"Child Labour" Day at school

Last Friday the teachers organised a 'child labour' experience so the Year 3and 4's could experience for a short period of time, what it is like for the many children around the world engaged in child exploitation or child labour.

Activities included
* scrounging the rubbish heap for things to sell (since the school doesn't have a rubbish heap, looking for rubbish instead),
* Working in a sweatshop making packets of rice to sell,
* Sorting piles of rags to make clothes
* Working in a laundry shop
* Fetching the days supply of household water from the well.

Sorting out piles of rags to make clothes

Carrying water from the well

Working in a laundry sweatshop

Mr Wyllie ran a very scary sweatshop making packets of rice! If you didn't work fast enough, you were sent to the punishment cage!

Almost all of the children took the experience very seriously.The teachers  role-played the characters of overseers and sweatshop owners and were very strict. In real life, the owners of sweatshops growl, shout at and even hit children with sticks for not working fast enough.