“Children come to me,” Jesus said. God’s kingdom belongs to you.” ~
Matthew 19:14
Despite his age, Paulo is not a
child anymore; he grew up many years ago. The child is no more than nine, willowy and
gaunt, his eyes older than his years.
The son of an unemployed, alcoholic father, Paulo and his
five siblings have to earn money for the family to live. If they don’t bring home enough money, their
father beats them – hard. His only
chance is to stay alive until he's big enough to be on the other end of the whoopin’.
He wakes each day at 5:30 and takes the bus nearly two hours
to the textile factory where he and his sister Magena toil 7 days a week at
dirty, dangerous work. He earns about $4
per day for 11 hours of work.
Globalization is a key factor to child labor. Children like Paulo are cheap to employ;
they’re docile and easily controlled, and don’t organize to defend their human
rights. Kids are simply tools to be exploited
without consequences; an attractive incentive to keep labor costs down.
Although Paulo likes his job and he has lots of friends in
the factory, he doesn’t choose to work. He’d rather be in school studying to be a
teacher someday.
Cut flowers remind him of his life – no roots; nothing to
anchor it to this world. But it’s still
expected to give its beauty, to flourish and warm the hearts of others.
He dreams of being a Dad himself one day; hoping to be
everything his wasn’t and give what he didn’t - security and love. Paulo prays to God for strength to help funnel
the love He gives so unconditionally to Paulo’s own children one day.
No-one can see his vulnerability; the biggest problem that
threatens his future. Paulo is slowly
going blind. If he doesn't have surgery
to correct the problem, he’ll be unable to see by the time he is twenty years
old.
He tries to hide a little of his weekly earnings to go to
school. But in his heart, he really
wants to save so that he can have surgery.
Kids like Paulo (over 125 million worldwide), will never
learn to read or write or acquire computer skills. They’ll not experience singing in chorus,
going on field trips, or playing at recess.
Their classrooms are sweatshops, farm fields, and battlefields. Their days will be filled with long, dirty,
dangerous work. The only lesson they’ll
learn . . . is that life is cruel and unfair.
If the world spent about $10 billion a year - far less than
what we now spend each year on luxury items such as makeup, perfumes and
cruises - every child on earth could receive free primary education. Please keep them in your prayers this Labor
Day weekend.
Lord Jesus, we ask Your protection for
children who are vulnerable to traffickers, and for those caught in abusive
conditions. Please encourage world
leaders to make "universal primary education" a reality for all
children worldwide. Amen
