Tomorrow I'm going to a conference on Child Labour and how to tackle it. I'm going with Flor and other workers from INABIF who are working with street kids.
This is international week against Child Labour organised by the ILO and Saturday 12th June is World Day Against Child Labour. Not a day that draws much attention in UK I don't think. There are 215 million child labourers in the world so it's a big problem. And very hard to tackle. These kids need to work to feed their families. So its no wonder the authorities find it hard to stop. Its all down to poverty of course.
In Peru there are children working in gold mines and also working making bricks etc. The government is doing a lot to solve the problem and continues to do so but its not easy for them and resources are scarce. The place I'm working in is one example of what they are doing here to help. A good meal a day goes a long way. Education is crucial too of course. So hope I'm doing a little to help out.
I worked with a boy in Cusco, in La Policia a few years back. He was 14. When he left La Policia he went to work in a gold mine with his father and brother. I met him the next year when he came to Maximo looking for me. He had aged so much I didn't recognise him. He told me some grim stories about life in the mine, including seeing some one being shot dead. No life for anyone never mind a child. Conditions are unimaginably bad there.
I'm looking forward to the conference tomorrow. I just hope my Spanish is up to it. I reckon I will follow quite a lot, and in any case the experience will be worth it. I don't know who will be speaking. Maybe governent ministers. Hugo Chavez is in town just now too. Not that I expect him to come speak to little old me.
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