"Some problems are so
complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well-informed just to be
undecided about them." But child trafficking, at
least from my own point of view, should not be such a problem.
Parents are the first
point of contact of every child and they act as the immediate authority and
source for all their needs. In instances where there is no parent, the child
then has to rely on their guardians for this support and also obey them as the
immediate authority. Children in general are regarded as a blessing in diverse
cultures, religions, race, political orientations etc. But in reality are not
treated as a blessing to these different orientations. A research conducted by Cheerful
Hearts Foundation (www.cheerfulheartsfoundation.org) showed that a disturbing
percentage of children trafficked were because their parents or guardians were
willing to give their children out. Most parents are of the view that since
they cannot support their wards to have an education, they thought it wise to
give them out to others that they thought could take care of the children
better. "The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is
expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem."
Others also take money from
the traffickers for the services their children are going to be rendering at
various places working with fishermen, farmers, miners, businessmen, merchants
etc. These young ones have to live with mostly strangers, far away from home,
and work under hazardous conditions. It’s quite pathetic that even for some parents;
even when they have enough resources to support their children’s education or
receive support from someone or an organization still give their children out.
While volunteering with cheerful Hearts Foundation, an organization that rescues
these children, sponsors their education and provide all the necessary support,
I experienced a similar instance. Let’s call the rescued and sponsored boy,
Isaac. Isaac was absent from school for some days and when myself and other
international volunteers finally met his mother, (after countless visits to
their home) She told us the boy was currently with his father. When we asked
her why, she said the father was not taking care of the boy properly so she
sent him away to his father in another region of the country. Apparently, when
we confronted her we got to know that the boy is currently not in school. Even
though the organization had paid for the boy’s fees, bought books, uniforms,
examination fees, shoes and all other learning materials Isaac would need to
stay in school, it seemed she just did not care. She did not tell anyone from
the organization about this and this meant that Isaac would have to repeat his
class even if he came back. She promised to bring the boy back but after
visiting her the following week she apologized that the boy is currently in
Yeji, (a fishing community where most children are trafficked to work as fishing
assistants). Clearly, this mother does not love her son like she says she does
and probably does not think education is important for her son. This is just
one of the many instances that inspire me to write such articles. In this
instance, education as one of the many rights of children that this boy is
being denied by the traffickers and with the support of his own parents. Every
child in the first stages of their lives look to their parents for most of
their needs and in most cases their mothers being quite close to them have a
lot of influence on them. If the child in those first stages does not get that
kind of relationship from his or her parent, they are likely to have negative
perception about how parents should relate to their children. If not properly,
contained, a victim of such situations is likely to treat his or her own ward
in the same manner because they never experienced proper parental care. And
then a new cycle begins all over again and this gradually destroys the society
in which we find ourselves.
Child Trafficking can be
stopped but just talking about it definitely cannot solve any problem. "One
thing is sure. We have to do something. We have to do the best we know how at
the moment . . . ; If it doesn't turn out right, we can modify it as we go
along."
