Kanmani is 10 years old. She lives in a small village in Tamil Nadiu, India. From 8:00 in the morning until 6:00 at night she sits on the same concrete floor, making cigarettes. Her job is to close the ends with a little knife. She has to complete 2000 cigarettes a day. If she doesn’t, she’s beaten. During her 10 hour work day she gets a single break of 30 minutes for lunch. At the end of her 6 day work week she is paid her weekly wages---75 cents. And she has done this since she was five years old.
When her older brother got sick, Kanmani’s family had to borrow fifty dollars to pay the medical bills. To secure the loan, her parents sent Kanmani to work for the money lender. The agreement with the money lender requires that the money be repaid in a lump sum. Kanmani’s family needs the 75 cents she earns every week. So, after five years, Kanmani’s family is no closer to paying off the debt than when she started. Kanmani will spend the rest of her childhood on that concrete floor, closing the ends of cigarettes with a pen knife 10 hours a day.
Hard to believe something like that could happen on this planet in the 21st century. Unfortunately, Kanmani’s story is not particularly unique. These stories repeat themselves millions of times over in India, where destitute families are forced to sell their children into indefinite servitude to pay for basic services to keep other members of their family alive.
Aren’t we glad we live in the United States? Thank God, nothing like that could ever happen here. We pride ourselves in taking care of those who cannot care for themselves…protecting the rights of the most vulnerable in our population---our children.
Really?
Last week I met Jim and Carol from Boston. They had to put their children in the foster care system just so the children could have access to health care. 3 days later I met Linda and Robert, whose son has cerebral palsy. Their family declared bankruptcy when Robert’s insurance stopped providing coverage for their son’s medical services
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