Tough lessons

Around 160 children,aged between 10 and 18 years,were divided into three groups and each of them was asked to make 50 match boxes in 15 minutes with hard box material brought from Guddiatam in Tamil Nadu and crude gum.

“This is the average productivity expected of a child labourer in some of the matchbox factories of South India,” explained Anjana Purkayashta,director of design and child development with World Vision India. The children were divided into three age groups and were asked to sit on the floor. They had tough ‘masters’ (World Vision staff),who would abuse them verbally while they sat down to work.

Thirteen-year-old Manisha got a rude shock when she was refused drinking water during the simulation exercise. “The manager was rude to us and kept shouting,” she said. “Children are not supposed to do this.”

Fourteen-year-old Ajay was on the verge of breaking down. “If the exercise would have continued a little longer,I would have cried. I was so upset that I couldn’t concentrate on the task,” he said.

Fourteen-year-old Anju was all excited when she got a T-shirt,a pen and a notepad before the exercise. But once inside the dark room,she thought she would never be allowed to go home. “I will tell all parents about ‘compulsory education for all children’,” says Anju.

After the arduous exercise,the children sat down for lunch. Later,they were asked to go to their respective ‘factories’ and prepare a manifesto against child labour to be submitted to the government.

All the three groups brainstormed and came up with various suggestions,including that the government should ensure proper implementation of the mid-day meal scheme in schools,ensure poor children get nutritious food,uniforms,notebooks and school bags,and that poor children have access to free education. Purkayashta plans to hand over a copy of this manifesto to the government.

She also hopes the claustrophobic confinement of children across the country will come to an end someday.

World Vision India has been working on long-term sustainable community development programmes for children in 150 locations across the country for around 15 years now. They work with children who come from those sections of society which are most vulnerable to the ill-effects of child labour.