eyes open wide

every group or sector has them, buzz words. synergy, think tank, group think, empowerment, second generation, etc. the developmental non profit sector is no different. words like trafficking, sustainable, child labor, women's equality are thrown around so much that they almost become like white noise and loose their meaning. i am guilty of talking about things so much that i forget the rawness or weight of it. that these are not just terms, but there are real live people who identify with these terms who define these buzz words, whether good or bad. i had not realized it, but i had become some what desensitized to the buzz word child labor. i had head knowledge of it and had even seen it somewhat in action on our trips, i had even read articles and such on it. we are even fighting against it through our orphan program, but it was not until this trip that it became more to me. this buzz word, this term, this thing we were fighting against took on a new life when we were in benin last week. my eyes were opened wide.

this was the first time i had ever been to benin while school was in session. we usually travel during the summer while the kids are on summer holiday. there would be kids playing outside and you would see kids also working. they would sell small items along the road or at the markets, you may see them helping their mothers cooking for people along the road, or shelling shea butter seeds, but in my mind they were just working for the summer. since they were not in school they were expected to help out their parents with cooking, selling, whatever. oh how my american mindset was wrong, not just wrong, but off the map wrong.

in benin the kids have to wear uniforms to school, yes all my american students you are not alone in your plight of school uniforms. most of the uniforms are kaki or they may have a white top and blue bottom, but majority are kaki from head to toe. because neither of these materials are common to wear everyday it is very easy to spot those that attend school. as they walk down the road or run through the village they stick out like a sore thumb. because there are no school buses or because their parents can not drop them off at school, they have to walk. some, if they are lucky, only have a short distance, but others may have to walk 4-8 miles each way. so in the mornings and the evenings, you see all of these kids walking along the roads and paths on their way to school.

through out the day, eventhough the kids had school, we were in the villages doing work or in the city going to lunch or at the office. every where we went there were kids dressed in their regular dirty clothes working. it broke my heart. i began to think about this. they got up that morning, threw on their clothes, and walked to work. as they walked along, they had to watch and pass by those who were going to school. it would be evident by their clothes alone that they belonged to the working population. how that must crush ones dreams. no way out, this is what you do, get up, go to work, work all day until late at night, come home and do it all again. this lifestyle can begin at the age of 5. so from 5 until they are old and gray they work. not experiencing the joy of learning something new, bettering yourself, contributing to a group, or having pride in your accomplishments. i know and believe that there are kids who daily sit and watch others walk to school and long to be walking with them and that is more than heart breaking, it is tragic.

let me tell you about a few that we encountered on our trip, these are more observations than conversations that were had....

across the restaurant we ate at, there were three boys, probably 8-12 years old, and they were doing metal working. through out the city young boys are walking around with platters that have kleenex, shoes, cd's, wallets, sunglasses, etc on them trying to sell them and they will work until 10 or 11 o'clock that night. in the bush, we played with these four girls, 7-12 yrs old, they were out collecting firewood to take home for cooking. that is what they spent their day doing, one carried the ax and the others carried the wood. another day we went to the village of sanson to visit one of our youth programs at the local school. when we drove up we saw that another school building was being built, which is awesome. but i felt like a bomb was dropped on me when i saw that there were kids helping build the school while kids where in there learning. i was thinking, "you have got to be kidding me am i really seeing this?" it was like 110 degrees out there, they are helping adults clear land, cut wood, stir mortar, i was in shock. how horrible to be out there working on a school and not be able to attend it. what does that do to the self worth and value of a child? the final one i will share made me sad. we were out in the bush on our property for the cashew factory and this young girl comes walking by us. we tried to speak french to her, but she did not understand. so she is just kinda standing next to us not knowing what to do or think. she is carrying a large platter on her head on which is a knife/machete type tool and a few cashews. it was obvious she was out looking for cashews to take home and then sell at the market. we gave her some stickers, which brought a smile to her face, and i grabbed the platter and put it on my head to be silly, the kids think this is funny to see a foreigner doing this. so for some laughs i grabbed her platter and as i took it off of her head their was a round bald callous from where she carried this platter on her head. she was maybe 8 or 9 years old, to have a callous like this she must have been working since being very young. at that moment, when my eyes saw that, my heart became so heavy and almost mournful for this young girl, her future, and her present.

i felt like over the trip that the working children were glaring in the midst of everything, i felt like their situations and the lack of control they have over their future was screaming at me whenever i looked at them. this just isn't a buzz word, this just isn't some term to throw around, but this is the value, future, and confidence of children. children who do not have the luxury to dream, children whose right to education has been taken from them, children who have traded their childhood memories and laughter for labor and servitude. my eyes became open, but my heart became burdened.