Brown beaver hat

This was an essay I wrote for Gulen Institute Youth Platform in January. I just felt like posting parts of it. It's about challenges faced by the youth. It's extremely long so I will post it in parts.
Here it goes.

The authentic, most precious possession of the superior is without a shadow of doubt-children. It is those children who shape-up our future, they are the key holders of our future. Our responsibility is to ensure that they are well facilitated with the necessities to prosper and emerge into the leaders we want. It gives me great sadness to say this has not always been the case. Those little hearts are faced with various challenges, making it almost impossible for them to become what we expect. It includes Poverty, violence, child labor, child neglect, gender inequality and what not. 
Children struggling with these challenges may not be witnessed in Maldives however it can be, in our neighboring countries namely India, Srilanka and Bangladesh. Time and again I have observed 10 year old in India, peddling goods (mostly hats, toys and flowers) from car to car in congested traffic.These young souls have no knowledge of any other language other than their mother tongue and are unable to do 3^rd grade math. They communicate with foreigners via sign language. The probability of the majority of people rejecting their offers is greater than accepting their offer.
They had to make a run for the pavement in time for the green light. Alas some ill-fated children could not reach the pavement in time for the green light resulting in cars running over their dusty bare feet.The agonizing cry can be heard for a distance yet not a single soul seemed to be bothered by this heartless act. The children are spotted wearing ragged thin clothes covered in dirt which barely provide warmth in the winter and protection from sunlight in the summer, clothes which are not even suitable for the scarecrows today.

 The doleful expressions of these youngsters are hidden beneath layers of dirt, longing for provisions at least once. They appear to be undernourished and possibly dehydrated.The shedding tears of the helpless children are heart-wrenching. I have witnessed the children in tears, and on the news, making headline, screaming with agony which is the main reason I chose poverty and child labor.


India accounts for the second highest number of child labor Africa is the highest. It has been statistically proven that 215,000000 children worldwide are laborers and more than 53% of them work in risky, unsuitable environments. The hazardous work among age 15 to 17 has alarmingly increased from 52,000000 to 62,000000 between 2004 and 2008. Sub-Saharan Africa is also among the two regions that account for the massive poverty along with South Asia.According to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty. Around 27-28 percent of all children in advancing countries are calculated to be underweight or hinder from growth. To top things with it is to our greatest horror that approximately 70 million children across the globe are thwarted from attending school as published by ‘The Guardian.’ Poverty, child labor and lack of access to education have a correlation with the majority of challenges faced by the youngsters. 

This is appalling indeed and we need to act fast.Children should definitely acquire skills in various fields except they are considered as slaves.This ruthless act by our superior can only be described as a crime and sickening. Children are the leaders of our future and treating them like this is just preposterous.

It is essential to reflect upon the efficient causes of child labor. The principal cause of this horrifying act is poverty, the cause of the uncountable challenges faced to humanity, according to the ‘Child Labor Public Education Project’ as well as ‘Oracle think quest’. The children are left with no alternatives except departing their families to set out for hard work. Secondly, it is mainly due to the absence or inability of the governments to provide education. The parents are usually urged by the low-priced and unorganized labor, sending off their children to work. In 2001 and 2002 around a hundred and fifteen million children of primary-school age were destitute of Education as published by UNICEF.  Unemployment of parents has become a major factor of child labor. 
According to the ‘Roots of Child Labor’, curing UNICEF’s 1997 State of the World’s Children Report, "The parents of child laborers are often unemployed or underemployed, desperate for secure employment and income. Yet it is their children - more powerless and paid less - who are offered the jobs. In other words, says UNICEF, children are employed because they are easier to exploit."Furthermore, most traditional families believe that a new born child is a mean of earning greater degree of money. The children are introduced to the family businesses at a young age,trained for long hours and flogged ruthlessly if they disobey.Some of the young workers were kidnapped and tricked into employment at times.The violation of existing laws and imperfect laws and enforcement also contribute to child labor. 


This would do for now. I will post part 2 later and thank you for reading this. Take care.