Jacinth

One man visiting our team, tonight got up at dinner to tell a story of a girl named Jacinth he met in December in a village about two hours outside of Chennai in India. Jacinth is ten years old, and has been a bonded worker since she was only five. Her family, five years ago, had to borrow the equivalent of about $45 US and in repayment, Jacinth works twelve hours, six days a week with a half hour lunch break, making 2,000 cigarettes a day. She makes less than $1 US per week doing this. And she has been doing this since she was five. At this rate, she should have been able to pay off the debt after just one year, but since her family is poor and needs the money, they haven’t paid off the debt yet – a debt which must be paid in full, and not in installments. Her story is very common in this village. Families borrow money to pay for medical needs and food – things that they need to survive. And for what many of us may spend in a day or two on movies or dinner out or other things, these children in India spend years in hard labour to make. Of course, bonded workers are illegal but, especially in small towns, this law isn’t heavily enforced. And these workers tend to be girls, though some are boys, because the boys are sent to learn a trade or receive further education since it’s more likely they will make more money and therefore are invested into more than the girls. 15 million children in India are bonded workers (and that’s just in India). How do you help 15 million people? You can’t, really, but you can help one at a time, as you hear their stories and meet them face to face, such as this man did. It reminded me again why I am here, and why I work for an organisation that is empowering other organisations in villages like these to better the lives of children and so many others who are hurting, struggling, and dying.

I was talking the other day to a friend in the US about the movie Slumdog Millionaire, and how sad and shocking some of the scenes were. I too was saddened by it, but I can’t say I was shocked. I hear stories and see pictures of children, such as Jacinth, almost every day in the work I’m involved in in Hong Kong. I don’t think I’m immune to its shock, but I’m also not sheltered from it and it’s become part of the information I am exposed to daily. I just hope I don’t lose this awareness when I am back in the States. As sad as it can be, it is necessary to know the evils in the world, and remain motivated to share the heart of the One who wants to bring peace and justice to all who are weary and weak.