Comments on: Does slavery exist today?

By: Julie Niles Petersen

Julie Niles Petersen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:32:03 +0000

Wow! When I read your original questions, all my American mind thought about was slavery in America. Thank you for opening my eyes and reminding me that slavery does still exist today, unfortunately. Your investigation and work is so important and I hope your video will be shared around the world. I consider you to be true child advocates and I am hopeful that your hard work helps make life better for children everywhere.

Thank you,

Julie Niles Petersen

By: year2

year2 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:02:50 +0000

We have been working on an assembly and weve done it.by Haris

By: Z Ross

Z Ross — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:58:31 +0000

I think your film is excellent and I hope your assembly went well – you have certainly put a lot of work into it! I really liked the parts in your film where your pictures showed the difference between the life you lead and that of the poorer children. I will be showing your video to my class when we study poverty and child labour later on in the year – well done!!

Miss Ross

By: Ms Maggie

Ms Maggie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:34:28 +0000

Hello 2JS
I am a teacher at a school in Switzerland. You have done a great job with the video and raising the issue of child labour. At our school we are talking about what we can do for the Day for Change 2010 which takes place on 5th February. This year UNICEF are trying to get schools to help improve children’s health and education in Mozambique. Our student council is discussing what we can do here to raise money and raise awareness.
Keep up the good work.
Ms Maggie

By: Donna Watt

Donna Watt — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:24:54 +0000

That was a very good clip you made. Well done!

I work in a high school in New Zealand, right down the bottom of the South Island in a small city called Invercargill. I am a librarian, or media centre manager!

One of my favourite things to do is to enjoy coffee with my grown-up kids or my friends. I do try really hard to only buy fair trade coffee, because I know that not all coffee is paid for fairly in the world. It is important to me that I do as much as I can to make the world a fair place.

I hope you all do the same, and make your world a better place, too.

Good luck
Donna Watt

By: Mr. Smuin

Mr. Smuin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:36:37 +0000

It’s 10:30 here, I’ve finished as much report card writing as I’m going to do tonight.

Most of the chocolate we eat is produced by slave labour like the children you showed in your video. My wife doesn’t eat chocolate, and I often eat chocolate that claims to be organic and fair trade. The last bar I had was semi-dark chocolate with hazel nuts and currants. It was delicious – I had trouble not eating the whole thing at one sitting.

Many of the things we take for granted are made by people working in near slave labour conditions. People complain about higher priced merchandise, but that is how we get rid of slavery – by finding products that are fairly traded. Even coffee. I don’t know about where you live, but here in Canada, the Mennonite Central Committee operates a chain of stores called “Ten Thousand Villages” which features fairly traded goods – coffee, chocolate, spices, “stuff” like handbags, emerging world curios. The prices are higher than you might like, but it is in aid of fair trade.

A friend of ours arranges an annual Fair Trade Faire in early December every year where different organizations can bring fairly traded goods and have booths. It is a colourful event, with unusual sounds from strange musical instruments and new smells from spices and foods from other cultures.

You are year two – how would that work out in grades Kindergarten, Grade 1, etc.?

Best wishes

Mr. S.