I sat down in a chair next to the stall and watched the boy of maybe 12 years stitching my shoe. Only in that moment it occurred to me, that this was actually child labor. Just a minute ago I was still angry about him being lazy and not sticking to his word. Now I felt very awkward, ashamed. He was humming a melody while working and I didn't see him as a shoemaker anymore, but as a child. As a poor boy, who should rather be in school, or play with his mates than work for money. Without going to school and learning English he will probably never get any other job than that at the shoemaker stall.
Which role do I play in that part? Did I just support child labor. Is it because of people like me, the customers, that this boy can't go to school? Or is it good I went there, so he made some business and safes some money to go to school some time? I don't think that will happen. I'm rather pessimistic about his future. I feel like buying him an book, or sweets, or anything to make me feel better about his situation.
He finished the job. I gave him Rs 20 (0.30 Euro). That was twice the price I was told when I came the first day, and a comparably high pay for the 5 minutes of work it took him. But I neither had change, nor could I ask him about the price, since we had no shared language.
I took a photo, I left, I still think about him.
"shoemaker in Maniapl"
2 comments:
Jesus fucking Christ! Although I guess the boy can still be considered lucky by global standards; something I recently read comes to mind:
"Mit zwölf ist man in Asien zu alt zum Teppichknüpfen für IKEA, weil die Hände zu groß sind. Man darf aber erst mit 14 bei NIKE anfangen. Da entsteht eine Versorgungslücke von 2 Jahren, die meistens mit Prostitution gestopft wird."
I don't have a source for it but I have no doubts that it's 100% true. And I am sure the world would be a whole fucking lot better if child labor was limited to within a country, rather than Western nations exploiting Asia. Not that it would be acceptable, mind you, but there would be hope it would change some day, because people see what is going on, like you and the other customers of the shoemaker. I mean, would you ever feel the same kind of awkwardness walking into a fucking mall buying a pair of Nike's?
I completely agree.
I guess it has something to do with how we want to see our selves or how we want to be seen by others. Would you buy child labor if nobody could see it? Is it just that we want to be perceived as an ethical person by our peers?
Post a Comment