Stress on Children’s Development

Growing up in a developing country I have seen how resilient children are and how they face life with courage and grow up to be successful adults. There were two families who lived in my grandfather’s property.  They were living there for three generations. First generation was helping my grandfather with his property and with few cows he had. It was a man and his wife and their six children. All six children went to school and in the evening they helped their parents. They worked in the vegetable garden, herding cows, collecting coconuts and doing simple household chores. They grew up with my mother and siblings. They played together and my uncles were their tutors. When they were adults, they moved out of the village and moved in to the city to start their own lives. Their father, mother and a sister stayed back.

The sister got married and lived in the same house, where her parents lived in my grandfather’s property. She and her husband had two children. They did not work for my family or my uncles’ families but they both worked in the town. Children were raised by the grandparents during the day time.

Out of the two children, one was closer to my age and the other one was closer to my sister’s age. Everyday after school they came to my parent’s house and they waited for us. They were always ready to do anything to help around but mostly they were there for the meals. When my sister and I got home, we all ate lunch. Then we did homework together. My parents were talking to these children the same way they spoke to us about the education. It was expected of them as well as us. Their parents faced a really rough road financially and as a family. They ended up taking their own routes. But, before that, there were many fights arguments and abuse. Children went through a many fearful nights and a number of financial struggles.

After the father left the family, financial issues really hit them. My parents took care of the two children a lot. Their meals, clothes and books for school were taken care of as much as possible by my parents. It was not easy for my parents but they did it. The two children had to show good grades, that was a must with my parents. At one point their mother moved to the capital Colombo for a better job. Children struggled a lot at that time. My parents did not want the children to be a part of child labor market and to give up on education.  My parents care, love of education kept them going. Their mother got married again had another child but it changed life for the older two children. My sister and I went to college and they both went to technical colleges. They both got jobs, got married, and today they both are living in the capitol, Colombo with their own families. Their youngest brother works overseas.

When I read the blog assignment, this came to my mind as this is something happened while growing up but still it has a spot in my heart for what my parents did. When I go back to Sri Lanka I still get to see them and talk about those days. I thought this is something worth sharing as it has a personal meaning to me.

I chose child labor issue in India and Sri Lanka. There are situations regarding child labor happening in Sri Lanka. It mostly happens due to the poverty in rural parts of the country. There are laws against it but not much successful in rural Sri Lanka. It is not a massive problem similar to some other parts of Asia. But it is something against the rights of a child. Most of the children work in agricultural workforce afterschool. They are their parents helping hands. Sometimes boys work in stores as helpers or sales personal. But for the girls it is different. Sometime they have to leave home and be a domestic helper for a family in a city. Children are not commonly involved in factory workforce. In Sri Lanka, poverty and lack of parental education are the major reasons for this situation. Due to the war activities that took place in the northern part of Sri Lanka, there were huge complaints regarding Child Soldiers in that area. As the war is over now these children are having a hard time finding work or getting use to a regular lifestyle.

It is a totally different situation in certain parts of India. The factories move in to the villages to find cheap labor. They get parents and children to work for the same factory. The working conditions are in reality hazardous, and toxic. Children working in firework factories and matchstick factories have to breathe in the toxic materials. Carpet making, as well as garment factories are very common in India as well. Most of the times, children are away from their homes. They are working and living at the same place, for a very small amount of money. These children are not getting fed much nutritional food. They work long days for very small amount of money.  They are exhausted due to long work hours and malnutrition. Government is trying to take care of the situation but there is not much success yet. The reason behind it is that most of this is taking place in far away places from the cities and towns. In rural villages this situation is not uncommon as this has being going on for generations. It has turned in to a common practice to get children’s help to improve family finances and no one complains about it. At the same time, this issue is not some thing that is taking place only in Sri Lanka or India. This is a common struggle in Asia, Africa, and South America as well as in all the other developing countries around the world. Even as a child, I did not like the idea of making children work for money, so they can help their families. It is still disturbing to me to see that this is taking place in the country that I grew up in. I hope the situation will change soon for the better.

       

References:

http://www.indianchild.com/child_labor_india.htm

http://www.ilo.org/legacy/english/regions/asro/newdelhi/ipec/responses/india/index.htm

http://www.pangaea.org/street_children/asia/carpet.htm

http://www.ilo.org/legacy/english/regions/asro/newdelhi/ipec/responses/srilanka/index.htm

http://www.colombopage.com/archive_10A/Jun22_1277146241CH.php