would earn them if they were to stay at home.
You have no right to make sweeping statements dismissing the efforts of so many people, and you are absolutely wrong to judge anyone by their race. A public apology is in order.
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dear edwige
- these are peace corps volunteers , they are not ancient colonialists or people who settled in africa
i do not include you in this category of ignorant folk, edwige
to chris sahai , i refuse to apologize
i have written nothing against my conscience
have you heard of a thinker called molefi kete asante
bet you haven't
also - racism against blacks are practised not only in africa by whites but also educated and progressive people and by arabs too in islamic countries unless the blacks come from an educated afro-american background
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Comment by Michele Baron on April 27, 2010 at 4:29pm
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I think Ethan's mention, weeks ago, of the golden rule might help here--if you would not like your own child to have to work in these conditions, do not ask the child of another. If you would ask another to work, do all in your power to ensure that the conditions of working are such that you would do the same work alongside them. (Of course, accomodations for the differently-abled need to be made--the golden rule still applies--meet the people where they ARE and apply the golden rule from that point, until mutual standing is achieved.) Thank you, koshy, for the provacative post, and, ALL, for your comments
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